37 Psi!!!!!

Saw my pump running at 37psi the other day and shut it off until I could address it. Yesterday I pulled the DE grids and cleaned them in a bath of Muriatic and water, then hosed them off and reinstalled. Expecting a return to normal pressures, I restarted the system, to no avail. As I watched, the water in the pump basket didn't flow smoothly through, but instead seemed to go through in "gulps". My first thought was that the impeller is jammed, but wouldn't that cause low pressure? A friend suggested that scale on the salt cell is the culprit but could it cause pressures that high?? (With apologies to Robert Palmer,) I'm just looking for clues....
Hal

You have to isolate the problem: At what point of a disconnection does the pressure drop? The problem is in the next section.

Yes, if the impeller had a junk buildup like hair or anything that can get tangled in it the pressure should be low. What's the pressure like in other valve settings? Don't know what settings you have but pressure data on any other settings should be a clue. Did this happen suddenly or did you just notice it after sitting for the winter for example? In Georgia you probably would not get a prolonged freeze to damage pipes and equipment, other than the pressure gauge which is quite easily damaged by a quick freeze.
Al

Hal,

Mine was at 50psi+, but it turned out to be a bad guage as Al has mentioned, probably due to freezing temps. I got a new one at Walmart and all is good now.

Kash

I don't close my pool in winter. Just had the pump running 2 hrs a day. It's typically shown about 20psi (down near 15 right after I cleaned the grids last spring). Yes, I had seen it climbing lately but thought it was just algae. The SWG isn't on yet but the water temp was approaching 60 and I had a minor algae bloom, which I took care of with bleach. Thinking it was primarily dead algae, I expected a return to normal with the cleaning. I changed intake valve settings but saw no noticeable change in pressure. Even when all 3 suction sources were open, the pump seemed to be "gulping" water instead of smooth, steady suction.

Carl, can you elaborate on, "At what point of a disconnection does the pressure drop?" I didn't think to change return settings (to pool or to spa) to look for effect.

It happens that I'm about to buy a new gauge to go on a bigger filter I will soon install so I'll try it on the old filter first. I'll pick that up today.

Does anyone out there have any idea whether scale on a salt cell would raise pressures significantly??

Thanks, everyone:cool:
Hal

Hal,
Poolsean will probably kick in here but I would imagine that would have to be one heck of a scale buildup to cause a pressure rise like you are experiencing. I don't know what the guts of those cells look like. The pressure rise would have to be due to something after the input to the filter. Sorry I don't have any bright ideas at this time.
Al

Thanks. Just picked up a new gauge. Will install and report back.
Hal