DE in pool-High Pressure-New Manifold, Good Grids

[wooley1987]

CONFESSION TIME...

I let my pool turn to a pond this winter. I made this decision after letting it get so nasty that the pressure rose and cracked my manifold, allowing all my DE to enter the pool. I’m familiar with this because I did the same thing last winter.

MY JOURNEY BACK...

I replaced the manifold and my grids are like new. I’ve cleaned out all the debri and slammed the pool until the water is clear. I’ve rinsed and reapplied the DE several times. The water has cleared up, but I’ve still got a lot of DE in my pool. Last night I brushed the pool thoroughly and let the pool run with fresh DE on the grids. My pressure was sitting at normal clean, 18. After 2 hours the pressure jumped to 40 and I had to shut it off. This is the 2nd time this has happened. I turned the pool off and left it overnight. Today I turned the pool on, pressure was at 18, but I had DE blowing into the pool. I shut it down, opened the filter, and everything looks to be in order. Manifold is not cracked, grids have no visible holes, and the DE was still white and evenly coated on the grids. The O-ring and vent are also in fine shape.
HOW IS THE DE GETTING BACK TO THE POOL?
Why is my pressure rising so quickly with clean filters?
The pool has lots of particles to filter, but it shouldn’t be spiking that quickly. Could I have too much DE?
All suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for tuning in.

 

[wireform]

Could it possible that the return lines are clogged with de bringing the pressure up. Are you backwashing the De filter according to manufacturers instructions. Those DE filters have a different method for the backwash and isn't anything like a sand filter. It's something like , backwash, rinse, run a short time and do it again for several repeats in order to rid the filter of all the DE.

 

[ajw22]

I think your filter is getting overfilled with DE. If your filter DE fill is 6 lbs, and lets say you have lost 4 lbs of DE into your water, then as your filter runs capturing the DE your filter is loading up with way more then 6 lbs of DE. That overfilled DE is getting vented out.

Put in 50% of your normal DE load and see how things work.

Can your pool pass a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test?

 

[wireform]

I think your filter is getting overfilled with DE. If your filter DE fill is 6 lbs, and lets say you have lost 4 lbs of DE into your water, then as your filter runs capturing the DE your filter is loading up with way more then 6 lbs of DE. That overfilled DE is getting vented out.

Put in 50% of your normal DE load and see how things work.

Can your pool pass a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test?

The DE settles to the floor and doesn't get into the water stream unless he vacuums or how else is it coming back to the filter.

 

[wooley1987]

I think your filter is getting overfilled with DE. If your filter DE fill is 6 lbs, and lets say you have lost 4 lbs of DE into your water, then as your filter runs capturing the DE your filter is loading up with way more then 6 lbs of DE. That overfilled DE is getting vented out.

Put in 50% of your normal DE load and see how things work.

Can your pool pass a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test?

I believe you are correct. On my last year down I used less DE than usual. My goal is to clear the DE from the pool and I have been brushing and vacuuming to remove it. I think I have solved my problem. If I can remove the visible DE from the pool without raising my pressure to a dangerous level, I plan to tear down and reload with the proper amount of DE. From there I will pay more attention to my numbers and overnight chlorine loss. Thanks for your insight.

 

[JohnT]

My guess is you have an air leak which allows water to flow backwards through the system letting DE flow through the skinner and drain while the pump is off. High pressure is from things you can’t see in the water that the filter is catching. Check out your pool at night with the light on.