Newbie Runs DE filter with No DE.......

[bumdaddy]

Cleaned my Jandy DE filter grid last night for the first time, the instructional video I watched didn't show adding DE after I was done. I should have known since you do it after you backwash, but as a newbie I forgot. I unfortunately ran the filter for about 2 hours last night without DE. I woke up at 2 am and put DE in last night right before the thunderstorm hit! I let it run for about 30-40 minutes and then had to go to bed.

Pressure seemed good when I turned it on again this morning and I never saw anything shoot out of the jets that shouldn't, did I dodge a bullet?

Or while running the DE filter without DE is a bad idea, would it not hurt the filter for a brief amount of time (2 hours)?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[JohnT]

If the water was dirty, it's probably worth opening it up and cleaning the grids. Otherwise it may just shorten your cleaning cycle.

 

[Bama Rambler]

If your pool is relatively clean then running it for a little while without DE shouldn't hurt anything. You don't want to do that on a regular basis but I think you're ok.

 

[bumdaddy]

I figured out what genius did, I watched a video of a guy cleaning his filter cartridges, not a DE Grid Filter. Lesson learned, hopefully this lesson was free!

phew.....lost some sleep last night surfing the web trying to see what I'd done. Should have come here first to see if any night owls were up.

Pool should have been pretty clean. Ran during the day from 9-6 with DE, then I ran it from 10-12 after I cleaned it without DE.
Thanks for the advice once again!

 

[Pigpen]

I am confused, other then not cleaning as effectively due to a lack of DE to capture smaller particles through the grids, what would get damaged by running without DE?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Debris can get clogged in to pores of the grid fabric and be almost impossible to clean out, thereby rendering the grids unusable.

 

[bumdaddy]

Not sure if I should start a new thread or not but......HELP

So this morning I noticed in my pump basket some leaves covered in white dust? I'm guessing that is from the new DE. I didn't clean the basket after I cleaned the grid, so there was a little debris in there, not much. When I started the pump this morning the pump got cloudy for a second and then went clear, no more white dust on leaves.

I also noticed a few water droplets coming down from my filter......... I know I need to adjust the filter lid again (will ask questions about that in a second) but first thoughts on the grey/white dust covered leaves?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Could have been air in the filter and it backed up to the pump when it shut off. If you have a manual air bleeder, open it a little while it's running and purge all the air from the system and see if it happens again. It also could be some residue from adding it. I assume you added it to the skimmer.

 

[bumdaddy]

Ok, will have to purge the air anyway since I have to readjust the lid again, correct?

Please let me know if this is wrong to fix filter lid:

Turn off
Purge Air
Remove lid
Clean and lube oring
Tighten lid
turn on
purge air

Hopefully last question for today..... Pool Filter is actually on right now with that minor leak. A few droplets running down the side from middle....is that something that can wait till I get home tonight, or do I need to have my wife turn it off till I get home. thoughts?

Thanks once again!

 

[bumdaddy]

As I am purging the air lots of cloudy water in the pump basket and a ton of cloudy water coming out of the main drain of the pool......HELP what does this mean!

 

[chiefwej]

It just means you don't have a check valve to prevent the DE from flowing backward through the pump into the pool. When you open the air bleed with pump off, the water (and DE mix) drain backward. When you turn the pump back on brush it back into the drain and it should go back into the filter.