Fiber Clear and Sta-Rite PLD50

[chem geek]

Re: Fiber Clear

Thank you, Dave. I really appreciate your help. My iron is 2ppm, and by the way, if you are still looking for feedback on CuLator. It did not work at all for me. I used it for three consecutive months and it did not affect the iron count at all.

I contacted the President/CEO of the manufacturer, Periodic Products, and he will follow up with you to try and figure out what went wrong. He strongly believes in the science behind the product but clearly the mixed results we have seen mean something needs to be understood and handled or improved. We won't recommend products unless they achieve reasonably consistent and positive results, or at least are restricted to uses that are most successful.

 

[JackieK]

Re: Fiber Clear

Thank you chemgeek, and everyone else for your valuable input!

 

[Patrick_B]

Re: Fiber Clear

That's some pretty amazing help from chemgeek. Hard to imagine getting more than that.

 

[JackieK]

Re: Fiber Clear

So I used Pool Magnet, and the water got very cloudy, which I know can happen, so I waited a week, but it only got worse, so today I tried to backwash the filter, which opens a whole new can of worms, which I will post separately under the new thread - Sta-Rite PLD50.

 

[JackieK]

Sta-Rite PLD50

Has anyone had any experience with this filter? It is supposed to be almost "maintenance free" but I have had nothing but trouble with it. We bought it as a supplemental filter because the cartidge filter that came with our oversized Endless Pool was not up to the task of keeping the water clear. Our installer assured us that the PLD50 was way oversized for our 5000 gallon pool and would have the pool sparking. Well, it helped, but no sparkles. It is a DE filter, and we started out using DE. I won't even get into the issues with measuring DE. Suffice it to say that the 6 pound recommendation on the filter (1 pound of DE = 2 coffee cans) was way too much. When I tried to backwash the filter, nothing came out but clear water. I called the installer and he said I had used twice as much DE as I should have. I disassembled the filter and chipped out pounds of "concrete" on a freezing cold New England day. I recharged the filter with half the DE. Still no sparkles, and pressure climbed over ten points, so I once again tried to backwash. Once again, clear water. Disassembled again on another bitter cold day, found more concrete. Soaked filter cartridge in chemical cleaner, stripped it clean, and switched to Fiber Clear - much smaller amount than DE. Initial result, sparkling water. Brown, not blue, because we have iron, but clear at least. Added Pool Magnet to try and sequester iron. Did nothing but make water cloudy. After a week of cloudy water, tried to backwash filter again. Nothing but clear water. Disassembled filter again. Found, not concrete, some kind of thick, otherworldly slime. Not quite as hard as DE to clean out, but 2 solid hours of working with hose and brush. So my questions: Is the filter cartridge supposed to be coated thickly inside and out with these materials? Why doesn't backwashing work? Is this a quality filter or have I been sold a lemon?
Thanks, Jackie

 

[jblizzle]

Re: Sta-Rite PLD50

Usually a coffee can is about 1 pound ... so maybe you were putting way too much in.

You need to realize that cloudy water usually has nothing to do with your filter. Is is almost always a problem with your chemistry. Specifically maintaining your FC too low depending on you CYA level.

There should only be DE outside of the cartridge. almost sounds like you added DE while in backwash mode.

 

[Divin Dave]

Re: Fiber Clear

Hi JackieK,
please keep your story in this thread. You can edit your title if you want, but keeping your story in one story line will provide the whole history.

Topics merged. JasonLion

I hate to hear about your woes.

 

[JackieK]

Re: Sta-Rite PLD50

No, I never added DE or Fiber Clear in backwash mode. The cartridge is always caked inside and out with media when I open it up. The pool did clear up overnight since cleaning the filter. Still not blue, but perfectly clear.

 

[jblizzle]

Found a tutorial here: http://www.inyopools.com/HowToPage/how_to_clean_a_pentair_sta_rite_system_2_mod_d_e_filter.aspx

Maybe it is normal for the DE to be on the inside and outside. I am not familiar with this type of DE filter.

 

[JackieK]

That is the process I follow. The tutorial does say to clean the inside, too, but isnt really clear about whether the inside should be as dirty as outside. I still don't understand why this filter won't backwash? Why does the whole thing have to be disassembled each time the pressure rises? And why do both DE and Fiber Clear cake up on it? (I did totally soak and clean off all DE before switching to Fiber Clear.)

A couple of other weird things going on. PH was a little low, so I added some Borax, which I have done many times. This time the Borax created a dark gray cloud when I poured it in. Never saw that before.

Also, an Endless pool has a propulsion unit which generates a swim current. When the current reaches the back of the pool, it enters channels which feed it back to the propulsion unit. Over the past few days, when we turn the propulsion unit on, it seems to be spewing out tiny white specs. I think these were causing the cloudiness. Since I cleaned the filter, it seems to be grabbing these particles and clearing them out. But each time we turn the unit on, more specs spew out. Any idea what these could be?