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arachnyd

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  1. I paid a pool guy to come out and look at my pool. He says he thinks the owners before me put a sand valve on a DE filter, and thats the problem, so he recommends buying a new valve and a new sand filter and says that will most likely solve my problem. The pool store first talked me into a new liner, pump and new DE grids over the past 3 years so they seem to be finding ways to get me to pay more money than it would have cost just to put in a new system. I'd like a second opinion- How do you tell the difference between a sand valve and a DE valve? and what are the typical effects of doing so? I am an engineer and typically a diy kind of guy, so I'm really confused what could be going on here.
  2. Called a reputable pool guy out. He says he has no idea what could be causing it and that I should try to buy a new valve/filter. He said it might be the valve, because the valve doesnt specifically say "DE" on it he thinks it may be for a sand filter, and that is the issue- so I could either order a new valve for DE filters and try that, or buy a new sand filter. Does that sound like the right course of action?
  3. A tiny bit more info: I do have 1.5" plumbing, and This is actually a brand new pressure gauge, Installed when I had the liner installed, because of the problem I was having the store suggested the pressure gauge was off, but even with the new one it stalls just short of 20 psi (between 18 and 20), right where you suggest is an acceptable running pressure. I also noticed when it starts stalling (right at 18psi before 20 psi) I get air bubbles coming out of the inlets, and the water level in the pump drops down. If I run recirc I also get a lot of air bubbles the entire time. In prep for removing the grids again I put it on recirc and connected my pool cleaner to one of the inlets. Enough air bubbles came through so that my pool cleaner bag got airlocked and it started floating to the surface, which made me think maybe the DE grids are doing the same thing and getting airlocked? Thinking air may be getting in the system I bought another set of hose clamps and double clamped all the hoses. No change.The only other places are either goign to be the valves or under ground, but oddly I can close off EITHER intake pipe (I have a floor drain and a skimmer) and with either one off it still does it. I do get some minor water leakage on some settings out of the top of the valve, but the main valve gasket was just replaced.... But I'll stop speculating. redid the chem tests with a better test kit (not strip). Free chlorine- 1.5 or so total chlorine isn't much higher, I'd say Combined chlorine is under .5 or so? PH- 7.5 Alkalinity- 100 Calcium hardness- just under 350 ppm Stabilizer approx 5-10 ppm
  4. I certainly understand the value of CYA, and while "0" is not an option, I've been told if I can't get the filter to run 15 minutes before blocking up, the CYA is a secondary issue. (Before I drained the pool CYA was around 40 ppm). I have a better test kit I use for maintaining my parent's pool at their house, and they are only about an hour away, so I'll get over there today to pick it up and get better numbers. I didn't know any of that stuff would effect the functionality of the filter, as I had the water in tip top shape and it didn't seem to help last year. is it normal for a DE filter such as mine to run at 10 psi and clog up at 20 psi? everywhere I've read says the filters run at 20 psi and backup above 30.... so therefore if 20 psi was normal for a filter, then its a pump or inlet issue as opposed to the filter issue. However, if 20 psi is high then it may be a filter issue. Since I can't run the filter anyway, I can leave it on recirc like I have been for the past 3 years while I re-soak the filter grids. 5 days ago I soaked them in real TSP and then scrubbed them as well. since then I reconnected everything, dropped in 4 1/2 lbs of real DE (what the filter recommends- even though the pool place said to put in 3 because 4 1/2 "may clog it"- everywhere I read said skimping on the DE only leads to impregnation). Since then I've only backwashed twice (once 5 minutes after putting in DE and once 2 days ago before I switched back to "recirc" instead of filtering just to keep the water moving so I can keep it clean and keep proper chemicals. I have a jug of muriatic acid in the garage. I'll work first at making sure my levels are spot on with a full quality test kit like I used to use. I'll report back, but if you or somene else could confirm the 20 psi situation above, that would be great. I feel like the pool place I've been working with either isn't knowledgable or is taking advantage of me, so your help is appreciated!
  5. PH 7.6, Alkalinity approx. 100 , Cyanuric Acid- 0 or darn close to it, chlorine 3 (shocked yesterday). Calcium hardness I dont test for myself, only when I bring samples in, but last week it was high, but "safe" (we have fairly hard water here, and my understanding is while you can raise it its tough to lower it so its not worth testing for regularly). Next time I'll get a number. Water was clear, its getting hazy and green now because I'm not running the filter. I can get it pretty clear by running the pump on recirc with a good dose of chlorine (thats what I was doing before), a skimmer sock, and an in-pool cleaner. I did NOT recycle the water when I replaced the liner. Its all hayward equipment, 5 selection valve head, hayward pump, and as I said before 36 sf DE filter with new grids, 1 hp motor Thanks!
  6. I've owned 3 pools and this is the first DE filter and its been a huge pain. Bought a new liner, new filter grids, new pump, and new seals/gaskets all last year, still can't get the thing to run right. The first year the filter didn't seem to "work" so I called out a pool place who told me the grids were bad, so I ordered new grids. with the new grids, the pump seemed to get backed up real easily so they told me to buy a new pump, so I bought a new pump. because I was moving in to the house, this first year was moving very slowly, I just bypassed the filter and ran recirc to get me through the summer, and I covered the pool up. The liner was torn, so the next year I replaced the liner. I run the filter and it goes from 12-20 psi in about 10-15 minutes, and when it hits 20 psi it backs up and stops moving water. Frustrated, I spent an entire year trying to figure out what was wrong. I ended up getting frustrated and I closed the pool off early. Now into year 3- I searched on here and thought the filter was impregnated, so I pulled the cells out and cleaned them with chemical cleaner. I tore apart the entire filter/pump/etc assembly and checked everything out and cleaned everything. I bought new seals/gaskets for the pump and the valve because the old one seemed bad. I put the filter grids back in, bought a 1 lb DE scoop so I could be sure I'm adding the right amount, added the DE, and it seemed to be running great, right at about 10 psi. I check it 2 hours later- still running great at 15 psi. Never got it to run this well this long, so I decide I should put in stabilizer (0 stabilizer- chlorine burnout was taking approx 12 hours to go from shock - 0). Check it 12 hours later and now its backed up at 20 psi, and no water is flowing through the filter. I thought it may be because of the stabilizer- I know it can raise filter pressure, so I say "oh well I'll add it later", backwash, clean it out, and now I'm back to the same game as before. Everywhere I read says 20 psi is normal, 30 psi is high... I find I start out at 10psi though so I thought 20 psi was high in my system. so why is it getting backed up at 20 psi? Whats next? the only thing I can think of now is to fill the pool in with dirt, but I hate to do that because I spent so much money on the liner, pump filter, but the pool does not work so its pretty useless right now. 36 sf DE filter, 1 hp motor, 2 inlets (skimmer and floor), 3 outlets, 27k gallons in ground with liner.
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