D.E. Filter problem

[kathgilliam]

Our home warranty (Allied) sent a pool co. over to check our equipment. The guy opened up our Nautilus N-48 filter, pronounced the manifold cracked and said almost every grid had holes in it or was cracked. I think one of the eight was usable. He was unable to contact the mother ship, so he left the whole thing scattered in pieces over the yard. He is due to return in a week. The pump is circulating. We vacuumed the excess D.E. to waste, and we have to add about two inches of water.

1. He tells us this filter is not even made anymore, so he doesn't know if we can get a manifold for it. Is this Barnyard Swill?

2. He recommends a sand filter. I have heard D.E. is far superior. Fact or fiction?

3. He doesn't believe the mother ship will authorize coverage for grids, as their poor state indicates a prior condition. At $30.00+ a pop for 8 1/2 grids, $100 for a manifold, and two hours of his labor, we are considering a new filter. How much does it cost to install a new filter?

4. Or should we just buy the grids ourselves, use the manifold we have and try to find one to replace it and salvage the pool water I have so desperately been working on and have just gotten to good condition?

5. How much bleach should I add with no filter for a week, and how often? SWG is at 2800 and generating, not asking for more salt.

It's a good thing we love to swim. <grrrr>

K

[CarlD]

For the few hundred bucks, buy a new filter. We are talking a little over $300 for a DE, $250 to $300 for a sand filter (and $20 to $30 for the sand).

Are DE filters better than sand? Well, they filter finer stuff but that doesn't make them better. Sand filters are easier, and with proper routine care, require less maintenance. If you buy a 10 lb box of DE and add between 1/3 of a cup and 1 cup to your skimmer each time you backwash your sand filter, it's performance will jump to rival a DE's without the hassle. And a 10 lb box of DE is dirt cheap (I paid $8 at an expensive pool store) and probably will last you 2 seasons.

I'm biased: I'm on my fourth season with a sand filter-same sand, had a tiny cartridge in an Intex donut and hated it, and my dad had DE for 20 years. I like sand best.

[kathgilliam]

I don't get it. When you backwash, doesn't the sand go down the drain too? Or is the sand inside of a cartridge?

How much is installation of a new filter? We are not interested in doing the installation ourselves, and I'm sure if you have read any of my posts heretofore, you would agree that this is a wise decision.

What's an Intex donut?

If your dad had D.E. for 20 years, doesn't that speak to a good D.E. experience?

What's a good brand, or does brand not matter in filters?

K

[sailork]

If my home warranty people sent over somebody that took my filter apart and left it in peices all over my yard I would take LOTS of pictures of it with my digital camera. I would see if I could talk the listing agent that represented the previous owner into calling Allied and chewing them out for this attrocity. (She/He will be doing this out of the kindess of her heart and a concern about the quality of the warranties she's selling. And because it will scare them more than you do since she/he is their rainmaker.) I would make sure that Allied knew that leaving a pool unfiltered in August in South Texas was not an acceptable health risk and that THEY bore responsibility because they required you to allow it and paid the dude that took it apart. I would tell them they can fix your existing filter or replace it with a same sq/ft (48) or larger DE filter. I would NOT settle for a sand filter because that is not what was there when you bought the house and it is NOT equivalent. Your filter MUST have been working because your water was clear. I would make that point until the cows came home. "HOW DID I CLEAR MY WATER WITH A FILTER THAT'S SUPPOSEDLY SO BROKEN? " (sorry for yelling.)

Perhaps I misunderstood somewhere along the way, if so please forgive me.

[sailork]

Oops, and I forgot to mention, you can most likely bring your chlorine up several ppm and keep it there without much risk of a problem. The filter removes particles from the water so that it looks nice, but it's the chlorine that keeps stuff from growing and if you keep it above the "best guess" chart levels consistantly until the new filter goes in you'll probably not have a problem.

[kathgilliam]

Wow, I really appreciate the passion you gave to my predicament!

Hubby and I decided there was nothing wrong with the filter except the manifold and grids and in the interest of summer swimming and good water quality, we would go get the parts and do it ourselves. If the warranty covers any parts, we will keep them for spares and will not have to pay for the pool service labor.

The water is beautiful, getting clearer with every minute that passes, and we are so gratified that we fixed it ourselves!!! Our hands are sore from high-fiving each other! I can't thank everyone enough for all their advice and explanations. This forum is the greatest. I've already recommended it to several people who need it as much as I have!

K

[sailork]

Heheh, I probably overdid it with my posts. I was just thinking about how I'd feel if some pool guy was sent over to take my beloved filter apart and left it strewn all over the place claiming it was unfixable.

[CarlD]

I don't get it. When you backwash, doesn't the sand go down the drain too? Or is the sand inside of a cartridge?

Nope. The sand is dense and heavy and doesn't float up with the rest of the detritus.

How much is installation of a new filter? We are not interested in doing the installation ourselves, and I'm sure if you have read any of my posts heretofore, you would agree that this is a wise decision.

I have no idea what installation costs for just a filter. Personally, I'm really handy (I designed and installed my own pool into my deck) so I cannot imagine paying anyone to fill a filter with sand and attach two pipes to it. I detach those pipes every winter and re-attach them in the spring.

What's an Intex donut?

Ah. It's a starter pool. Intex is a brand, and its donut pools are called EasySet. It uses an inflatable ring, you fill it with water like a kiddie pool, and the ring (donut) floats on the water. The sides belly out to allow the structure to work. It has a small filter, and comes in diameters from 8' all the way up to 24'. That was my first pool. Lots of discount stores sell the Intex and competing brands. We enjoyed it for 3 years and put in a full-size pool.

If your dad had D.E. for 20 years, doesn't that speak to a good D.E. experience?

Absolutely. There is NOTHING wrong with DE. If you are comfortable with DE, there's no reason to switch. But if you find it confusing and difficult, sand is easier.

On the other hand, my dad never had the benefit of the PoolForum, the B-B-B method, or even much internet access. So his pool was never able to be as clean and clear as mine. The last season before he died, they had an algae bloom. The CYA was over 100--all the pucks and di-chlor powder. I got the algae beat, but the problems had multiplied over the years.

I chose sand because I thought that might work best for me. I was right, and have been very happy with it.

What's a good brand, or does brand not matter in filters?

There are lots of good brands. Hayward's probably the best known, and it's good, but that doesn't make it the best.

K

Hope this helped.

[kathgilliam]

No big surprise that the warranty company denied the claim for the filter stuff. I let the company know how unhappy I was with the pool man's method! But I asked them not to chew him out until AFTER he redoes the plumbing on our pump, which is leaking, and IS covered. (go figure)

Our D.E. filter is working! We are so excited. We have discovered now that the filter gasket is wonkus inside the valve. I vacuumed the rest of the D.E. that accumulated into piles in the pool and then when I turned the pump off and turned the valve to filter, it was still sucking water into the waste drain. It's loud, and it's a good thing or I might not have noticed all the water I just paid to put in the darn thing sucking away! So I turned the pump off, went around another turn to filter and this time it went where it was supposed to. At some brave moment, hubby and I will gather our courage to break into the valve and replace the gasket. We are NOT handy, so these things are huge to us.

We cancelled our pool school though--we have learned through our hard knocks this past couple of weeks. So I figure we got out as cheaply as we could.

Now if only there was a plumbing forum that would help me remodel my bathroom!!!!

K

[GHM]

Now if only there was a plumbing forum that would help me remodel my bathroom!!!!
K

http://www.homerepairforum.com/

My favourite (next to poolforum.com)
The people on this site are amazing. (The mod Lazypup is the God of home repair knowlege)

Enjoy
George