I have a 6 year old quad de filter that is not cleaning as well as it used to

Written on 3/28/2023 by Guest

I do not backwash this filter, when it is time to clean it I open and wash the cartridges about 3x a year and re load with DE, Ive been meaning to replace them for a year or so but they have been out of stock everywhere since I wanted OEM not aftermarket and this was done as part of a pump and plumbing upgrade so perfect time to get it done. Anyway these were in stock (expensive but they ar OEM) so I tore down filter as usual: release pressure, open clamp and pull top manifold off, remove all 4 cartridges rinse thoroughly. I do not open the drain plug at the bottom because of the DE mess, instead I use a shop vac to remove the remainder at the bottom, rinse everything clean including the giant O ring and put it back in reverse order.... BUT this time I installed these new cartridges instead of the cleaned old ones, here is where I hit a problem. The new ones were VERY hard to instal since the holes on top and bottom were to tight, I was afraid they were wrong but verified the part number (178654 was stamped on top of each so they were correct) I was not able to get the top manifold in place it just would not fit. It took awhile but I wound up putting a little of the pool lube around the openings of the cartridges top and bottom and slowly got the manifold in place using a mallet and a lot of back and forth pushing in an X pattern on the four sides of the manifold as it goes into each cartridge. Anyway it took time but got it back together lubed the O ring, reinstalled the clamp (see the label on the side of your filter) opened the air vent on top restarted the pump closed vent when air stopped then after I was sure it wasn't leaking loaded the filter with fiber media instead of DE - great time to do this since you need completely clean cartridges to make the switch by the way, DE is pretty harmful if you breath it in so be careful if you use it. Just and FYI when you change cartridges on these Quad DE filters they will be much tighter fitting into the manifold than your old ones, I called a local pool guy I know to verify and he said it is normal, apparently the old ones stretch over time and the new ones should as well so hopefully next change will be easier, it has not been long enough to tell if these will clean better or not. Also when you get into the filter check the screen for the top of the manifold one small tear and DE will get in the pool.

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