New pool filled and ready?

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Ok, I bought the Purple lid stabilizer from Wal-Mart. It had me add approximately 1.3lbs, directions said to SLOWLY add directly into the skimmer, which I did. As I was doing it I was reading the skimmer lid telling me NOT to add chemicals directly into the skimmer???

Oh, boy I hope I didn't screw anything up already. I know I was told at least 3 times in this thread alone to use a sock and hang it, but I skipped that step due to the instructions on the HTH bottle...
 
One of the reasons we say to hang it in a sock is because the CYA takes considerable time to dissolve on it's own. When you put it in the skimmer, it goes into the filter. Where it can stay for a long while, so you can't clean the filter if it hasn't dissolved (or you lose your CYA).

When you hang it in a sock, it soaks up the water, gets pasty and if squished will disperse in a white cloud, with the solids remaining in the sock to finish soaking.

For now, no filter cleaning for you. Give it time to dissolve - 2-3 days I'd say.
 
techguy said:
Glad I asked the question...

My pressures run at at 14 when the filter and the DE/cellulose are clean. They completely MAX out at 23 with a nasty dirty filter.This is what I mean. This is full of cellulose but DE looks quite similar.>>
IMG_5295.JPG


That's what the head of the filter looks like when you take off the band around the belly of the filter.

The bump handle in my filter is missing the plastic handle part.

photo.jpg



I have a Backwash / Bump question. My pump seems to run steady with my pressure gauge around 10. It is all brand new so I would imagine everything is still pretty clean. So, what you are saying is to keep an eye on the pressure gauge and when that starts to rise, I can BUMP to bring that back down?

As for backwashing, you never backwash? I do have a blue rolled up plastic tube connected to my filter, I am assuming that is what I use to backwash and the Crud runs out of that, but do I need a place for that Crud to run to and is it ok to just run it into some trees or in my yard somewhere?

Thanks.
This is from the Owner Manual"
Hayward PDF said:
REGENERATION (Extending the Cycle)
Stop the pump. Move the bump handle down slowly, then up briskly. Repeat 3 times. Restart the pump and filtration will resume at near the original flow and pressure. After each regeneration, and until the filter is cleaned, there may be a slight increase in the starting pressure. This is the result of dirt accumulating within the filter and is completely normal.
Click to expand...

This is what most people call "bumping the filter". When my pressures rise from my base 14, I bump the filter and my pressures go back to 14 and stay that way for a while. As more and more junk get stuck in the media (DE or cellulose). When my pump and only rn for an hour without the pressures rising over 20, I know it's time to "change" the DE. I usually take the head off and clean the fingers but other people just do a backwash to wash off 80% of the media and add 80% of the DE it would need for a full charge. I don't have a backwash circuit for the water to go anywhere except by the side of the filter and that makes a mess. I just change it and dispose of the DE by taking it to my green waste garbage can.
Click to expand...
 
Yes, each time you go near the pump/filter while it's running, take a look at it. I am just in the habit of anytime it's running and i can see it, look. Mine was freshly filled one June 2, and I changed it last week. So, I got about 6 weeks out of the charge. If you get a large algae bloom, it will be much less time. If the pressure is above 16, I bump it if i have the minute it takes to go over, shut off the pump, wait a moment for the filter pressures to equalize and then do the bump and turn the filter on. How long you charge lasts is really dependent on how much junk it filters from the pool. I get lots of crepe myrtle flowers in my pool.

I have used both DE and cellulose in my filter. With the DE, its probably best to not dump it in your yard, it will collect and make little white piles of the stuff and the powder is known to be a carcinogen. The cellulose is paper/wood dust to my knowledge and it blends in well with wood chip or could be spread on the grass without harm assuming it were spread thin and not allowed to form a sheet on the ground.

When changing my DE, I tend to bump it off the filter by pumping the handle until i get no real resistance and then I start the cleaning process. In the photo above, life and dinner got in the way. I have changed my pipes to isolate the pump and filter and then I went in for dinner. By the time I got back to the job, all the water had drained from the filter and I could not bump it off the tubes so that's why the filter was as caked as it is in the photo.

If the DE/cellulose (media) bumps off the tubes, I let the filter body settle while I am washing the fingers/tubes. When I get back I open the union fitting and then I tilt the filter body over to drain of the nearly clear water. I just train this into the wood chips next to my pool. When i get to the grey sludge, I stop pouring and take the whole filter base to my green waster recycle bin and put the DE sludge in it for composting. Then I rinse, replace the union, clamp the clean head, re-pipe, prime and start up the pump to flush out the air. I then add the media and all is good.
 
Alright, I added the PH up and it looks like my ph is close 7.2 i believe? FC - 5.5 CC - 0. I also added the stabilizer and just checked today. It looked like my CYA is right around 20, actually a little over the 20 line? I guess I will either need to add more stabilizer or just let my TriChlor pucks continue to do their job since it is already August and I probably only have another month of swimming.

On top of that, I will need to do a drain so my pool guy can get what he believes is a "rock" at the bottom of my pool in the corner...So I will be adding fresh water and will need to stabilize all over again next summer when I open.

At least we are swimming like crazy and the pool looks crystal clear right now. Filter is doing a good job.
 
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