I recently purchased a new house that came with a 13,000 gallon IG, vinyl lined pool. I'm waiting on my test kit to arrive, but so far I've been adding bleach and just using the test strips to check chlorine level. After spending about a month scooping leaves out of the pool every evening, and then vacuuming almost constantly for a week, I finally have the pool free of debris and clear. At any rate, I was reading through the pool school articles and the article on filter types led to my question. I actually have both a Hayward sand filter with a multi-valve and a cartridge filter (in that order). Should I actually allow the water to be filtered through both, or would I be better off setting the multi-valve to recirculate and bypass the sand filter? Thanks in advance!
Quick Filter question
- Thread starter BrianInNc
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!!!Can you post a picture of your equipment setup? It is extremely rare and odd to have 2 filters running.
Sounds like your water is likely green and that is going to require following the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process. Clearing up algae is easier with a sand filter, but may take a little longer than other types of filters.
Not the best picture, but the only one I have available that shows the entire setup.
That is really bizarre and going to add significant head loss, lowering you flow rate. I am going to guess that the previous owner was not happy with a cloudy pool and thought it was a filter problem ... when in fact it was a chemistry problem.
A sand filter alone is more than capable to keep it clear pool.
The easiest thing I would suggest would be to open up the cartridge filter and remove the cartridge and then basically you would only be using the sand filter.
Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.
A sand filter alone is more than capable to keep it clear pool.
The easiest thing I would suggest would be to open up the cartridge filter and remove the cartridge and then basically you would only be using the sand filter.
Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.
Thanks for your help! So, I was thinking about bypassing the sand filter, but you would recommend bypassing the cartridge filter instead? I've noticed that I get very little pressure from my return jets and am hoping that bypassing one of the filters helps with that. No air in the pump or anything else that would indicate an obvious leak. Possibly an obstruction, but hoping for the best.
What does the water look like?
I would bypass the cartridge for now ... especially if you have to SLAM. Two filters could easily be why you do not have strong jets in the pool.
BTW, we recommend cleaning the filter when the pressure rises 20-25% over the clean pressure. And if you do not know the history, Deep Cleaning your Sand Filter could be a good idea.
I would bypass the cartridge for now ... especially if you have to SLAM. Two filters could easily be why you do not have strong jets in the pool.
BTW, we recommend cleaning the filter when the pressure rises 20-25% over the clean pressure. And if you do not know the history, Deep Cleaning your Sand Filter could be a good idea.
That is just plain weird.
Experiment a little. See if the flow improves and the pressure drops with the sand filter in bypass. Then put it back to normal and pull the cartridge from the cartridge filter and see what that does. Then decide which one to lose.
The cartridge should filter slightly better than the sand filter. Probably not enough to notice, though. And sand filters are the easiest to backwash. A couple minutes and you don't even get wet. A big cartridge filter like that looks like a PITA to clean.
Experiment a little. See if the flow improves and the pressure drops with the sand filter in bypass. Then put it back to normal and pull the cartridge from the cartridge filter and see what that does. Then decide which one to lose.
The cartridge should filter slightly better than the sand filter. Probably not enough to notice, though. And sand filters are the easiest to backwash. A couple minutes and you don't even get wet. A big cartridge filter like that looks like a PITA to clean.
My water is actually really clear currently. Probably blind luck. The test strips indicate that my ph is low, but I'm not sure I want to do anything about that until my actual test kit arrives. Looks like it's out for delivery, so I'll be able to get accurate readings very soon. Thanks for the link on cleaning the sand filter. I don't believe the pool was opened at all last year, but it was never covered so I'm sure that the filter needs a good cleaning. I did take out the cartridge and clean it, but haven't tackled the sand yet.
Wanted to give a quick update. I tried setting the sand filter to recirculate and just using the cartridge filter and there was no appreciable difference in pressure at the return jets. Pulled the cartridge out and switched the sand filter back to filter (after rinsing) and we are in business! Great pressure and the water appears to be circulating. Checked on it this morning, and the surface is much cleaner than normal. I don't think anything was being pushed to the skimmers before. I'll leave the cartridge out, and maybe next year I'll pull out the whole cartridge filter and put a SWG in that space. Thanks so much for the help!
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