Pump pressure has increased but filter pressure is normal Hayward Tristar- what causes this to happen, how to "fix"

texaspoolman57

Well-known member
Jun 22, 2022
46
Frisco
The pump has a pressure gauge on it. With a new filter cleaning the DE 6020 filter showed around 20 psi which is normal. The Tristar Hayward pump has a gauge on it as well and just after cleaning the filter the pump pressure showed around 23 psi. After a few weeks of running I checked the pump pressure and it is now reading about 32 psi but the filter pressure is still at 20 psi.

What is causing the pressure at the pump (gauge is on the pump) to rise like this.

I cleaned the filter basket and it did not change from around 32 psi at the pump.

TIA
 
A man with two watches never knows what time it is.

Any problem with the flow out of your pool returns?

Does the pump have a "gauge" or display a number?

Is the pump running at the same RPM when it displayed 23 psi as it is now at 32 psi?
 
Did you maybe put this back together backwards?

1658602550698.png

 
A man with two watches never knows what time it is.

Any problem with the flow out of your pool returns?

Does the pump have a "gauge" or display a number?

Is the pump running at the same RPM when it displayed 23 psi as it is now at 32 psi?

Any problem with the flow out of your pool returns? No
Does the pump have a "gauge" or display a number? Analog gauge with needle pointer in front of dial
Is the pump running at the same RPM when it displayed 23 psi as it is now at 32 psi? This is a single stage motor so yes same RPM as before.
 
Did you maybe put this back together backwards?

View attachment 439378

Never touched the multiport valve at all. Everything is running beautifully. Only thing that I can't figure out is why the pressure at the pump has gone up.
 

I ended up buying a new Multiport valve assembly since my old one still leaked after I put in a new o ring.
Pictures of the new valve?
 
Gunk (DE?) got into the gauge or its stem and has affected its accuracy?

Are the gauges interchangeable by any chance? Swap 'em as a troubleshooting step.

Some of those gauges are pretty inexpensive, like 5 or 10 bucks. Replace one or both as a troubleshooting step. What's your time worth to you tracking this mystery down?
 

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What do you mean you never touched it?

You say that you replaced it.
I replaced the multiport valve and installed the new pump/plumbing after which for several weeks the filter pressure was at 20 psi and the pump pressure was at about 23 psi. Everything was running fine at these pressures. Now a few weeks later I see the pump pressure elevated. During those several weeks I did not change or alter anything.
 
Gunk (DE?) got into the gauge or its stem and has affected its accuracy?

Are the gauges interchangeable by any chance? Swap 'em as a troubleshooting step.

Some of those gauges are pretty inexpensive, like 5 or 10 bucks. Replace one or both as a troubleshooting step. What's your time worth to you tracking this mystery down?
I will swap out the gauge and see what another gauge reads.
 
Never touched the multiport valve at all. Everything is running beautifully. Only thing that I can't figure out is why the pressure at the pump has gone up.
What I meant to say is that I installed the Multiport valve and the system ran at filter 20 psi and pump 23 psi for 2 or 3 weeks. Then without changing anything I just happened to check the gauges and the pump gauge is elevated.
 
The symptoms point to a backwards flow of water.

That's exactly what will happen.

As the filter gets dirty, the pump pressure will go up and the filter pressure will go down.

Can you show the multiport and the plumbing?

What model is the multiport?
 
Thanks to all that have contributed to wanting to help me figure this out.

So here are the updates on the situation.

This morning I went out and looked at the gauge on the pump and it was reading 38 psi.

I removed the gauge and the needle dropped but stopped at about 24 psi.

I tapped the gauge on a hard surface and white powder came out of the inlet hole on the fitting more than likely DE from the issue I had before.

After tapping the gauge and seeing what I am sure is residue and DE coming out the needle then dropped to about 12 psi and it is now stuck at 12 psi.

The gauge was obviously malfunctioning / having accuracy errors / issues.

I went thru my box of pool parts and I happened to have a brand new Hayward gauge.

I installed the new gauge and now it reads about 26 psi.

I have attached some pictures as requested by JamesW.

I am wondering if a filter reading of 20 psi and a pressure at the pump of about 26 psi is normal (what should be expected.)

I did not take the Multi-port valve apart because with the help of others here it did not make sense that the MPV was at fault since the pressure in the tank had not decreased meaning flow was still getting to the filter as it should and not hampered by the MPV.

That is why I strongly suspected it had to be the gauge not reading correctly ??

The gauge on the pump housing is the old gauge, not the new one I installed after I put the new one in.

The other gauge that reads 20 psi is the gauge on the tank.
 

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The multiport looks ok.

The gauges are not super accurate, so you can expect a 1 or 2 psi tolerance from a gauge.

The gauge height difference makes a difference.

For every 2.3067 feet of height difference, you need to subtract 1 psi from the higher gauge.

For example, if the filter gauge is 4.6 feet higher than the pump gauge, then you have to subtract 2 psi from the pump gauge.

Also, the pressure in the pump will be higher by 1 or 2 psi.
 
The multiport looks ok.

The gauges are not super accurate, so you can expect a 1 or 2 psi tolerance from a gauge.

The gauge height difference makes a difference.

For every 2.3067 feet of height difference, you need to subtract 1 psi from the higher gauge.

For example, if the filter gauge is 4.6 feet higher than the pump gauge, then you have to subtract 2 psi from the pump gauge.

Also, the pressure in the pump will be higher by 1 or 2 psi.
So going by what you have said, filter gauge is about 4 ft higher than pump gauge 26-2=24 psi
Also, the pressure in the pump will be higher by 1 or 2 psi. 24-1= 23 to 24-2=22
And taking into account the tolerance variation of 1 to 2 psi

So the equivalent pump pressure compensated for as you say above without taking gauge tolerance variation into account would be somewhere between 22 and 23 psi and given the gauges will more than likely read not exactly the same due to age and build tolerances etc it seems that no action is necessary and that all is running fine - agree?

Thanks so much JamesW and everyone else for taking the time to help out.
 

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