Pump press. goes up with salt

[beary]

Hi All

We have been putting the salt in our pool and I noticed the pump is up about 4 psi. I am pouring the salt in our leaf rack then letting it sit over the edge of the pool, so I don't think and I am clobbering the pump with salt. Can it be the heavier water?

Thanks a head for your comments.

Beary

[Poolsean]

No. The heavier salt water does not have that kind of effect. IF the water was stagnant and not moving, it would naturally collect as a heavier salty water at the deep end of the pool. But because your pump operated every day, it will balance evenly throughout the pool.
The water pressure increasing, as a result of adding salt, may happen if you added a flake or pellet type salt directly into the skimmer all at one time. It may occur if you use an incorrect type of salt with additives, again, directly into the skimmer. Adding via your leaf rake hanging into the pool will not cause this situation.

I would check out the normal reasons for filter pressure increases:
Do you have a suction type pool cleaner? Check the cleaner and hoses for blockage.
Have you checked your skimmer and pump baskets?
Have you cleaned/backwashed your filter lately?
Did you change a valve position to block flow?
Which model salt system did you install? Debris may be collecting across the blades of the cell. In the case of the AutoPilot, the manifold screen may be blocked. The cell might be scaled if you've started operation of the salt system.

Let us know what you find.

[beary]

OK, I left the pump off last night. The psi was back to normal when I turned back on this morning. I had the leaf rake near a skimmer so some kind of flow would help dissolve the salt. I have the pool salt with no additives and it dissolves pretty fast. But I guess it was still dense enough to add pressure somewhere. Now the leaf rake near a return, but away from the skimmer and psi is holding normal after three bags.

So, lesson learned: The leaf rake method works very good, but you still need to keep it some distance away from skimmers.

Thanks for your help and time Poolsean.

Beary