Oh boy.....

[cj133]

It was 2 at a time, but yeah. Many get 10 years out of them whether it's the 2 cart or 4 cart model.

Interesting.

 

[Mdragger88]

Cartridge Filter Use and Care - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[VinnyinNJ]

I must be the only one who loved his DE filter! Easy to use, cleaned the pool great and never had a problem with it. I would maybe change the DE once a month or 1 1/2 months and bump it once a week which was simply turning off the pump, twist the knob on top 4 or 5 times and turn the pump back on. Being an AG pool I would use the pool's water pressure for backwashing ... easy! The whole process of changing out the DE was about 1/2 hour.

I'm now on a sand filter and hoping it works as well as the DE did. I didn't go DE this time because the dealer said my Township is treating it as hazardous waste, something I don't want to deal with and Hayward uses fingers and not grids .. the grids are so easy to take care of.

 

[Mdragger88]

I like my large sand filter but it is the only thing I have ever had for a pool (aside from terrible tiny intex cartridges).
I only backwash when my pressure rises 25% over clean pressure - which is maybe once a month or so, sometimes I go ahead & do it early if I need to drain some water from the pool so I kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I suspect most people will be happy with whatever filter they have if it is sized appropriately they maintain an algae free pool. Most with large cartridge filters & no algae problems only need to clean them once or twice per season. I do have a single cartridge filter in my hot tub, I clean it upon purging every 6 months & maybe once or twice inbetween depending upon use. It’s bigger & has way more pleats than an intex filter & my tub is only around 250 gallons so I can easily see why people with the intex ones & a 5 or 6k gallon pool have a horrible time & have to clean them constantly. If money is no object, Get the biggest filter u can fit in your space . My neighbor had a DE filter, it’s small & compact which is nice on the equipment pad. I have no idea if it’s really the ideal size for his pool or not but he was messing with de every week when his pool was operable.

 

[Catscratcher]

I have this happen every year, when the winter rains stop, everything dry's out and then the spring winds start and dust gets blown everywhere.
Pool goes a horrible colour.
As long as you are passing the overnight chlorine test then let it take the time it needs.
For me it takes the sand filter a week or two to filter everything out, brush/vacuum/bot when it eventually settles to keep it stirred up so the filter can eventually get it all. (DE will almost certainly make it quicker but not an option where I live.)
As mentioned only backwash when the pressure gets up
First time it happened my heart sank thinking I hadn't done anything wrong, why has this happened, now I just check the pool levels if everything is fine through the bot in every day and wait.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

I like my large sand filter but it is the only thing I have ever had for a pool (aside from terrible tiny intex cartridges).
I only backwash when my pressure rises 25% over clean pressure - which is maybe once a month or so, sometimes I go ahead & do it early if I need to drain some water from the pool so I kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I suspect most people will be happy with whatever filter they have if it is sized appropriately they maintain an algae free pool. Most with large cartridge filters & no algae problems only need to clean them once or twice per season. I do have a single cartridge filter in my hot tub, I clean it upon purging every 6 months & maybe once or twice inbetween depending upon use. It’s bigger & has way more pleats than an intex filter & my tub is only around 250 gallons so I can easily see why people with the intex ones & a 5 or 6k gallon pool have a horrible time & have to clean them constantly. If money is no object, Get the biggest filter u can fit in your space . My neighbor had a DE filter, it’s small & compact which is nice on the equipment pad. I have no idea if it’s really the ideal size for his pool or not but he was messing with de every week when his pool was operable.

Yes, they key to most things is to be equipped to handle what you need. I was told with my first pool "DE is the way to go" and the only drawback was if my pool needed to be cleaned up which was very rarely the DE bumping really didn't work, so I would have to exchange the DE. It wasn't messy, took about a half hour and I think I would exchange it max 4x which was about 4 days. But I also knew it wasn't let anything escape it.

My hot tub has 2 pleated filters, I have 2 sets and the tub is about 350 gallons. I find them more fussy than my DE filter. I know people live cartridges but I don't understand why just based on my experiences.

 

[cj133]

Yes, they key to most things is to be equipped to handle what you need. I was told with my first pool "DE is the way to go" and the only drawback was if my pool needed to be cleaned up which was very rarely the DE bumping really didn't work, so I would have to exchange the DE. It wasn't messy, took about a half hour and I think I would exchange it max 4x which was about 4 days. But I also knew it wasn't let anything escape it.

My hot tub has 2 pleated filters, I have 2 sets and the tub is about 350 gallons. I find them more fussy than my DE filter. I know people live cartridges but I don't understand why just based on my experiences.

I grew up with a sand filter and it's pretty much all I've used.
My boss grew up with DE and when we put a pool in for him I talked him into a 300LB sand filter. He filled the pool twice with stream water which turned green during the fill. Both times the sand filter cleared the pool and he was astonished how well it worked and literally all he had to do was backwash it a few times.

I doubt he'll ever use another DE filter.

I think one of the issues with filters, like everything else is there's quality differences.
This Hayward sand filter isn't built anything like the Pentair Tagelus sand filter I grew up with. I'm not even sure the current "Tagelus" filters are as good as that one was.

Point is, it's not as simple as "DE VS SAND" etc.
In reality, they use large industrial sand filters for potable water. If sand is good enough for drinking water..........

 

[VinnyinNJ]

I grew up with a sand filter and it's pretty much all I've used.
My boss grew up with DE and when we put a pool in for him I talked him into a 300LB sand filter. He filled the pool twice with stream water which turned green during the fill. Both times the sand filter cleared the pool and he was astonished how well it worked and literally all he had to do was backwash it a few times.

I doubt he'll ever use another DE filter.

I think one of the issues with filters, like everything else is there's quality differences.
This Hayward sand filter isn't built anything like the Pentair Tagelus sand filter I grew up with. I'm not even sure the current "Tagelus" filters are as good as that one was.

Point is, it's not as simple as "DE VS SAND" etc.
In reality, they use large industrial sand filters for potable water. If sand is good enough for drinking water..........

Nothing is made the way they used to be! I agree 100% quality does matter.

I'm not implying that a DE is better, it's what I know right now. I have friends complain about how their pool wouldn't clear up, I don't know what sand filter equipment they had but I had no complaints with my DE. There is a thread on this forum about posting your pool as TFP clean and you can't tell the difference in the photos.

My next door neighbor is fighting a green pool and he bought a sand filter to get it better ... it's not the sand filter s job to get rid of green!

 

[cj133]

Nothing is made the way they used to be! I agree 100% quality does matter.

I'm not implying that a DE is better, it's what I know right now. I have friends complain about how their pool wouldn't clear up, I don't know what sand filter equipment they had but I had no complaints with my DE. There is a thread on this forum about posting your pool as TFP clean and you can't tell the difference in the photos.

My next door neighbor is fighting a green pool and he bought a sand filter to get it better ... it's not the sand filter s job to get rid of green!

My pool has always been very clear, except recently.
But it's because the filter was broke, not because of the type.

You'll be fine. Although an 18" filter is awfully small.
IMO 250LB is the smallest you should go

 

[VinnyinNJ]

It was part of the package, apparently the dealer had bought quite a few items at the beginning of the season and bundled them into an AG pool package.

Supposedly, the filter I have can filter 16,000 gallons in 8 hours, I've been running it about 12. Overkill I know but the pool isn't getting much use and at some point the SWG will need time as well.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

I should also say I grew up with an AG pool, worst experience I ever had growing up. When my wife said she wanted a pool 20+ years ago for the kids I was horrified! I was pleasantly surprised on how easy taking care of a pool could be and when she said she wanted other pool in July I was all in!

 

[cj133]

I should also say I grew up with an AG pool, worst experience I ever had growing up. When my wife said she wanted a pool 20+ years ago for the kids I was horrified! I was pleasantly surprised on how easy taking care of a pool could be and when she said she wanted other pool in July I was all in!

Why was it the worst experience?
Luckily my dad was a perfectionist so the pool was always near perfect. Although, the way he did chlorine was very different than what people recommend on here.
For probably 10+ years he dumped a large dose of cal-hypo in the skimmer and had no CYA so the chlorine worked all night and then the pool was chlorine free all day. It used a ton of chorine, but was always smell free and clean.

After those 10 years he learned of CYA and started using less cal-hypo but the process was still the same, just much less often.
Watching him go out around 10 PM before bed and slowly sprinkle the powder in every night is something I'll never forget honestly. And regardless of what people claim the pump nor filter ever cared about the cal-hypo being mixed in that manner.

Growing up our pool was the only one that never smelled and never hurt my eyes....

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Why was it the worst experience?
Luckily my dad was a perfectionist so the pool was always near perfect. Although, the way he did chlorine was very different than what people recommend on here.
For probably 10+ years he dumped a large dose of cal-hypo in the skimmer and had no CYA so the chlorine worked all night and then the pool was chlorine free all day. It used a ton of chorine, but was always smell free and clean.

After those 10 years he learned of CYA and started using less cal-hypo but the process was still the same, just much less often.
Watching him go out around 10 PM before bed and slowly sprinkle the powder in every night is something I'll never forget honestly. And regardless of what people claim the pump nor filter ever cared about the cal-hypo being mixed in that manner.

Growing up our pool was the only one that never smelled and never hurt my eyes....

We would put up and take down our pool every year. If my memory serves me correctly it was around July 4th when we put it up and Labor day when we took it down. I grew up in NYC and it was a Harrows "figure 8" pool. It was nothing like we have today. We had 2 underpowered cartridge filters, no skimmer and I forgot what was used for chlorine. It didn't turn green right away but it always turned green. When it came time to pack it up for the winter my dad would empty the water, clean and dry the liner, sprinkle corn starch and fold the liner nicely. He did that for quite a few years. He really tried but was unsuccessful which scarred me until I was responsible for a pool.

Today everything is good! I found TFP's predecessor about 2 years into pool ownership and then TFP once that site went a little dormant and the founders started TFP. I did attribute some of my water success to having a DE filter as like I said people I spoke to were always complaining about their pool and they had sand filters. Being on here the 2nd time I've come to realize it's the correct knowledge that helped me attain that crystal clear water. Although I still have that DE filter in the garage ...

 

[cj133]

After one day of a working filter....
No it's not done yet but it's working well.




Backwashing after just 24 hours. Pressure had not climbed but I wanted to see.






Here's from before

 

[cj133]

I do want to mention one of the reasons I said bigger sand filters are better.
My 250 pound filter does noticeably better with the pump on low speed than on high speed.

I can only assume higher velocity and pressure through the sand tends to push more stuff through the sand and back into the pool. Sooner or later, that stuff will likely finally be grabbed by the sand but it seems to happen much faster and easier with the pump on low speed.

I'm betting a 600lb sand filter would actually do better than a 300lb on a normal pool if you run a single speed pump.
Is it practical? I guess that depends on the cost of the filter, the sand, and how much room you have. I'm also unsure if a smaller typical 1HP residential pump would backwash such a filter good enough, but I'm guessing it would.


So, for now my opinion on filters is the same as fire extinguishers. Buy the largest you can.

I'd also love to see comparisons of a 30" 600LB commercial sand filter vs a typical DE filter. At the same time, I'm also curious how a normal 250-300lb sand filter would compete with DE with a variable or 2 speed pump always running slow.

I suspect the results would be interesting and not in DE's favor.