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Xl1200r
| | Posted on Thursday, July 16, 2009 - 09:59 pm: | 
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Ok, here's the picture of the filter:
I followed the directions in the manual to try and clean this thing.
I closed the valve from the in-wall skimmer at the pump skimmer (green valve on the left of the picture). I plugged the return going into the pool (the hose going towards the right), and opened the drain valve hose (going towards the bottom). These are the only hoses and valves on the filter.
The black handle on the top is the bump handle. Right under that is the air bleed valve. I opened the valve and bumped the filter while it all drained. It looked like pretty much clean water coming out the whole time.
I took the top off the filter and removed all the grids - they're just plastic grids covered in a fine nylon mesh - not the tube type that was mentioned above.
I removed them all and hosed them off. Some of the panels were caked with dirty D.E., and some had hardly anything on them at all. I didn't notice anything broken, any holes or tears in the mesh - nothing. I put a thin pre-coat of D.E. on all the grids and put it all back together (the grids just kind of sit into the bottom - there are holes at the bottom that line up with the plastic hoses at the bottom of the grids).
Put the top back on, opened all the valves, turned on the pump and bled the air out of the filter. I proceeded to add D.E. into the skimmer, and everything I put in just cam shooting out of the return line into the pool water. The manual says it's normal to get about 3 seconds of D.E. "cloud" out of the return, but this was constant. If I stopped adding, the cloud stopped. If I dumped a bunch in, a bunch came out the return. I opened the filter back up to make sure everything was in order, retightened the strap that held down the grids and tried again - same result.
I'm really at a loss with this thing. |
Sayitaintso
| | Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 08:34 am: |
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Sounds like you doing everything right to me. I'm gonna have to think on it for a little. The DE powder you're adding should "stick" to the filter elements and not blow right past and into the pool.
If I had to guess right off the bat I'd say its bypassing the filter somehow.
Edit: Ok, after thinking for a little, I think something is clogged with the either the "tubes" that the filter grids fit into or the tubes in the filter grids themselves. It sounds like the water is comming in from the skimmer and right out the return without ever really circulating through the filter itself. And the only thing I know of in there to make sure the water circulates is those tubes (mine's set up very similar except all the filter elements are tied together in one big bunch with one big tube in the bottom for it to fit into).
Maybe try running it for a minute or two without the filter elements and see if it blows any crud out of the tubes in the bottom, and check the tubes on the bottom of the elements to see if they are clogged.
(Message edited by sayitaintso on July 17, 2009) |
Pammy
| | Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 09:34 am: |
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Pull the unit(the filter) out and go to pinch a penny or leslies or whatever pool supply you have there. They will check it out FREE of charge. You can have a breach in the filer that is undetectable to the layman. Also you may have a crack in the main return, inside the tank. Or you could have a valve problem. Whatever it is the experts at the pool supply store will certainly have seen any problem that you might have. |
Pammy
| | Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 10:59 am: |
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I know this is a Hayward and that doesn't appear to be what you have, but...they should be similar.
If you look inside of the EC-series line of swimming pool filters from Hayward, Hayward Perflex EC50 D.E. Filter is something called “Tube Sheets” and something else called “filter fingers”. The tube sheets are pieces of round plastic that have many holes inside of them to hold the filter fingers. There are two different tube sheets inside of the filter. There is a top tube sheet and a bottom tube sheet. Often these tube sheets crack from pushing on the bump handle to hard. When the tube sheets crack they will allow D.E. powder back into the pool when running.
To replace the tube sheets you will have to remove all of the bolts hold the top of the EC tank lid to the body of the filter. In older models you will find lots of bolts that hold on he top and in new EC-40, 50 and 65 models you will find a single bolt that is connected to collar that holds the filter together. Once you remove the top of the filter you will be able to take off the top and see the fingers and tube sheets.
Now that you have the top off you will want to remove the center bolt from the bump handle that is connected through the stainless bump shaft that also goes through the tube sheets. Once you remove this though bolt you can pull the tube sheets and fingers from the filter top. You will now want to start removing all the small 5/16 bolts around the edges of the tube sheets and once you do the top tube sheet will separate from the bottom.
Once you do this you will have to remove two c-clips. One from the bottom of the tube sheet and one from t he top. It is easier to do the one on the top first and then you can slide the shaft through the tube sheets and remove the other one. It is always best to replace the c-clips in the perflex when you are changing the tube sheets.
When you remove the top tube sheet you will also have to be careful that you do not loose or damage the rubber tube sheet tank gasket. You will have to re-use this gasket when you put the filter back together unless you bought a new one when you bought the tube sheets. If you have not started yet or have not put the filter back together yet you can also ways got out and buy a tube sheet tank gasket.
Once you have removed the top tube sheet you can start to pull all of the fingers out of the lower tube sheet and put them into the new tube sheet. You will want to clean the fingers first also before putting them into the new tube sheet. Once you have removed all of the fingers from the cracked lower tube sheet you can now line up the holes in the rubber tube sheet gasket with the lower tube sheet and then re-bolt on the
Now that the fingers are in the new lower tube sheet and the tube sheets are bolted back together you can stick the bump shaft back through the top of the filter. Once the bump shaft is through the top of the filter you can re-insert the long bolt that goes through the bump handle that you removed when disassembling the filter.
If you now have the filter all together you can line up your discharge fitting with your pool hoses or pipes and re-bolt down the top of the filter to the tank. If you have an old Hayward EC series filter with multiple bolts in the top you will want to make sure to tighten them down evenly to prevent leaks. |
Etennuly
| | Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 11:10 am: |
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Wow. Seems like a PITA. If it is deemed junk try a "Jacuzzi" sand filter. Very dependable, easy to use. About $500.
No offense, I know some people whom have had DE filters that did fine. |
Pammy
| | Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 11:21 am: |
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I have had a DE filter(although about 5 times the size of the one in the pic) for over 10 years now. I never have any issues to speak of. I have had to replace the "fingers" once. Mostly it is just general maintenance. The DE filters really polish the water. Repairing them is not as difficult as it sounds. The Haywards are very rebuild-able. I wouldn't think that this one would be much different except for part availability. |
Sayitaintso
| | Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 11:35 am: |
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I agree Pammy, I'll take a DE filter (and saltwater clorine generator) over sand anyday. I've never seen a pool cleaned with a sand filter anywhere near as clean as a DE filtered pool.
That said, DE does take a little more work with having to add powder after every backwash. |
Pammy
| | Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 02:32 pm: |
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I just put my DE in some pool water and dump it in the skimmer. No big deal. |
Pammy
| | Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 02:33 pm: |
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I have the chlorine generator as well. And the salt water is so soft. |
Sayitaintso
| | Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 03:23 pm: |
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I know its not hard in any way, shape, or form. I dont even pre mix with water...... I just dump the powder right into the skimmer.
But sand is easier, you dont do anything at all.
Yea, chlorine generator is the ONLY way to go if you are gonna get a pool. Just dump a couple 50lb bags of salt in 1-2 times a year and forget about it. No worry about tablets or shocking the pool. Heck if I bought a house with a pool that didn';t have a generator I'd seriously look into getting one added. I already have trouble finding time for everything I want to do (riding)..... spending time monkeying around with keeping the pool clean is just that much less time for the fun stuff. |
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 09:10 pm: |
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Well, I got the damned thing all fixed up.
When I opened her up last night, the filter grids were just kind of sitting in there, flopping about. Since that's how I found, that's how I figured it was supposed to be.
Not so. I took it apart a little further and removed the entire swiper/bumper mechanism, which I should have done the first time. The grids just needed to be placed into the holes in the manifold more firmly to create a seal. Once I figured that out, I reassembled (and removed some extra home made parts along the way - seems the previous owners were trying to correct issues without ever having the filter assembled correctly). Once it was back together, I added some DE through the skimmer and viola - no cloud out the return.
Now that I know how this works, it's really not a big deal. I can have it drained, opened up, apart, cleaned and put back together in probably 20 minutes or less.
I got some more o-rings and replaced the ones on the air valve and stoped that leak. She's good as new now.
Thanks for all the advice, guys. Looks like we're finally on our way. I'll be vacuuming the sand up in the morning since it's raining now and I have no doubt she'll be sparkeling in no time. |
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