Sta-Rite® System 3 Air Bleed Filter

[PoolDoc]

OK, I see. You have a cartridge filter, not the DE filter. I'll put the correction image below . . . but blocking the #8 "25021-0004 Air Bleed Filter" would have no effect on the flow rate.

So we would just assume that the filters needed to be cleaned. We tested it out and cleaned them and them turned it on and about 5 mins later it said low flow. We have had our filters for about 2 1/2 years and the bands around the filter are coming off. Could that be a sign that they need to be replaced.

Yes. Those System3 cartridge filters are, in my opinion TERRIBLE. I put 3 of them on a commercial pool, in an emergency filter replacement, and very quickly learned to despise them. After 2 years, I converted them to DE filters. Some people like them but it appears that people for whom the work well mostly live in areas where there's little or no pool debris from vegetation and thunderstorms

Here are the parts you need for the S7M120:

large outer cartridge
small inner cartridge
tank O-ring

The large cartridge is currently listed as unavailable from Amazon, but they are probably available from A1-PoolParts, nearly as cheaply:

S7M120 parts

And, here's the Pentair / StaRite page.

And, finally, the parts image from Pentair:

[meghanW]

Thank you again for the info.

You definitely seem to know what you are talking about and if you recommend the DE filter we would like to get those. Is it easy to switch over to them? If the De is the way to go then we want to change them. We just want our pool back to normal working order. It's starting to turn green and my husband is getting frustrated.
Do you know the best RPM's to run the filter and the cleaner at?

Have a great weekend.

[aylad]

If the pool is going green, then you need to shock it, and maintain your shock level, until it clears up--and you don't need to wait until you've changed filters to do so--the longer you let it go green, the longer it'll take to clear it up. The filter will remove the dead algae from the pool, but you need to kill it first. Your shock level is based on your CYA (see the "best guess chlorine chart" link in my sig for further explanation and the chart), but you'll first need to get a set of test results on your water taken with a drop-based kit (no strips!) in order to know what point you're starting from.

Welcome to the group!