Pentair Quad D.E. Air Release Valve plugged

[tcjern]

Ok. This weekend I replaced my old, cracked FNS Plus 60 with a new Quad DE 80. Spent all day doing what I'm sure would have taken a pro 1 hour. Of course a lot of that was deciding exactly how to do my plumbing. Finally got everything running. The good news is I had no leaks. Bad news is the next day I had to clean out the pump strainer basket after vacuuming the pool. In opening the air relief valve, I noticed a remarkable decrease in the air flow from normal, and when water started flowing, it was noticeably weak. Curious, I tried it again a little while later. No air, a bare trickle of water.

So, I turned the pump off and unscrewed the valve from the tank. Cellulose fiber (which I use in place of DE) had completely plugged the valve opening up. Between the inner air screen and the opening was also completely clogged. This is clearly not normal, and a problem that I never had previously. I have not checked it again since I cleaned it out, so we'll see if the problem was repeated.

Any ideas on why this happened? I only put just under 6 scoops of the fiber in, which is less that Jack's Magic Fiber suggests (6.67 scoops - 1 scoop per 12 sq. ft of filter). Did I get something put together wrong inside the filter? I know the plumbing is correct (top is the inlet FROM the pool, and bottom outlet TO the pool).

The only plumbing problem I have (I think) is that I need a check valve between the pump and filter. I did not have one before and never had a problem. But when I unscrewed the air release valve, I did get a bit of fiber coming back through the drains. I didn't have a check valve there before, but with the backwash valve I usually had it in backwash position whenever I opened the valve with the pump off. Now I have no backwash valve (still might add one). The pad is a step or two below the water line. The drains plumb to the skimmer not separately. I didn't notice any fiber in the skimmer, only the drains, but then again I didn't actively look there.

Any thoughts on the plugged up air valve would be appreciated - or on anything else I mentioned.

Thank you.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Typically with cellulose fiber you'll need/want to backwash and clean out your filter more frequently as the cellulose breaks down over time with exposure to chlorine and forms a gooey mess. I personally do not use CF because of it's many downsides and I don't have any problems working with DE but I understand that not everyone likes DE (and some localities ban its use) so your only alternative is CF or a different filter. I have never had DE clog my high flow air relief before. Did you ensure that all of the air was out of the filter and the air relief was closed prior to recharging the filter? I always add DE very slowly to my filter though the skimmer using one to two scoops of DE per 5 gal bucket of water and then I pour it very slowly. I do this so that the DE coats the grids uniformly.

A check valve will avoid the problem of filter water back flowing into your pump. I have a check valve between my pump and filter and I never get back flow. If you do use a check valve, get the Jandy-style ones that you can open up and service as those have the lowest resistance to flow and do not need to be cut out and replaced when something fails.

 

[tcjern]

Matt,
I am 99% certain that I did have all the air out before charging the filter. I used CF in my old filter as well, and never had a problem. In fact, I had run the filter for a few hours before I even charged it, just to be certain that I had no leaks before bothering to do so. I didn't do anything different that I used to do in charging, but maybe the design of the Quad is such that I have to go more slowly - and actually pre-mix the CF first as Jack's Magic suggest (I usually just poor one scoop directly into the skimmer, wait for it to disappear and proceed). I'm thinking maybe I just put it in in too fast - especially after your comment on your speed. Thinking about it now, with cartridges instead of grids I can see why it might have a harder time. Shoot, I maybe tearing it down already and cleaning and recharging this weekend. Sigh.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Yeah. Your previous filter was the older FNS grid-style DE filter. The Quads are a radically different design than the FNS (better, in my opinion) and my understanding is that Pentair doesn't recommend the use of CF in the Quads. It's not prohibited, but there's definitely going to be differences as I'm sure the inflow patterns of water are different perhaps making clogs more likely. Best bet is to just slow down the recharge process.

If the filter is operating normally, I'm not sure you have to tear it down again. Up to you, of course.

 

[tcjern]

Thanks again Matt. If the valve is still clear, maybe I'll wait on the tear down, though at this point I'm guessing the coverage of the cartridges is a bit uneven. I'll just see how things go.