Multiple DE filter panels found with holes during cleaning

[nobody291]

Yesterday, I did the spring cleaning of my DE filter. Most of the time I do it, I seem to find one panel that needs replacement. Normally that has been because the fitting that connects to the water supply manifold was broken/cracked.

I was surprised yesterday that four of the panels had a different kind of damage. I have attached a couple of photos of the worst panel, which had 3 holes in the fabric. I don't recall ever seeing this in the past. Three of the four damaged panels were "First Choice" brand that I bought at Leslie's over the last several years. I bought the replacement panels at a different pool supply shop.

I followed the filter's recommendation to use 1 lb of DE per 10 sq ft last time I cleaned it. The DE seemed a little thin in spots as I cleaned the panels, so I used all of the 7 lbs of DE I had left in my garage when I recharged.

Do you think this was just bad luck this year, or could I be doing something that contributed to the damage?

 

[1poolman1]

Yesterday, I did the spring cleaning of my DE filter. Most of the time I do it, I seem to find one panel that needs replacement. Normally that has been because the fitting that connects to the water supply manifold was broken/cracked.

I was surprised yesterday that four of the panels had a different kind of damage. I have attached a couple of photos of the worst panel, which had 3 holes in the fabric. I don't recall ever seeing this in the past. Three of the four damaged panels were "First Choice" brand that I bought at Leslie's over the last several years. I bought the replacement panels at a different pool supply shop.

I followed the filter's recommendation to use 1 lb of DE per 10 sq ft last time I cleaned it. The DE seemed a little thin in spots as I cleaned the panels, so I used all of the 7 lbs of DE I had left in my garage when I recharged.

Do you think this was just bad luck this year, or could I be doing something that contributed to the damage?

What size pump do you have? I usually see that on pools with large (1.5hp or more) single-speed pumps and filters that aren't backwashed when they should be. Stresses the fabric and you get holes.
DE should fall off the grids when the system is off, so it is normal to not see it, or it be thin, on a grid when you open the filter.

 

[nobody291]

What size pump do you have?

I have a 3HP VS pump, that mostly runs at a very low RPM for my SWG to work...it goes to higher RPMs for solar heating, skimming, etc a few hours a day.

filters that aren't backwashed when they should be.

I have always used the 25% pressure rise as the trigger to backwash, and actually cleaned the filter annually. My last filter disassemble/cleaning was a year ago...the clean pressure last April was 18.5 psi, and prior to cleaning yesterday it had risen to 22 psi, which is about a 20% rise. Should I backwash using something other than the 25% metric?