New Sand Filter High Pressure

[rlanthony@excite.com]

I just installed a new S244 Hayward sand filter. I put the recommended 300 pounds of sand in the filter. Running 1 1/2 inch pvc on the whole system. I just started the pump today. I think the pressure is too high. Running around 14-16 PSI. I replaced this filter because I hated cleaning the old cartridge filter. The cartridge filter ran at 8-10 when a new cartridge was in. Does this seem too high for startup of a new sand filter or do they run that high?

Rick

[Poconos]

The 14-16 is right in the range of my 244T with a 1 HP pump.
Sometimes I go as low as 12 with solars wide open.
Not to worry.
Al

[mas985]

Any clean filter should not add more than 6 PSI to your total reading with 3 PSI as average so I would expect the difference between the two filters to be much less than 6 PSI. In fact, for similarly rated filters, cartridge filters should have a slightly higher PSI than sand and DE even higher. Also, most of the pressure reading in a filter gauge is due to the plumbing downstream from the filter and not the filter itself.

With a sand filter you also add a backwash valve that can increase the pressure by as much as 6 PSI depending on the valve type. About half of that will be post filter and half pre-filter so I would expect a 3 PSI rise on the guage from that.

So net net, I would not expect much of a rise at all between cartridge and sand. It could just be that the cartridge filter gauge was not working properly. This is pretty common so I would not worry about it too much.

I know the filter is new but have you backwashed it yet? See if it goes down after a good backwash.

[CarlD]

15-20psi is normal for my 200# sand filter with a 1hp (full-rated) pump.

I only drop down to 7 or 8 psi when running on low speed.

There is nothing wrong with your pump or filter.

[rlanthony@excite.com]

Thanks for the replies. The filter has steadied at about 14 PSI. All is well
Rick