Hayward Star-Clear Plus C1200 Cartridge Filter Problem

[50K-Investment]

I opened my pool for the first time. Once the water cleared, a lot of sand and gravel was noticed at the bottom of the pool. Gravel was used to backfill instead of dirt and accidentally a bucket full fell in. During the process of clearing the water, the cartridge needed to be rinsed due to lack of suction. I really don’t know what’s going on with the cartridges because I’ve gone through 5 of them. Yes FIVE, in the past 6 weeks. The water chemistry always appears to be OK, but for some reason the filter looses suction after a week or less. Every time I remove the cartridge it shows signs of being dirty so I go through the process of rinsing it. Within a few days, the pressure gauge on the filter maxes out with very little suction so I’m back to rinsing until finally it needs replacing. This past weekend I purchased 3 gallons of Muriatic Acid. I mixed each gallon with 4 parts water and let the cartridge sit for 24 hours. Monday I installed the cartridge and today Wednesday, the filter was without suction again. A recommendation was made to try a concentrated super strength MINERAL MAGNET by BlueShield. We’re speculating that the gravel was causing mineral buildups which were affecting the cartridges. As of right now there are no signs of gravel but the cartridge is unusable. I used the recommended dosage of Mineral Magnet, 2 quarts for a 33,000 gallon pool but I’m running the filter without the cartridge until a new one arrives. I’ve just about had it with this $50,000 investment and need expert advice.

[tsweendogg]

I have the same problem with mine. I opened my pool last year and called for service on it because of that and they said it was a defective cartridge. Same problem this year. I just bought some filter cleaner and am waiting to see what happens tomorrow. Right now the suction is fine but something tells me tomorrow my gauge on it will be right back up to 25.