DE powder

[jcolwell]

I had my filter cleaned recently. I noticed a very small leak in the tank seal after the tech left. I really wasn't too worried about it. However, after a couple of days, my pump started cavitating and would not pressurize. Pool company came back out and re-cleaned the pump. There were small (sunflower size) beads of DE clumped inside the filter and said it was due to chemicals I had added and that was reason pump would not work properly. Filter was not dirty but after cleaning pump is fine. Could it have been the small leak and pump cavitating that caused DE powder to clump?

[PoolDoc]

Could it have been the small leak and pump cavitating that caused DE powder to clump?

Very unlikely. In any case, a FILTER leak would not cause PUMP cavitation, unless the leak was enormous (an open pipe!).

What chemicals, additives, or filter treatments have you used in the last 60 days.

[jcolwell]

The typical chemicals with the exception of Phos-free. I think that could be a possibility??? I have read in other online posts that Phos-free is trouble...? What impact does it or other chemicals have on filter pressure?

[PoolDoc]

There are no "typical chemicals", thanks to pool chemical companies blending mystery goo into their "typical chemicals". We need EXACT brand and product name to be able to tell what you've put into a pool; "close" isn't 'close enough'!

Phos-Free will cloud pools, but I haven't heard of it clogging filters, or messing up DE.