I have the above filter for about 6 years. I never cleaned the flex assembly with muriatic acid or anything. All I did was take everything apart, and hose off the fingers. I just did the muriatic acid cleaning. Because the pressure started at 25 psi. after a reinstall. Maybe the pressure gauge is bad, not sure. Anyway, here is the question---Has anyone ever put air pressure to each finger to blow them out ?? Or how about just directing water flow from a hose to each finger to flush it out. Yhanks, mike
Hayward EC75A pool filter
- Thread starter mike1331
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MITBeta
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Does the pressure gauge go to zero with the pump off? Is the return jet pressure normal?
Yes, the pressure gauge goes to zero when pump is off. The return jets were normal for a while, then just about stopped. Then I took everything apart, and did the muriatic acid wash. But upon startup, even before I start adding the DE, the gauge showed about 22 psi.
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Have you ever run the filter for an extended period of time with no DE? The manual says not to run for longer than 1 minute without a precoat.
What does your water chemistry look like? Clogged filters are often an early sign of an algae problem.
Can you please post a full set of readings?
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
What does your water chemistry look like? Clogged filters are often an early sign of an algae problem.
Can you please post a full set of readings?
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Hopefully you did not do permanent damage to the fingers. It is never mentioned anywhere anymore that I have seen, but manufacturers used to recommend that any oils be removed from filter media before using acid. Even if you are fanatically clean before getting into a pool, you still produce body oils that the chlorinated water is very good at washing off. This required a cleaning with a high-pH solution like commercially available filter cleaners or even "real" TSP, not the substitute. Hitting the oils with acid causes some reaction that sets them into a hard and virtually non-removable and non-permeable coating. This could be one of the reasons for your high starting pressure. At 37.5 sq. ft. of filter area and being 15years old (the average life of most pool equipment) it may be time for a new filter. A large cartridge filter or a sand filter would make life so much easier for you.
Hi, Thanks for the replies.
I always start adding the DE right after I start the pump, so I doubt I damaged any fingers. I just installed a new pressure gage. It shows 20 psi, so I guess that is not too bad. When I first installed the filter back in 2015, it recorded 17 psi. at startup without any DE.
Here is the results form my last water test at the pool store.
Free chlorine is 0.07
Total chlorine is 0.3
pH is 6.6
Total alkalinity is 45
Calcium hardness is 175
Cyanuric acid is 60
Iron is 0.1
Copper is 0.2
Phosphates is 103
TDS is 500
This test was on May 3rd.
Since then I have added 4 cups of soda ash
2 lbs of shock
18 lbs of hardness plus.
The top of the pool is covered with small white bubbles or foam when the pump is running, but I think that usually happens after I add chemicals.
When I bought the muriatic acid, which was 20%. I mixed it with a 1 to 1 ratio with water, per the Hayward manual. The guy told me to only soak the fingers for about 30 minutes, and then rinse the fingers, or NEST that he called them. He said I could repeat the process, so I did the soak two more times. I was surprised, I do not see any difference in the fingers. I thought they would be nice and white, but no difference in appearance. And the solution is clear. I thought it would be very cloudy and dirty, but it was not ???
Can I reuse that solution in the near future, or should I throw it. Many thanks for you replies and suggestions. Mike
I always start adding the DE right after I start the pump, so I doubt I damaged any fingers. I just installed a new pressure gage. It shows 20 psi, so I guess that is not too bad. When I first installed the filter back in 2015, it recorded 17 psi. at startup without any DE.
Here is the results form my last water test at the pool store.
Free chlorine is 0.07
Total chlorine is 0.3
pH is 6.6
Total alkalinity is 45
Calcium hardness is 175
Cyanuric acid is 60
Iron is 0.1
Copper is 0.2
Phosphates is 103
TDS is 500
This test was on May 3rd.
Since then I have added 4 cups of soda ash
2 lbs of shock
18 lbs of hardness plus.
The top of the pool is covered with small white bubbles or foam when the pump is running, but I think that usually happens after I add chemicals.
When I bought the muriatic acid, which was 20%. I mixed it with a 1 to 1 ratio with water, per the Hayward manual. The guy told me to only soak the fingers for about 30 minutes, and then rinse the fingers, or NEST that he called them. He said I could repeat the process, so I did the soak two more times. I was surprised, I do not see any difference in the fingers. I thought they would be nice and white, but no difference in appearance. And the solution is clear. I thought it would be very cloudy and dirty, but it was not ???
Can I reuse that solution in the near future, or should I throw it. Many thanks for you replies and suggestions. Mike
MITBeta
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It looks like those tests are from a pool store. How did the pH and TA get so low? Are you chlorinating with tabs?
At TFP, we rely on testing from reliable test kits and follow the adhere to the FR/CYA recommended ratio. It looks like your FC has fallen below the minimum recommended level and you have a low grade algae problem, which is often masked by a DE filter.
I recommend getting yourself a good test kit - it will save you a lot of money in the long run, and switching to liquid chlorine.
Test Kits Compared
Once you get your test kit, come back here and post your results. You will very likely need to follow the SLAM Process to clear your water and keep your filter from continuing to clog up.
In the meantime, add 5ppm of chlorine to your pool daily. Use PoolMath to figure out how much that is for the size of your pool.
At TFP, we rely on testing from reliable test kits and follow the adhere to the FR/CYA recommended ratio. It looks like your FC has fallen below the minimum recommended level and you have a low grade algae problem, which is often masked by a DE filter.
I recommend getting yourself a good test kit - it will save you a lot of money in the long run, and switching to liquid chlorine.
Test Kits Compared
Once you get your test kit, come back here and post your results. You will very likely need to follow the SLAM Process to clear your water and keep your filter from continuing to clog up.
In the meantime, add 5ppm of chlorine to your pool daily. Use PoolMath to figure out how much that is for the size of your pool.
Thanks MITBeta for the reply. Here is some additional info. I opened the pool about two weeks ago. It was so green I could not even see the bottom in the shallow end. 16 x 32 , inground pool. (It is always like that, even though I properly winterize it), I dumped 16 gallons of liquid chlorine in it. It helped a bit, but was not happy. The liquid chlorine I bought is only 10 % chlorine. So I added at least 15 one pound bags of shock. It started to get a "bit" better, so I took a sample to my local pool store. The kid doing the test, was not very sharp, anyway, he said the pH was 7.8 which I could not believe since I always have trouble getting the pH up, especially after all the snow and rain during the winter. Anyway, I added 8 lbs of pH down per the test result, which made the pH worse. I also added more shock, and 7 lbs of stabilizer. per the first test. Your other question----Yes, I am using 3 inch chlorine tabs in a Hayward chlorinator. The detailed test results I posted above, were from another pool store. It has been raining here the last three days, so I have not done much. I will post back in a few days with an update. Thanks again, Mike
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Mike,
That's a lot of blind dumping of chems.
Get your own test kit and follow the SLAM Process.
Despite the HUGE chlorine load you dumped in, you probably didn't get all the algae and now it's rebounding. SLAM is Shock Level and MAINTAIN. The maintain part is important.
That's a lot of blind dumping of chems.
Get your own test kit and follow the SLAM Process.
Despite the HUGE chlorine load you dumped in, you probably didn't get all the algae and now it's rebounding. SLAM is Shock Level and MAINTAIN. The maintain part is important.
With all that blind dumping your next problem will be when the water does clear is "what happened to my pool liner" . There is a process here on TFP and it does not include the pool store of any kind. You need to read pool school and understand the order how things are done. I have a pool with a EC50 filter and year one when I took over it also shot the psi way high. I just used simple house hold cleaners let em soak and the use a airgun to rid it from Crud. Ever sice it's been great.