Gaucho

Summer is coming and of course, keep it up in good condition is a priority, and as always new issues come up.

I have one of the DE filter grids broken and seems like DE went up to the solar panels on the roof, one of the connecting pipes burst, and the powder got suck up in the panels. The grid was replaced, the pipe was fix.

One question, the panels should be replaced, or they will unclog and go back to normal when water start running again? I noticed some DE coming back to the pool, assuming from the roof panels, the condition will go back to normal if I run it or I have to do something else to solve the problem for good?

Thanks for any help.

Hi Gaucho,

Normally the DE going back into the pool is due to ripped or broken DE Grids. Did you replace all of your grids or just one? If you only replaced one then we would suggest replacing all of your grids.

Thank for your help Patrick, when one broke we did replace them all, also the gaskets of the back wash valve, now because of the torn filter grid we have DE powder cloggin some of the solar panels, do they need to be replaced or sending water will unclogg them?

Hi Gaucho,

We are not too familiar with the situaton of DE Powder in your solar panels. After a quick search on Google we did find this company here https://www.suntreksolar.com/2017/02/13/troubleshooting-solar-pool-systems/ which says you should flush the DE Powder out of the solar panels. Below is an excpert from their website…

Source: https://www.suntreksolar.com

The solar panels are leaking after the winter and or I have some black material in my pool:
This could be a number of things. If you have a DE filter vs a cartridge filter, it is very possible that you have DE that went up into your solar collectors. Always turn your solar system off before backwashing the filter to prevent DE and debris from going up into the solar system. DE can settle onto the solar tubing and draw carbon from the collector tubes. This then gets discharged into the pool. If a solar system has several years of freezing and is not drained for the winter and cannot automatically drain, the tubing can begin to break down and discharge carbon into the pool. A system flush will be required. If the collectors crack due to a freeze, they often need to be replaced.

Since we start sending water up to the solar panels, we notice that the pressure is going down, I also saw the water bringing some DE down at the check valve, I think that is a, good, signal that the panels are releasing some DE.

We also see some powder accumulating in the pump Strainer Basket of the pump, and after reading the forum you send, I think that the return check valve to the filter need to be check, and we will do that next. We do not see any more DE in the bottom of the pool itself that’s good sign, we hope,

Thanks for the solar panels forum, we learn something new everyday