Cleaning Filter Too Often?

[TexasPool128]

My pool is almost 2 weeks old. We’re also having a shop built, next to the pool, so there’s been a ton of dirt in the pool. My gauge is still showing “clean” but I’ve noticed the psi has gone up a little. I like to tinker with stuff and I’m curious as how to remove it, what it looks like and so on. Would there be any harm in cleaning the filter already? How often is too often? Can it be too clean?
Thanks!

 

[HeyEng]

General rule is to clean the filter when pressure increases more than 25% over the "clean" pressure. I don't think there is any real harm in opening it up and taking a gander, but the odds of it needing cleaning already is very, VERY remote.

How big is the filter? I ask because when we bought our house, the previous owner had really neglected maintenance on EVERYTHING. They never closed the pool and ran the filter 12 hours a day 365 days a year, so I assumed that it would most definitely need cleaning. Much to my surprise, they were pretty clean...and this is with a LOT of debris being blown into the pool. I have to assume that having such a large filter was probably my saving grace.

 

[Teald024]

Hello and Welcome to TFP!
Your owner's manual for the filter should show an exploded view of the filter. I'd look at some pictures online if you want to know what's inside and prepare yourself for when you do need to clean.
As much as you like to tinker, cartridge filters are very simple. I wouldn't go in there and pull apart unless you need to. If your pressure has gone up very little, I think you'd be disappointed by what you will find, no real need to get in there and clean. Many cartridge owners only clean 1 or 2 times a season unless they had an algae outbreak.
We recommend cleaning when the pressure goes up 25% above clean pressure. I never hit the pressure mark to clean, only once at the end of season and maybe once in the middle of the season. Any heavy stuff falls to the bottom and the finer stuff goes to the filter. Filter size does play a role in this. What size is your filter?
A dirty filter does help trap stuff better. If cleaned too often, you risk spraying holes into the media and then it will allow stuff to pass through the filter.

The dirty stuff on the bottom of the pool, is it gritty when you rub it between your fingers, or does it smear?

 

[Richard320]

Typically you clean the filter when the pressure rises 25% over the clean pressure. So if the pressure started at 10, you clean it at 12.5 psi. At 20, 25. And so on. A gauge with the colored bands is going to be wrong. Someone with long, long pipe runs and a heater and many bends and valves is going to run a much higher pressure than the guy who has a short straight run. Normal for one may be clogged solid for the other. So ignore the color-coding on the gauge. Likewise, it yours has the telltale ring you rotate around, use the set point to remember what clean pressure is, but ignore the second pointer. It's usually 10 psi above clean, which is likely way more than 25%

Good news for you is that cleaning a cartridge filter doesn't empty a lot a water from the pool, the way backwashing a sand or DE filter will. So if it gives you peace of mind, pull it apart and clean it. You'll also know for sure what clean pressure is on your system.

 

[TexasPool128]

Filter system is a Jandy CL460:

Large Pool Filter: CL Cartridge Filter | Jandy

Looking for a Large Pool Filter? Find the CL Cartridge Filter for the Perfect Pool Experience. Buy Now w/ a Pool Pro Near You!

www.jandy.com

The stuff in the bottom of the pool is definitely gritty and does not smear. It settles quickly when brushed and looks just like the dirt all around my pool. We started building the shop 2 weeks prior to the pool and are still working on it, with the rest of the dirt work and pouring the driveway concrete this week (if it quits raining).

 

[Teald024]

You have a large filter for your pool size. You won't need to clean very often if the water is clear.

As a comparison, I had a 175sqft filter on a pool with 400sqft of surface area & 12,000 gallons. I cleaned the filter 2x a year and it hadn’t risen too much on pressure.

 

[Green Goblin]

Sorry to be late to the discussion, but I want to offer a somewhat different opinion here. You said your pool was only a few weeks old, and it's a gunite pool. You didn't specify the surface of the pool (e.g. plaster, hydrazzo, pebble, etc...), but if the pool is that new, you probably have been doing a a lot of brushing to brush dust down into your floor drains and thus into your filter. You may have also been running the filter a lot, like maybe 24/7 for a few weeks.

My pool builder advised cleaning my filter 4 weeks after filling with water, to get the dust out of the filter. I did this, and there was lots of stuff coming out of the filter.

So, you may be near time to clean your filter-- the dust and debris from your build out may be in there. If the filters look perfectly clean, you can simply put them back in without washing them off, and it shouldn't change anything.

I have the CL460 too, and I hate it. Mine was installed too close to the wall, and it's very hard to get the bracket off. Also, I don't like that I have to break out a socket set just to clean my filter. Lastly, I haven't figured out yet if my pressure gauge just doesn't work or not, but when I cleaned my filter for the first time it was nowhere near the "dirty" mark on the gauge, and the filters were full of stuff. Relying on the pre-made markings on the gauge may not be ideal.

 

[mknauss]

nowhere near the "dirty" mark on the gauge

Do not rely on that. Clean the filter when the pressure rises by 25% over the clean pressure.

 

[TexasPool128]

Sorry to be late to the discussion, but I want to offer a somewhat different opinion here. You said your pool was only a few weeks old, and it's a gunite pool. You didn't specify the surface of the pool (e.g. plaster, hydrazzo, pebble, etc...), but if the pool is that new, you probably have been doing a a lot of brushing to brush dust down into your floor drains and thus into your filter. You may have also been running the filter a lot, like maybe 24/7 for a few weeks.

My pool builder advised cleaning my filter 4 weeks after filling with water, to get the dust out of the filter. I did this, and there was lots of stuff coming out of the filter.

So, you may be near time to clean your filter-- the dust and debris from your build out may be in there. If the filters look perfectly clean, you can simply put them back in without washing them off, and it shouldn't change anything.

I have the CL460 too, and I hate it. Mine was installed too close to the wall, and it's very hard to get the bracket off. Also, I don't like that I have to break out a socket set just to clean my filter. Lastly, I haven't figured out yet if my pressure gauge just doesn't work or not, but when I cleaned my filter for the first time it was nowhere near the "dirty" mark on the gauge, and the filters were full of stuff. Relying on the pre-made markings on the gauge may not be ideal.

The gauge cover actually rotates! After you clean the filter and turn the pump on, rotate the gauge to the clean psi location. The dirty psi location is 20% higher than the clean psi location. Or, just make note of your clean psi and like others said, when it’s 20-25% higher then it’s time to clean them.