Hydraulic Problem? Unbalanced equipment power?

Pool pumps, pool filters and the plumbing of
swimming pools. Sand filters, cartridge filters,
fabric filters and alternative filter media.
turbomango
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun 13 Apr, 2008 06:34

Hydraulic Problem? Unbalanced equipment power?

Postby turbomango » Sun 13 Apr, 2008 10:08

I don't recall ever having such a hard time opening the pump basket top or the filter top to clean the element. I have to use a rubber mallet for both or there's no way.

I'm concerned that this may be a symptom of something else wrong due to the high PSI the cartridge filter is registering. Granted, I don't know how high the PSI was before, since we didn't use the pool much since we moved in, in 2000. Actually, we didn't use it. It's been green.

Three weeks ago I started cleaning up the pool. I started by replacing the PSI meter since the old one was not registering and would be hard to read anyway bcz of a very cloudy, crackled yellowed face. I also replaced the filter element with a Home Depot one.

After removing the mountain of dead algea, I treated with PoolTime's Algicide 50% and have been vacuuming to waste every other day, constantly cleaning the filter every hour and maintaining a 5 ppm chlorine, it's been 3 weeks, yet no clear water. Now I wonder if I should upgrade and purchase the 120 sq ft Hayward or the 150 sqft Pentair or should I go with a 90 sq ft or less filter?. Which brings me to be concerned with the correct hydraulics for this system. I want to make sure the right pump and size filter is put in since some old solar heater and a gas heater are no longer attached and in use.

I have an in-ground 27x 13, concrete 10,500 gal pool, 6 @ deepest end. It has a whilrpool section as well with a blower and 3 inlets. Considering the high water table on our barrier island, the concrete pool deck is elevated approx 3 feet. The pipes run underground along the side of the pool deck, which makes it 3 feet below the water line, although the pump sits on a slight elevation of cinderblocks, bringling it almost level with the pool line, but not quite. 2" pipes are hooked on to a 1+1/2 HP (3450RPM) GE pump, and onto a Hayward C-1100 (100 sqft effective filtration and 100 sqft design flow rate, Max PSI 50).

Is the pump too strong and could it be causing a more intense water velocity than is necessary? When we moved in in 2000, the pool was hooked up to pipes leading to a Solar Heater on the roof of the house about an extra 20 feet away. It wasn't long after a hurricane took it and our roof, so we removed the Solar Heater and hooked the pool up to an existing gas water heater, less than 10 feet away from the pool just past the pump and filter. The heaters might have required a 1+1/2 pump whereas now?.

When I put the new cartridge in, it initially registered at 20 PSI. I keep it as clean as the first day of purchase. With the only difference being it's wet, an hour after its first use, the filter started registering 30 at startup. Now it's registering at 35 at startup. As well, the filter HAS HAD a hairline crack at the point where the pipe from the pump comes into it. The hairline is now causing a 6" loss in pool water on a 6 hour day of filtering.

Does it sound like a I have a bigger problem than just needing a new filter?

What size filter should I go for, the bigger one or the smaller one - or -
in the interest of my pipes, should I get a pump with less punch? Like a 1 HP?

Does anyone know a link to a chart of RMP = GPM?

Turbomango
Mother of two Maltese Champs


Return to “Pool Pumps, Filters, Plumbing & Piping”

Who is online at the Pool Help Forum

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], DotNetDotCom.org [Bot] and 16 guests