Pressure issues, need help

[pool007]

Pressure issues, need help

I have a pool and spa attached that has a fountain with DE filter. The spa/fountain is flowing water back into the pool.

I noticed the fountain has no pressure (no water flowing back into the pool). Pressure gage reads 30. I have backwashed and the pool runs great for an hr or so (starts at 20psi). Then back to no pressure. It appears looking at the motor; the strainer and basket are not completely filled with water. So appears it is losing prim.

I can open the strainer/basket and screw it back on. Again runs great for an hr or so then back to no pressure.

So I open the strainer/basket, took off o-ring and cleaned it, clean the strainer/basket and lubed o-ring and strainer/basket. Cleaned skimmers and started the pool back up. Pressure read 20. Again runs great for an hr or so then back to no pressure.


Any ideas?

Thanks Steve

[pool007]

Update.

Another user from another forum gave me an idea of what could be wrong.

"Are you fighting an algae bloom? If you are filtering a lot of algae out of the pool then the filter will clog quickly and shut down the flow rate from the pump."
It was a good call. I open my filter and found a nice shade of green. I cleaned the filters and I will update in future if all is good.

Thanks!

[PoolDoc]

Yeah, live algae will plug a DE filter very quickly.

I have very clear memories of a night spent babysitting a 300,000 gallon commercial pool with a below water-level vacuum DE filter. They were preparing to open, and had let algae get started. The filter would plug in 15 - 20 minutes, and have to be cleaned or it would start draining the pool. It was a great system when it worked, but a total pain the rest of the time.

You'll get much longer filter runs if you will KILL the algae. If your stabilizer is not too high, a 10 - 20 ppm dose of chlorine will usually do it.

PoolDoc