Cartridge Filter - does the housing ever need replacing?

[jjean]

Hi! We have an old Blue Haven 450/550 series smartfilter Hayward cartridge filter about 20 years old. We were about to put in new cartridges as we are remodeling our pool and it is about to be filled with water, and the bottom manifold cracked. I found one pool guy that could replace that manifold for about $300 or I could buy a whole brand new Hayward W3C5030 525sf cartridge filter - for $1600. Or have the remodel crew install a Jandy CL Cartridge filter for $2100 - which is all a lot more $.
Question - should we spend the money and replace the whole filter since we just remodeled (new coping/tile/and minipebble)? Or is a cartridge filter a very basic piece of equipment and if we replace the manifold for $300 will be be in great shape? It is a huge cost difference, otherwise i'd for sure just replace. thank you!

 

[Texas Splash]

Normally, if the exterior shell of the filter is sound and in good shape, we simply replace any parts inside that may go bad as long as they are still available and it's cost-effective to replace. But let's get another opinion from someone who has probably seen a few of these in his travels @1poolman1.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Jean,

While it is true that housing sometimes crack over time, I suggest that you just fix the manifold and use what you have.

If it's not broke, don't fix it.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[IUsedToSail]

I'd be curious how that happened. Is the plastic manifold brittle or did it freeze or something?

 

[jjean]

+

I'd be curious how that happened. Is the plastic manifold brittle or did it freeze or something?

Brittle...its almost 20 years old and we had drained the pool to remodel so it was without water about a week. When we opened it up to install the new cartridges in anticipation of filling the pool with water it cracked! It had some hairline cracks before we didn't realize were so bad. I decided it was better to break now than after we had filled the pool i guess.
Stressful!

 

[IUsedToSail]

In the event you need to replace it, I'm really happy with this Waterway filter I bought. Made in the USA, uses the same cartridges as the others and it costs significantly less.