cleaning a hayward de-3600 filter

[jrguzmanr]

It's the end of my first season and I want to clean my DE filter (hayward DE-3600). From what I've read this is what I need to do:

1) Have a bucket/ container large enough to hold the entire assembly
2) #1 Add some TSP (tri-sodium-phosphate) to the water or some electric dishwasher detergent to the water and soak the grids for 3 hours – this will ‘de-grease’ the membranes and is the first step in cleaning them, rinse with hose and get ready for step 3.
3) Dump the container, refill with water and add muriatic acid to the water so that you have a 10:1 water: acid mixture and soak the grids for another 3 hours, this will clean any calcium off of the grids. Rinse grids again and reinstall them in the filter.
4) Now, run pump and bleed off the air from the filter and add 100% of the DE the filter calls for.

Here are my questions:

Anything steps I should add?
Should I clean it now or wait until next year?
Should I add the DE now or wait until the opening next year?
Are there any parts I should replace while I have the filter open?
Where can I get Muriatic Acid?

thanks

 

[jhirsch1]

you can get muriatic acid most hardware stores (except home depot and lowes)

 

[zea3]

Use do not want to do an acid bath for the grids unless absolutely necessary. The soak with TSP or dishwasher detergent should be enough to clean the grids. The acid bath is recommended when the grids have already been through the TSP/detergent soak and have low flow/high filter pressure issues within minutes of a DE recharge when all other possible causes have been ruled out. If you are experiencing rapid increase in filter pressure (pressure rises 10 lbs from the "clean" reading within minutes to hours of being cleaned and recharged) then you may need to do some troubleshooting before giving the grids an acid bath.

If you're cleaning the grids as part of the winterizing process and have not had any issues with rapid pressure rise then I would advise against an acid bath for the grids. The acid bath will shorten the life of the grids and if done incorrectly can cause immediate damage. The acid bath is best used when there is calcium scale on the grids that cannot be removed by any other means. Unless your pool has had calcium scale it is doubtful the grids will have any scale.

If you plan on running the pump then you will need to recharge the grids. If you are closing for the winter, allow the grids to dry completely and either put them back in the filter or store them were they will be protected from dirt and rodents.

Closing is a good time to inspect any parts to make sure none are broken or missing, check for rust and corrosion, tears or cracks.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Zea is correct about not doing the acid bath unless prior issues cannot be resolved with the TSP treatment.

I hope it's a moot point, but I have bought muriatic acid at both Lowes and Home Depot. You have to be careful at HD because the sell half strength (14.7%) sometimes. Normal strength is 20º Baume 31.45%.

 

[jrguzmanr]

thanks for all the responses.....but of course now I have more questions...

If I clean it now and put the grids away, when I put them back in for the opening, would this be harmful to the grids since the water is at it's dirtiest and it takes a couple of minutes to apply DE, or am I being to anal?

Is it a better choice to leave the filter as is now and clean it after I open it?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Clean it now and don't fret too much about the short time it takes to coat the grids next spring.

If you leave it dirty the coating may harden and be almost impossible to remove next year if allowed to dry out.