Yet ANOTHER D.E. Question!

[mtheaded]

Actually, two questions!

1. Every post I see about how much DE to put in a filter references the DE scoops available that hold 1 lb of DE. I have one of these scoops and it says (on the botom of the scoop) that one scoop should be used for each 5 sq.ft. of filter surface. I have a Hayward 4800 (48 sq.ft.) so, according to the scoop, I should be using about 7 1/2 scoops (or 7 1/2 lbs) for a completely clean filter. However, the filter says the maximum is 6 lbs! I was using 6 scoops last year and it worked fairly well. I increased it to 7.5 this year and my filter seems to be clogging too often and I think I'm putting too much DE in. I don't have a scale to measure, so which should I believe?

2. All of the wonderful postings from 'waste' about DE filter maintenance say I should wait until all air is out of the filter before adding the DE (which makes sense). However, this sometimes takes about 10-15 minutes with my filter and other readings say I should NEVER run my filter without DE for more than a minute or so for fear of damaging the filter elements. So....which is really right?

Thanks, everybody!

 

[all your parts]

the answer to question one is cut back the DE to 6
the answer to #2 even after you backwash the filter there is still a coating of DE on it so you can run the air out of it
thanks

 

[mtheaded]

THanks for the quick reponse, but one more clarification about question #2, please! I understand that the filter has DE on it when backwashing and adding new, but what about after it has been taken apart and cleaned and had no DE on it? I still have to wait sometime to get all the air out of the lines and I still see posts everywhere that

1. I shouldn't add DE until the air is all bled out
AND
2. I should never run my pump for more than one minute wihtout any DE

For instance, my filter is now clogged (bad algae this year) and I'll break it down and clean it throughly on Friday and it will be DE free when I turn it back on and I'll need about 10-15 minutes to bleed all the air out even though a lot of it is bled out in the first minute or two. So, which is better? Bleed the valve for a minute or two and start adding the DE or wait until it is air free? Am I just being paranoid? Can I do any real damage to the filter by running it DE free for 10-15 minutes in this case?

 

[krcossin]

I am not very familiar with your filter, but if you have a bleeder valve on the top, I unscrew mine, with the pump off, and water pours out, screw it back on, turn the pump on, add DE. If you don't have a bleeder, I would guess just switching the valve a few times, waiting a couple minutes for each setting with the pump off will do it.

 

[JasonLion]

What krcossin is suggesting works wonderfully if your pump is below the water level of the pool. If your pump is above pool level you have no choice but to run the filter without DE for at least a short time while priming the system. Try to keep that amount of time to a minimum.