First encounter with DE Filter

[Mike_in_NJ]

After getting the DE and any other needed materials to start the pool up (o-rings, gaskets, plugs, chlorine source, etc) and removing any winter plugs and reinstalling any pieces removed for the winter, you start up the pump and filter pretty much like any other pump and filter.

Prime the pump! It's been dry since the fall. Make sure there's enough water in the pool to get into the pipes and skimmers so the pump isn't sucking air.

Set the valving (if needed) to 'Normal' operating mode, where the water comes from the pool, into the pump, into the filter, and back to the pool. Then just add the DE into a skimmer and let it get sucked into the filter. It will coat the mesh elements in the filter and you are then good to go.

Some folks make a slurry with the DE and some water in a 5 gallon bucket first,others just add it to the skimmer. Do -NOT- breathe in the DE dust.

[waste]

Mike was right, but be sure that you use the 'air relief screw' on the top of the filter to vent out the air before adding the D.E. If you don't get ~all the air out first, the dry parts of the filter grid, or fingers, won't get the coating of DE they need.
As a side note, the DE 'slurry' is only needed when you only have 1 suction source, with more, the action of two sources removes this need.

[gkrupkin]

Thank you for the replies. Let me see if I have got it right.

After I hook up all the pipes, and make sure the water level is high enough in the pool so that the filter doesn't run dry. I will turn on the pump/filter. After a few minutes I will let the air out with the 'air relief screw' and the pour the DE into the skimmer. Do I need to do anything else after that, other then put in other chemicals (i.e., bleach, borox) ?

[Mike_in_NJ]

A DE filter is similar in operation to a sand filter, except that instead of semi-permanent sand as the filter media a DE filter uses replaceable DE as the filter media.

When you backwash a sand filter, you are running the water 'backwards' through the filter and pushing the gunk out of the sand and out the backwash pipe/port. The sand stays in the filter (hopefully).

When you backwash a DE filter, you are running the water 'backwards' through the filter and flushing the gunk and the dirty DE out the backwash pipe/port. After you are done backwashing and reset the valving for 'normal' operation, you then have to add new DE to the filter.

If you're OK with the start-up of your old sand filter, you should be OK with starting up the new DE system. Just remember that the filter isn't filtering until after you put the DE in.

On my DE filter, if the filter is not filled with water, I'll open the air bleeder valve manually when I start the pump until I get some water into the top of the filter tank and out the bleeder valve. I'll close the bleeder valve at that point, let it run for a little bit (30 seconds, a minute, whatever) and then reopen the valve again and 'burp' out a little more air. After I have water flowing 'normally' through the pump/filter/pipes for a few minutes, then I add the DE into a skimmer.

Do you need anything else? Remember that the DE is just the filter media, the rest of the pool chemistry still has to be taken care of as usual. Bleach, borax, baking soda, acid, whatever.

[gkrupkin]

Thanks for all the help. I successfully opened the pool today. My psi on the filter is currently at 4. Is that normal, or does it seem a bit low? I've got plenty of water in the pool, the return pressure seems normal. I've already added about 7 cups of DE "slurry" to the skimmer.

[Mike_in_NJ]

7 cups of DE, as in seven 8-ounce measuring cups??? Way too little DE.

There should be a label on the filter saying how much DE to use. A 36 ft2 DE filter usually should take about 3.6 pounds of DE. An empty 'pound' coffee can will hold about 1/2 pound of DE powder, so you'd need 7 cans full of DE to get your 3.5 pounds of DE (close enough to 3.6 pounds).

As to the pressure, maybe your pressure gauge is NG and needs to be replaced. Or you don't have to valving set properly and you are starving the pump of water and hence have a very low pressure. Or you have a suction-side air leak and hence have low pressure. It could be many things, or maybe that is just the pressure that your clean filter runs at.

[chemicalbalance]

1. Dont guess how much DE to use. The DE box will tell you exactly how much to use. Just put that amount in a bucket. Add some water to make a slurry and dump it in the skimmer. The slurry will coat the filter. Once you do this and let it run awhile, you can shut the pump off, remove the filter cover and visually observe that the DE is coating the filter like white mud. There shouldnt be any screen visible. Its really pretty simply and fail proof. You wont screw it up.

2. I do not rely on the pressure guage on the filter to tell me when to change the DE. I have found that my filter can be totally clogged and the pressure guage doesnt move at all. (And I am an oilfield engineer and I replaced my cheap pressure guage with a high quaility industrial brass one -- its not the guage.) I have found that when my filter is new, the return line to the pool is very strong -- like a jacuzzi jet and my vacuum works great. When my vacuum doesnt pick up or the kids complain that the return jet in the pool is weak, I know its time to change the DE. I have found that changing the DE every month works very well. Some people say that you can let it go almost a season, but I like strong filtration. Its your preference.

[Lenny]

As a side note, the DE 'slurry' is only needed when you only have 1 suction source, with more, the action of two sources removes this need.

waste, could you explain this a little further? I have 2 skimmers but close the unused one when I'd adding DE. I haven't intentionally openend any other input source when doing this.

[waste]

waste, could you explain this a little further? I have 2 skimmers but close the unused one when I'd adding DE. I haven't intentionally openend any other input source when doing this.

Lenny, sorry about the delay! I actually answered you last week but my wife came in and used the computer while I was doing it ( I thought I had hit "post", but apparently hadn't - again, sorry).
With 2 suctions going, you have a plug of DE laden water comming through 1 and an equal amount of non-DE water comming through the other. This ~ equates to doing the slurry (DE mixed with water joining with plain water). I know for a fact that this evenly coats the grids, or fingers, because I've had reason to open a number of them almost as soon as the DE has been added and they have always had a good, even coating.

[Lenny]

Thanks Waste! That makes sense.