How often should I clean my Cartridge filter ?

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D

DarthChicha

0
Aug 10, 2018
9
El Paso, TX
Hi, I have a 10,000 gallon, cement pool in Texas. I bought a new pentair 160340 filter that has cartridges. How often should I clean it? I had read that they should be cleaned every 6 months but the pool guy told me that it’s every month. :-|

Thanks




BTW. How do I put the little text below with my pool features.
 
You clean your filter cartridges when the filter pressure rises 25% above the clean pressure at the same pump rpm. Or once a year if your pressure never rises to the level of 25% above clean pressure.

Please add a signature. Read Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post. Go to Settings, upper right of this page, then Edit Signature, left side of page.
 
DarthChicha said:
Hi, I have a 10,000 gallon, cement pool in Texas. I bought a new pentair 160340 filter that has cartridges. How often should I clean it? I had read that they should be cleaned every 6 months but the pool guy told me that it’s every month. :-|

Thanks





BTW. How do I put the little text below with my pool features.
Click to expand...
For this ^

Go up to the top right below pool school, and click on settings, then go to the left side of your screen and click on "edit signature".

For your filter, mine has a gauge on top of it. It really depends on your conditions, and how much junk it's filtering out. My filters gauge was initially setup running at 14 psi, when it gets up around 20 psi, the gauge has a reading that it's time to clean. Everyone's filter will run a little differently, but I am on two years without cleaning it. I am very particular though, and clean my pools skimmer often, as well as sweep, clean out leaves, robot, etc.
 
For your filter, mine has a gauge on top of it. It really depends on your conditions, and how much junk it's filtering out. My filters gauge was initially setup running at 14 psi, when it gets up around 20 psi, the gauge has a reading that it's time to clean.
Click to expand...
Jeremy -- Do not use the dial markings to determine when to clean. Use 25% above clean pressure.

Thank you.
 
When you have cleaned and reassembled your filter, start it up and note the new "clean" pressure. When it goes 25% above that number it is time to clean. I've gone through two of those gauges and am now going to switch to a glycerin one sold by TFTestkits. That black one isn't very accurate IMO.
 
dc,

Does the pool guy charge you to clean the filter? You have a 320 sq.ft. filter so cleaning every month seems way to often to me. But, each pool is different and you should not use time as your only reference. As others have pointed out, you should use the reading on the filter gauge to determine when to clean the cartridges. You take a reading when the filter is new, or has just been cleaned, and record that as your "clean" pressure, when the pressure increases by 25 to 30% then it is time to clean them. As a minimum, I would clean the cartridges once a year..

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
 
Lilypad said:
When you have cleaned and reassembled your filter, start it up and note the new "clean" pressure. When it goes 25% above that number it is time to clean. I've gone through two of those gauges and am now going to switch to a glycerin one sold by TFTestkits. That black one isn't very accurate IMO.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will take a look in one as well. About how long did your black gauge last?
 
Your pools plumbing and filter will determine the starting pressure (clean) and it's easier and more accurate to say clean when it's risen 20-25% from that. Depending on the specific gauge and if it's adjustable or just static it might not be a good choice to use to determine when to clean. The one above you can rotate that outer ring and set the "Dirty" without using the "Clean". On the gauge below, the red area to show needs to be cleaned isn't adjustable. That red area might be way to high a pressure or in some cases a pool might be in the red even right after cleaning the filter. That's why it's said not go go by the markings on the gauge (clean, dirty).

I like the TFTestkits glycerin filled gauge. Mine is going on three years but you need to keep the face out of the sun or the fluid will darken. Pressure Gauge Glycerin filled 2.5 Bottom Mount
The gauge below is NOT the TFTestkits guage.

pressure-gauge-oil-filled-sr.jpg
 

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If your filter is like mine, the gauge never goes up by much. I just try to do it every 3-4 months so basically in the middle of the season and sometimes at then end of the closing company doesn't do it. I am due for a cleaning now in fact.
 
If you follow the methods here you shouldn't have to clean it that often. Unless you get a bad algae bloom, have a lot of dirt tracked in from people going in and out of the pool, or tree droppings in the springtime.

I have to clean mine in the spring after the tree sheddings get in the pool because those clog up the filter, I keep my skimmers clean though and use skimmer socks, I also have a pool bot that runs daily to keep the pool clean.
 
I don't mean to hijack this thread but my question seems to fit. Mods, please move if it should fit elsewhere.

Is there a reason I should be cleaning my cartridge filter on a periodic basis as well if the pressure has not increase by 25% above clean pressure?
My pool has been running for 8 months now and the pressure hasn't gone up a single PSI. I keep the pool fairly clean and a hairnet in the skimmer, so there isn't that much dirt that makes it to the filter. At this rate, I think it will take years before my pressure goes up by 25%. Is it a good idea to clean, say annually anyway, or fine to just go for a really long time without cleaning the cartridges. (I know my gauge works because the pressure does change when I flip to spa mode).

Note: I did clean it last month anyway just because I was curious (new pool, I like to take things apart, etc), but my filter pressure has never moved. Not really sure if I should clean it again next year now again regardless of pressure or wait until it goes up even it takes several years.
 
I also have a Pentair CCP cartridge filter, and my pressure has never risen in my 6 years of pool ownership. (I had the 420 for years until I remodeled & upgraded to the 520.) So I can't go by that criterion to judge when to clean.

Once or twice, I have seen slight drips from under the clamp. My pool solar guy happened to be here and saw it, too. He said that was an indication to clean the cartridges. Cleaning them indeed resolved the drip. Some bit of debris must have lodged in the o-ring, I guess, instead of getting caught in the filter medium.

So I now clean them every 6 months whether they need it or not. Even though the pressure never climbs, there always turns out to be enough dead organic matter in the filter that I feel better about cleaning.
 
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