Soaking the Cartridge filter

[PaulE10]

Many years back there was a post about using Dishwasher powder to soak your catridge filter. I had posted the ingrediants listed on a bottle of cartridge cleanser and a few of the chemistry knowlegable replied how it was the same stuff in dish washer powder. Anybody know what ingrediants to look for when I'm buying the powder? Just fought off a nasty batch of algea and the filter just wont come clean. I want to soak it. It's only a month old and I don't feel like buying a new one already.

Thanks

[waterbear]

It's trisodium phosphate (TSP) and it's no longer in dishwasher powder in most areas to help lower phosphate pollution. REAL TSP is also difficult to get in many areas for homeowners for the same reason (but is often available to those in certain trades such as concrete, painting, and pools). However, even the TSP substituted dishwasher powder is a better choice than the various TSP substitutes that are sold because of the extra cleansing ability of the included surfactants.

[PaulE10]

Thank you Waterbear. I will just buy the store brand dishwasher powder and see how it does.

[waterbear]

Thank you Waterbear. I will just buy the store brand dishwasher powder and see how it does.

If you have green stains you might need to soak in bleach after using the dishwasher powder overnight. 1 cup per gallon of water should do the trick in short measure, so check it every 5 or 10 minutes.
Be sure to rinse the filter WELL after the beach soak.

[Oclat]

I don't mean to butt in but I am having a problem with the cleaning of my Sta Rite System 3 cartridges. I have a 100 sq ft. inner (tall one) and 200 sq ft. outer filter. I hosed them off to remove the easy dirt,silt etc.... Then I soaked them in trash can overnight with some Strip Kwik & water. I used like half the bottle, probably 14 oz. .... This morning the dirt was still in the pleats, so I spent 5 to 6 hours of separating each pleat and spraying the hose nozzle to get what dirt was stuck to the pleats off. Those bands around the pleats made it even harder. The pressure of the hose nozzle was what it took to get the dirt off. If I hadn't used rubber gloves, my hands would be raw. Most people I know would have not done this and just bought some new filters for a few hundred dollars. Does anybody know of proven method that will strip the dirt out of the pleats, so I will not have to do this again as it takes forever to separate and spray each pleat on both sides. I never could get to the inner pleats of the tall inner filter as it is too narrow to get my hand in to spread the pleats. Too be sure. there has to be a better way.

[CarlD]

I'm no whiz on cart filterss but there is now a new hose attachment designed to get into the pleats on the cart that might make it easier.

What some people have posted is they have a pair of filters and keep one stored in a sealed container with the electric dishwasher powder solution. When they need to change them, they claim the stored one hoses down in minutes before going in.

Maybe Waste or Chem_Geek can help on this.