Is it that big, Pentair quad DE 60?

[Budman]

Just an observation, a friend has been taking care of his pool for about a year and cleaned the filter a couple months ago. About 15k gallon salt water gunite pool.
He asked me to look as to why the water wasn't flowing as good and he has the VS pump and it's set on speed 3.
Turns out the filter is very dirty. We do get a lot of blowing dust in the desert.
My question is, why does the filter look so small? 60 sq ft? I think the cartridges are 20" tall and I just lifted all 4 cartridges out at once to clean them. It doesn't seem like 60 sq ft.
And no backwash valve.
At this rate he'll have to clean the filters and recharge every month.
Does that sound right?

 

[pwrstrk]

I looked it up and it's a 60 sq ft. That should fine for 15k pool.

Try using a skimmer sock, panty hose in the skimmer basket. I use one all the time. Firm believer in it. That should help alot. Just keep on eye on it and clean as need be.


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[y_not]

According to this chart from mas985's "Hydraulics 101" post, of which you are to double all but the sand filter square footage, your friend's DE filter is 3x the recommendation. So he's more than covered.

DE filters pack a lot of filtration per SQft.

 

[Budman]

Thanks.
I was just surprised at the size of the entire filter. Maybe I'm just used to seeing the 60 sq ft filter grid style filters. The grids alone were 30" tall and 7 of them.
Why didn't the pool builder put in a backwash valve?
At least it would save some time instead of taking the entire filter apart every month.

 

[y_not]

Thanks.
I was just surprised at the size of the entire filter.

Surprised that It's small?

Maybe I'm just used to seeing the 60 sq ft filter grid style filters. The grids alone were 30" tall and 7 of them.

Are these on other DE filters that you have seen? 60SQft per grid?

Why didn't the pool builder put in a backwash valve?
At least it would save some time instead of taking the entire filter apart every month.

It sounds like you have a "bump" type DE filter, they usually don't have a backwash valve.
Even then, some PBs install a drain line, others don't. You can add one though.
As for monthly disassembly, that should only have to be done once a year and is recommended 1x each season anyway and is only for deep cleaning purposes, of which the extent varies.
For required cleanings and even partial recharge, it should be little to no more work than a sand filter.
There should be a "bump" handle on it so you can shake the DE off the grids, causing non-dirty, unclogged DE to settle at the top surface of the grids. Thereby giving you more time between clean and recharge cycles.
See PS for instructions on how to correctly clean and care for your DE filter. Scroll all the way to the last section for DE. About 2/3rds of the way down.
pool-school/cleaning%20pool%20filters

You can also switch to cellulose fiber as a DE alternative. It takes less to coat the grids, weighs less, filters better, biodegrades, doesn't irritate skin or lungs and it cleans off the grids in a flash.

Also, DE grids need to be periodically soaked in detergent and acid washed to get the funk buildup, calcium/minerals and slime off of them.
See this article for details. Do not perform an acid wash without 1st reading this article or you could permanently ruin your filter grids.
use-and-care-for-de-filters-t4086.html

 

[pwrstrk]

That filter doesn't use the bumb method. That's on a hayward filter.

If the filter doesn't have a backwash valve you can install one.


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[y_not]

My bad, I didn't realize only Hayward offered that option.
As for general design, I thought DE filters either had a multiport/slide valve, "bump", or bust?

Edit: I just had a look at the manual, I didn't realize which filter it was, as it wasn't in the original post, nor is there a sig. Totally missed the fact it was in the thread title... oops!

So this one has an "optional" MP valve... how silly.
So that means you do have to pull it all apart and hose the hybrid cartridge elements down. But I see there's a shortcut. You can leave the hybrid cartridge elements in the housing, pull the drain plug and hose it down, letting it drain out the bottom.

I'm not sure on this, so check 1st. But it seems like you could just shut the system down, bleed the air pressure, open the drain plug, leave it out and fire the system back up. Just letting it drain out the bottom as if it were a backwash valve outlet. Then once clean, follow normal shutdown procedure, close the drain plug back up, then follow normal start up procedure and recharge it with DE.
But I don't know if there will be enough pressure, to warrant enough water flow for this to work. Just a thought, based on what Waste wrote in the article I linked to above.

Do consider a deep clean of the filter elements as noted above, as some of the symptoms are decreased filtration,decreased flow, increased pressure and increased frequency of cleaning. Not necessarily occurring all at once.