Cartridge Filters

[dschribs]

I have a Hayward cartridge filter. I put in 4 brand new Pleatco cartridges around Memorial Day.

How many times during the summer do those of you with cartridges clean your filters? My pressure hasn't gone up much at all but I'm wondering if two months or so is a long time to go without cleaning filter cartridges.

 

[ComputerGuyInNOLA]

You should clean them when pressure goes up 25% from the clean pressure. For me it took nine months. If it is a new pool build, I would do an initial cleaning after a few months to get the contruction debris out of the filters.

 

[dschribs]

It's not a new pool. They were brand new cartridges when I put them in and it's only been about 2 months so my thinking is they will be ok for awhile before they actually need cleaning. The pressure hasn't gone up at all so I guess I'm ok.

 

[JohnN]

I clean my cartridge way too often. I clean it probably every 2 weeks. I have never noticed an increase on the pressure gauge. But like was said, you should wait until you see a 25% pressure increase.

 

[mas985]

I clean mine once per year (12 months operation). If the cartridge is sized properly, it shouldn't need cleaning more than that.

dschribs, for your pool, you should have at least a 300 sq-ft filter and if you had 425 sq-ft like mine, you might get away with once per year too.

JohnN, cleaning so often will shorten the life of the filter so you might want to increase that some.

 

[JohnN]

JohnN, cleaning so often will shorten the life of the filter so you might want to increase that some.

Didn't know that. I might get a new cartridge next year anyway, so I will start cleaning that one less often. When I first open the pool, I have to add a lot of well water, which adds a lot of iron. So I clean the filters every few days until all of the iron is filtered out. Then I go to about every 2 weeks, which I guess I will stop doing.

 

[mikemass]

For the past few years I have been using skimmer socks early in the season when the tree pollen is high here in the North East. The socks every few days look like they are filled with yellow vomit. Much better catching it there than in the filter. As a result, my cartridges stay clean all year long. I used to clean them around the 4th of July. But now I don't even bother. They make it through the whole season.