Possible equipment upgrade on my horizon

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Salsiccia

Salsiccia

0
Nov 28, 2015
208
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Hi again guys,

My apologies to those good folks here I got to know a few years ago for my absence over the last 3 years or so. I have been battling cancer which has adjusted my life priorities somewhat, but now I am back !!!

I need some advice on what I think is looking like some pump and filter upgrades that may be in my immediate future, and before I get my local pool store in (who I know will automatically just try to sell me stuff anyway, because they are a chain franchise and don’t really care) I wanted to check in here first.

Symptoms:
- Pressure gauge on the filter now reads in the red, approx 30% higher than usual. Skimmer basket is clear and so is the secondary filter in the pump. It’s a sand filter, I have never changed the sand in the 11 years I have had this pool. I know there is wisdom here that suggests sand shouldn’t need to be changed, but possibly mine has been badly neglected.
- Chlorinator cell is showing signs of calcium build up. I replaced the entire chlorinator unit (controller and cell) approx 8 years ago. Not sure what the expected life of these units is.
- The water seldom fills the chlorinator cell now when the pump is on - possibly because the gauge is reading in the red.

My gut feel is, worst case, I am up for a new pump, a new chlorinator cell, and possibly either new sand, or maybe an entire filter renewal.

I am happy to perform any sanity checks or basic maintenance needed before I call for a professional assessment, but bearing in mind I am a mere Computer Science guy, I am no plumber or mechanical engineer !!!

Happy 2021 to all.

Sal
 
First thought is, do you backwash your sand filter? If so, how often? How is your pool chemistry levels?

Gut feeling i have is your sand filter needs a backwash, but if you do that periodically then your sand filter probably needs a deep cleaning. If your pool chemistry is within proper range and have stayed there for a long time then you shouldnt have an issue with algea or something cloging your filter. Then again, just my gut feeling. Im sure the experts will chime in here soon
 
Hi Sal
Sorry to hear about your illness and I hope all is well now.
I'm sure you'll get some expert advise soon but I thought you maybe able to try a few things in the meantime. Looks like you have a some issues and it may be best to attack them one at a time.

Can you confirm the pressure gauge is indicating correctly? Does it show Zero pressure with the pump off? I just replaced my Dad's pressure gauge off his Waterco Sand filter as it was faulty and not indicating at all.
Have you tried the Recirculate setting on your sand filter? What pressure does it show in this setting? Does the pressure and flow appear normal in Recirculate mode?
Have you done a Deep Clean on the sand filter?

My Dad also had the scame Chlorinator (now replaced with a different Brand) and has just been recently replaced due to a flat memory battery. This causes the Chlorinator to lose its timer settings and default the output to about 20%. It wasn't worth repairing. Your gear maybe ok and might just need some maintenance.

I hope you get it all sorted.
 
CRAD_oz said:
Hi Sal
Sorry to hear about your illness and I hope all is well now.
I'm sure you'll get some expert advise soon but I thought you maybe able to try a few things in the meantime. Looks like you have a some issues and it may be best to attack them one at a time.

Can you confirm the pressure gauge is indicating correctly? Does it show Zero pressure with the pump off? I just replaced my Dad's pressure gauge off his Waterco Sand filter as it was faulty and not indicating at all.
Have you tried the Recirculate setting on your sand filter? What pressure does it show in this setting? Does the pressure and flow appear normal in Recirculate mode?
Have you done a Deep Clean on the sand filter?

My Dad also had the scame Chlorinator (now replaced with a different Brand) and has just been recently replaced due to a flat memory battery. This causes the Chlorinator to lose its timer settings and default the output to about 20%. It wasn't worth repairing. Your gear maybe ok and might just need some maintenance.

I hope you get it all sorted.
Click to expand...

Hi Crad,

Thanks for getting back to me and for your probing questions - all good !!!

The pressure gauge does drop to zero correctly when its off so from what I can tell it is basically OK - although again I haven't replaced it in my 11 years at this house and that would be an easy fix to make so I might do that. All I know for know is that in the past, when all was well, it consistently read around 80 kPa. Any variation from that prompted me to clean either the skimmer basket or the pump filter which always brought it back to where it should be. I have never seen it read this consistently over in the past though, now its sitting just in the red area at around 150 kPa, so its not healthy. I do have the pump on 24x7 at the moment as I am running my cleaning robot to get rid of an accumulation of winter debris, prior to a SLAM so there is a lot of work happening at the moment. I am not running the chlorinator right now, I am bypassing it and manually adding chlorine in preparation for the SLAM, but I can't start the SLAM until all the debris is gone, but I am nearly there.

I am about to do a backwash on the filter now as I haven't done one for a month or so, so that is definitely worthwhile doing.

Thanks again for responding.

Sal
 
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Chad1979 said:
First thought is, do you backwash your sand filter? If so, how often? How is your pool chemistry levels?

Gut feeling i have is your sand filter needs a backwash, but if you do that periodically then your sand filter probably needs a deep cleaning. If your pool chemistry is within proper range and have stayed there for a long time then you shouldnt have an issue with algea or something cloging your filter. Then again, just my gut feeling. Im sure the experts will chime in here soon
Click to expand...

Hi Chad,

Thanks for getting back to me.

Good call on the backwash. I did one about a month ago, but will do another today.

Pool chemistry is basically OK, but we are heading into Summer down here in the land of Oz and I am currently preparing for a SLAM (winter is pretty brutal on my pool, I have a LOT of trees nearby [ I REALLY need to invest in a good cover]) so am not running the full set of usual measures. pH is OK, CYA is lower than usual, but I do that deliberately to make the SLAM easier on chlorine use! TA I will fix after the SLAM, and my pool is vinyl so I don't worry too much about CH, but again will address that post SLAM !

I've been doing some intense cleaning/vacuuming to waste in the last few days so it is conceivable that another backwash cycle is required, so will get on to that in the next hour.

Thanks again for prompting me to think about that !

Sal
 
Good call on the back wash guys - I'm back in town now !!

Obviously the accelerated cleaning regime I have been on for the last few days has dirtied my filter much quicker than usual.
Pretty obvious really when with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight you look back on it!!!
I put it down to "Cancer brain" making me even slower than usual!!!

I did another backwash, noted the meter readings and they were normal for the backwash and rinse cycles, now back on filter, still normal, and the chlorniator cell is 100% full again (although still not functioning as a chlorinator, but that will be back after the SLAM). Water pumping way quicker through the jets back into the pool now and the robot is happily gobbling up the last remnants of debris.

Happy days ahead - hopefully !!!

Thanks again, Feedback from here, as usual, top notch !!!
 
Chad1979 said:
Glad to hear backwashing was the solution. With extra pool cleaning going on and if there was lots of debris being picked up, then the filter will get dirtied quicker than normal. Hope you have a great pool season as well!
Click to expand...

Thanks Chad - As I said, seems pretty obvious in hindsight doesn't it !!!
Once my pool is clear again, that will remove a certain amount of - shall we call it - "domestic pressure" !!!
 

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