New Sand Filter High Pressure

[mas985]

Any clean filter should not add more than 6 PSI to your total reading with 3 PSI as average so I would expect the difference between the two filters to be much less than 6 PSI. In fact, for similarly rated filters, cartridge filters should have a slightly higher PSI than sand and DE even higher. Also, most of the pressure reading in a filter gauge is due to the plumbing downstream from the filter and not the filter itself.

With a sand filter you also add a backwash valve that can increase the pressure by as much as 6 PSI depending on the valve type. About half of that will be post filter and half pre-filter so I would expect a 3 PSI rise on the guage from that.

So net net, I would not expect much of a rise at all between cartridge and sand. It could just be that the cartridge filter gauge was not working properly. This is pretty common so I would not worry about it too much.

I know the filter is new but have you backwashed it yet? See if it goes down after a good backwash.

[CarlD]

15-20psi is normal for my 200# sand filter with a 1hp (full-rated) pump.

I only drop down to 7 or 8 psi when running on low speed.

There is nothing wrong with your pump or filter.

[rlanthony@excite.com]

Thanks for the replies. The filter has steadied at about 14 PSI. All is well
Rick