What Does Each Setting On a Pool Sand Filter Do?
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What does each setting on a pool sand filter do? This video walks pool owners through owning and operating a sand filter (the most common kind of pool filter) to help you to understand how to operate your filter and keep it cleaning and functioning properly in your pool. Many pool owners do not realize that they are not using their sand filter properly. Sometimes this can result in the pool not being filtered properly however some cases the misuse of the filter can actually result in damage to your sand filter. Pool equipment is simply too expensive to break yours or have it fail early due to incorrect operation.
Turn handle in one direction only - Some pool owners are not aware that you should only ever operate (turn) a sand filter handle in one direction. This means that you operate the dial valve clockwise only. Changing directions that you turn your filter handle can result in the spoke gasket getting pinched or displaced. This will result in the multiport valve not functioning correctly and it will often start to leak water out of the backwash port even when you have it in "filter" mode. Avoid this problem by only turning your valve handle in one direction when changing filter settings.
Turn off your pump before changing filter settings - Another common operator error which can lead to early failure of sand filters is a failure to turn off the pump when you are changing in between different filter settings. Some pool owners leave the pump running when they change between filter, backwash etc. and this can also result in the spoke gasket inside the multiport valve becoming displaced. In order to avoid this be sure to always turn off your pump before you change the dial valve / setting for your sand filter.
Filter setting - The filter setting on a pool sand filter is the standard / default setting for these filters. This is where dirty water is passed through the tank of filter media (sand, glass) and the physical debris is captured and retained within the filter tank. Most of the time spent operating will be on this "filter" setting.
Backwash setting - The backwash setting on your sand filter is how you clean and remove physical debris from your filter media. Over time the debris you are filtering will accumulate and will result in the pressure on your filter pressure gauge to rise. To remove this debris you need to periodically flush the water backwards through your filter tank and out through your waste / discharge hose.
Rinse setting - Often under-utilized by sand filter owners the rinse setting should be performed any time you have completed a backwash cycle, and before the system is returned to the normal "filter" setting. The rinse setting helps to flush the multiport vanve and remove and physical debris which may still be inside the valve. This rinse setting helps to make sure that debris does not damage the spoke gasket inside the multiport valve.
Recirculate / Whirlpool setting - Not all sand filers will have this setting however many do. The recirculate or whirlpool setting is such that your are bypassing the entire filter tank. When on this setting water enters the multiport valve, but then skips the entire tank of sand and returns to the pool through the regular return ports. So in this setting you are not actually filtering any water at all, simply circulating water in the pool. This setting is used when you want or need extra flow in your system. Without pushing the water through the sand there is significantly less resistance to flow. This allows more water to flow than you normally would have when it is being forced through the tank of sand under normal filter settings.
Open, Closed & Winter settings - Open, closed and winter / winterize settings on sand filters are exactly as they sound to be. Closed setting on a multiport valve means all ports are closed. Similarly the open setting means all ports open. You would not use these settings when your pump is active. These are for periods of time when the filter will be off for extended amounts of time. The "winterize" setting on sand filters is such that all ports are open, so in effect the "open" setting and "winter" setting are the same. It is important to leave all ports open in a sand filter when decommissioning for the winter as this prevents any trapped water in the filter head from expanding and contracting.
If you want to learn something else interesting about sand filters check out this additional article that talks about a very rare maintenance point that most sand filter owners have never heard of before - degreasing a sand filter which is something that all sand filter owners should be doing at least once per year.
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