How often should you clean your cartridge filter? Should you clean it several times a year and what should you use to clean the filter? I will answer that question in today’s video.
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When Should I Clean the Filter When I speak about cleaning a filter, I”m generally referring to a cartridge filter as that is what are the primary types of filters that need to be cleaned at least twice a year. The vast majority of cartridge filters have four cartridges that line up on a grid inside of the filter.
If it’s time to clean your pool cartridge filter, you need to first look at the pressure gauge on the top of the filter. If the pressure gauge rises 8-10 psi above the range, then it’s time to clean the filter, then usually, the arrow on the gauge will be pointed to the section saying that it is dirty and needs to be cleaned.
When the arrow is pointed at dirt, it is best to clean the filter sooner rather than later. Not cleaning the filter will not necessarily damage the filter, but it’s best to not wait too long. If you wait too long, then the filter is not going to be doing a good job of cleaning your pool water.
Less Water Flow Also when it’s time to clean the filter, you will notice that there is less water flow in the filter. This is because the filter is dirty so it’s going to operate at a slower pace than if it was clean.
If the pool has a waterfall, then you can tell that it is time by the way that the waterfall flows into the pool. The waterfall will not be a single stream. The stream will look broken up.
Heavy Use During Swim Season If the pool is heavily used during the swim season, then you may need to clean it at least once if not more during the six-8 months of the swim season. And, if the swimmers don’t shower before swimming, then the hair and body creams and gels all go right into the water and can clog up the filter quicker than if the swimmers shower before using the pool. These factors affect how often the filter needs to be cleaned.
Vegetation on Pool Equipment Pad If the pool is surrounded by a lot of vegetation, then that adds additional debris that blows into the pool and then to the filter. All of these factors can contribute to the frequency of when the filter needs to be cleaned. Pool equipment, specifically pool pumps, need to be able to breathe. If there are dead leaves crowding out the pool pump, it is not going to operate as efficiently as it is designed.
When cleaning a cartridge filter, you need to shut off the equipment, remove the lid and then take all of the cartridges and place them on the pool deck. We then spray each cartridge with a cartridge cleaning solution and let the solution set for a few minutes. Cleaning your cartridges on your pool deck is one of the best places because you aren’t going to be spraying up dirt and grass.
Soaking the Cartridges When we have several filters to clean and are short on time, we sometimes take the cartridges and soak them in a large trash can in a cleaning solution. This helps to cut down the time that it takes when you are actually cleaning the cartridges.
We then rinse off each cartridge. You want to make sure the hose you are using has good water pressure. You will need to use a water hose that has an additional spigot in order to have good water pressure. The good water pressure is what will help to remove the dirt from the cartridges.
Two Sets of Cartridges We recommend that you purchase a second set of cartridges. When it’s time to clean one set of cartridges, you can just insert the clean set in and not have any down time where the pool is not operating.