Too much pressure in DE filter

[dentsc]

I'm currently living in my first home with a pool. No previous experience growing up or anything so pretty inexperienced.

I recently went away for 5 weeks and left my pool unmaintained.(stupid I know)
When I came back, there was so much build-up of leaves etc. that the pump had effectively stopped working because there was too much pressure. I cleaned it all up and hosed down and cleaned the DE filter like the tutorial.
Pool looks OK now apart from... The pressure in the pump is too high, over 30 and so not really working. When you first turn it on, it will run for a couple of hours before the pressure builds up so much that it's useless and I turn it off. I tried backwashing again without adding any more DE and it didn't do anything, the sight glass looks clear.

Anything else I can try myself? Or anything I should be forewarned about if I get in a professional to take a look?

Thanks!

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP!

Your problem is likely that your filter is too good. A DE filter can clog in just a few minutes in dirty water. It needs to be backwashed and have new DE added as often as needed to keep it flowing. You should never run a DE filter without DE as the grids can become clogged with dirt which may not backwash out.

 

[1poolman1]

I'm currently living in my first home with a pool. No previous experience growing up or anything so pretty inexperienced.

I recently went away for 5 weeks and left my pool unmaintained.(stupid I know)
When I came back, there was so much build-up of leaves etc. that the pump had effectively stopped working because there was too much pressure. I cleaned it all up and hosed down and cleaned the DE filter like the tutorial.
Pool looks OK now apart from... The pressure in the pump is too high, over 30 and so not really working. When you first turn it on, it will run for a couple of hours before the pressure builds up so much that it's useless and I turn it off. I tried backwashing again without adding any more DE and it didn't do anything, the sight glass looks clear.

Anything else I can try myself? Or anything I should be forewarned about if I get in a professional to take a look?

Thanks!

When you get a large leaf load as you described, the oils from the leaves can also cause short cycles. You may need to chemically clean the grids. There are several brands of filter cleaner that you can soak the grids in overnight that will remove the oils. Hose all the DE off before using. Then, after a good soak and rinse, replace them and add new filter media. I prefer cellulose fiber, but I know that will open a huge can of worms. Regardless, as JohnT said, never run the system without filter media (DE or cellulose) as this will damage your grids.

You can also do an acid wash of the grids, there are instructions all over the Internet on that, but NEVER do it without first removing the oils from the grids or they will become useless.

 

[dentsc]

Thanks very much.

I did add DE media back in and the pressure dropped then came back up after adding so initially I thought it was OK. It was only after a couple of hours of running it got back up too high again and backwash doesn't seem to help.
I'll see if I can find something to chemically remove the oils, I appreciate the advice