December 8, 2025 • 21 mins
Pressure doesn’t look dangerous—until the instant it is. We take you right to the two moments that matter most in filter service—when the lid comes off and when it goes back on—and show you how to turn a risky task into a safe, repeatable routine.
We start by reframing the filter as a pressure vessel, not a harmless canister. Sand filters are usually one-piece and lower risk; cartridge and DE filters come apart, rely on clamps or locking rings, and can fail if misaligned or under-tightened. You’ll hear why modern safety designs like the Aquastar Pipeline’s interlock are so effective and how to apply the same logic on any system: power down, bleed air, drain, and verify zero pressure before loosening hardware.
From there, we share practical safeguards that work in the field. Put automation in service mode, move Intermatic trippers, or cut the subpanel, but don’t stop there—remove the pump lid so the system can’t prime even if a glitch starts the motor. We talk through clamps in detail: reading spring-barrel nuts, preventing cross-threading with a touch of lube, knowing when a clamp is cosmetic-ugly yet structurally sound, and when to replace hardware for peace of mind. On restart, we step back, open the air relief, and wait for water before approaching. A spiking gauge is your red flag for a blocked return or a clogged salt cell; shut down fast, clear the path, and protect the tank.
• treating the filter as a pressure hazard
• relative risks of sand, cartridge, and DE filters
• turning off power and automation service mode
• removing the pump lid as a fail-safe
• bleeding air and safe startup distance
• clamp types, tightening until spring coils meet
• avoiding cross-threading and when to replace clamps
• spotting dangerous pressure spikes and return blockages
• quick priming tips and avoiding automation glitches
• training techs to follow a standard safety checklist
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (01:03):
Hey, welcome to the Pool Guy Podcast Show.
In this episode, I'm gonna talkto you about some safety around
pool filters, and I'll go overspecific things that could go
wrong, of course, plus somethings that I think are
important to keep you safe whenyou're doing a filter cleaning
or servicing or working on apool filter.
(01:23):
Are you a pool service prolooking to take your business to
the next level?
Join the pool guy coachingprogram.
Get expert advice, businesstips, exclusive content, and get
direct support.
From me, I'm a 35-year veteranin the industry.
Whether you're starting out orscaling up, I've got the tools
to help you succeed.
Learn more atswimmingpoollearning.com.
I think it's wise to look at apool filter as kind of like a
(01:47):
pressure cooker in a kitchensomewhere.
If you ever use a pressurecooker, you know that maybe you
have a background working in arestaurant or something when you
were younger.
And if this thing were to gettoo hot and under too much
pressure, it could explode.
And of course, this is adangerous situation.
And I think a pool filter shouldbe seen in the same light, that
(02:12):
it is something that's under ahigh amount of pressure, and if
something goes wrong with it, itcould explode, potentially
causing injury and death.
And it is the most dangerouselement on your pool equipment.
Now, some filters are moredangerous than other filters.
I want to clarify that there arefilters that are under a lot
(02:35):
more pressure.
And I would say sand filters areprobably the safest filter type
because they're one completeunit usually, and typically you
don't take those apart to cleanthem.
You just take them apart tochange the sand or check the
laterals, and they're probablywhat I would consider to be
relatively safe back there.
(02:56):
The cartridge filters and a Dfilters are the ones that pose
more danger because you takethose apart to clean them, and
they have, of course, a clamp ora ring that holds them on, which
under pressure could explode onyou if not put on correctly.
(03:19):
So with that said, I think it'simportant to look at the filter
as something that's a hazardback there in a way, and as
something to be treated as such.
And I think if you take itlightly and don't think of it
that way, you could, of course,leave yourself open for
potential danger by being kindof lax or laxadaisical about the
(03:42):
danger presented by this objectunder a lot of pressure, under a
lot of water pressure, that is.
And one thing to note about thefilters is that in most cases
you'll never have a problem ifyou follow the procedures and if
you follow the rules ofanything.
That's kind of how it is outthere.
When things start to get older,of course, replace them, and
(04:05):
always err on the side ofcaution.
Whenever I clean a filter and Iput it back together, and I open
up the airbreeder valve and Iturn on the pump, I kind of
always back away to a safedistance.
It's kind of like a habit Idevelop.
It's just because I'm maybeparanoid.
I've seen, you know, too many,I've heard about too many of
(04:27):
these accidents happening whenyou turn on the filter and the
clamp fails and the filterexplodes at that moment, which
is probably pretty rare again ifeverything is working correctly.
But still, I guess I'm a littleparanoid and I'll step back.
I'll take a few steps back ormove away from the filter
entirely until I hear the watercoming out of the air relief
valve.
(04:47):
Then I know it's pretty safe.
Because there is a lot of air inthere when you start it up, and
so to me, I think that's adanger point when you put the
filter together, put the clampon, turn on the pump, and you
need to hear the hissing, theshhh, and then water comes out,
and then I think you're safe atthat point.
And again, I always treat itthat way because it's one of
(05:09):
those things the label on thereis true.
If that were to explode at thatmoment, you could of course be
severely injured by the top ofthe tank hitting you.
And I've heard of pool pros thatwere putting the tank on and
then they didn't turn the timeroff.
I'll get to that in a minute.
Then it came on while they'reputting the clamp on, which is
(05:31):
also a dangerous situation.
So most of the danger you'regoing to encounter with the
filter is when you're taking thelid off, to clean it, and also
when you're putting everythingback together.
I just want to clarify that andemphasize those are the two
danger points of filtercleaning.
Now, the Aquastar Pipelinefilter is an interesting filter
(05:53):
that has built-in safetymechanisms to kind of help you
navigate the danger when youtake it apart.
So, for example, if you have anAquastar pipeline filter on your
route, or if you put one in, ifyou take that ring off to clean
the filter, but you don'trelease the air in the filter
first, that that ring won't spinfree, which is a really cool
(06:18):
safety aspect.
I really like that, and I thinkmore manufacturers should
introduce that with thosefilters with that plastic ring
type lockdown ring.
Not the bolt and spring knotclamp type filter, but the ones
with the plastic locking ring,that'd be a great safety
feature.
So with the Aquastar pipelinefilter, in order to clean it,
(06:41):
you have to open the airbleeder, then remove the drain
and drain the water out, andthen that will depressurize the
tank, and you can actually spinthat locking ring and remove the
lid.
It's really nice, and this iskind of the same procedure you'd
want to use with a four-quadcartridge filter or a D filter
(07:01):
as well.
But of course, step one shouldalways be turning off the
equipment so that you don't havethe pump accidentally coming
back on during two criticaljunctions, which is one when
you're getting the lid off thefilter, and two when you're
putting the lid back on thefilter.
These are the two areas where itbecomes critically important
(07:24):
that the filter pump does notcome on at any time during these
two moments.
And these moments could be splitseconds, by the way, and this
could be you know a potentialfatal thing that you do or a
fatal error that you can make.
So the first thing I do, ofcourse, is I if it's an
(07:45):
interromatic timer, I'll takethat timer and I'll pull the
dial towards me and I'll spin itaway from the on-tripper.
You can also remove theon-tripper, a lot of pool guys
do that as well.
And you can, of course, kill thepower if there's a subpanel
there or a kill switch to turnthe power off to the pump so
that it's not going to come onat any point during the filter
(08:07):
cleaning.
If you have the standalone VSpump, hit the off button and
turn that pump off.
It's a good idea also to turnoff the subpanel if you can find
it.
I don't think many pool guys goto the main breaker and turn off
the pool equipment there.
You can do that as well.
Sometimes it's inconvenient isin the garage or it's on the
other side of the house.
(08:27):
As long as you can turn off thepump at the pump itself, that
should be enough because there'sa secondary thing that I'm going
to tell you to do in a momentthat's going to, of course,
prevent any kind of accidents.
But primarily turn off the pump,turn off the power to it, and if
you have an automated panel, putit in service mode.
That's the 24-hour off mode,basically, 24-7 off mode.
(08:50):
And then you can safely open upthe air relief valve on the
filter, open up the drain, andthen take the filter lid off.
It's a pretty easy procedure,and it's something that you
should do at every single filtercleaning.
Now, the secondary thing thatI'm going to tell you to do
here, which is going to preventany kind of accident before you
(09:29):
take the filter lid off, isremove the pump lid on the pump.
Now be careful that you're notbelow the water level or below
sea level at the equipment.
The first thing you want to do,of course, if the equipment is
below the pool water line, isturn all the valves off to the
return and suction so thatthat's a closed system.
(09:50):
95% of the pools are going to beat the same level or above the
pool water line.
That's not a problem usually.
So take the pump lid off, andnow you can easily proceed with
removing the filter ring or thefilter clamp and getting the
filtered lid off without havingto worry about any kind of
danger with the system coming onand causing injury.
(10:15):
This is something I've beendoing a lot lately, removing the
pump lid on the systems.
I had a couple scares.
I don't know exactly what theerror was, and I've called
Penter on this before, and theycouldn't figure it out either.
It's when you have an olderPenter Intelliflow connected to
an Intelli Intelli.
(10:38):
It's not the Easy Touch, it'sthe IntelliTouch panel.
And when that's connectedtogether, there's been a glitch
I've had happen to me, and youmay have had this happen to you
as well there, where you put thesystem into service mode, and
you everything's off.
And then you go to take thefilter apart, whatever, doing
(10:58):
whatever.
I have had this happen when Iclean the assault cell as well,
and then all of a sudden the thepump comes on and everything,
you know, comes on while itshould not be coming on at all.
And this is something that I'mnot sure exactly what the glitch
is, but that's happened, and sowhat I've been doing since this
has happened to me on a coupleoccasions when I'm doing
(11:20):
something around the pool,filter cleaning, salt cell
cleaning, whatever, I'll takethe pump lid off.
And if the pump comes on, sowhat?
It's not going to be able toprime up the filter or pull
water through and floodeverything with the salt cell
off the plumbing at that point.
(11:40):
And I think it's something thatyou should incorporate into any
time you're doing service on thefilter or maybe a salt cell
cleaning, it's just remove thepump lid.
Now, of course, this will causeair to go into the system and be
aware that in certain situationsyou may have priming issues
afterwards, you know, you mayhave tough trouble priming it,
(12:02):
but in most cases, I don'treally have this problem.
There's like one or two poolsthat are like super far away
from the equipment where if Iwere to do this and try to prime
it, it takes a little bitlonger.
You can always, of course, primethe system from the spa and then
turn the valves back to poolmode if you have any problems
with air in the pool line.
So not really a problem, butit's an extra level of safety,
(12:25):
in my opinion, that should betaught to all the pool techs out
there, all your employees, thatbefore you take the filter lid
off, take the pump lid off.
And before you put the filterlid back on, of course, and
tighten everything up and turnon the system, then you put the
pump lid on, fill it with water,prime it up, and you're good to
go.
Now, this is really simple todo, and more people should be
(12:47):
doing it because again, withoutthat pump lid on, there's no way
that filter could fill withwater, fill with air,
pressurize, and cause any kindof accident.
This is also a good time whenyou're doing the filter
cleaning, especially with thespring barrel nut clamp, which
is on a lot of the DE filtersand cartridge filters out there.
The four by cartridges, most DEfilters have this clamp.
(13:11):
I like this clamp because itdoes have that built-in safety.
And if you look at the actualdiagram on that clamp, it tells
you to close it and keep turningit until there's no gaps in that
spring.
And I really would advise you todo this.
Now I've had some accounts whereI've taken over the pool and I
get back there and I see thatthe homeowner was doing the
(13:34):
filter, and I look at that clampand I look at the spring that's
in that nut, and I it's liketotally open, like there's gaps
on there, and you know, I'msometimes amazed that the lid
hasn't blown off the filter yet.
So the good news is you have toput it on extremely loose for
that actually to blow off.
And and from my experience oftaking over pools where the
(13:56):
homeowner put that on, and tome, it's very loose.
So, of course, tighten that up.
If you're using the multi-torquesocket set, which I highly
recommend by the way, if you areinterested in these, go to multi
multi-tork multi-torque.com, andthis will allow you to put these
spring barrel nuts back on superfast.
(14:16):
But what I do when when I'mdoing when I'm using the
multi-torque is I'll put it onthere, and then once it gets to
the end of it, I'll take thedrill with the multi-torque
socket on there, and I'll kindof spin the drill three or four
times to kind of manuallytighten up that spring barrel
nut.
And one thing that you can alsodo, by the way, to preserve that
(14:37):
and allow that to last longer,because those are pretty
expensive, the clamps areexpensive, they're one solid
piece, is to get a tube of magiclube.
And the magic lube tube actuallyis the exact diameter for that
threaded bolt to fit into themagic lube lid, and put some
lube on there, and then when youput this, when you put the
(14:58):
spring barrel nut back on there,you're not gonna strip it.
Sometimes you put it on if youdon't do that and you're putting
it on, you can actually put iton cross-threaded, and that
weakens the clamp.
It also makes it nearlyimpossible to get off the next
time you clean the filter.
So be sure that you don't uhcross-thread that clamp with the
(15:19):
spring barrel nut, and it'ssomething that does happen out
there.
So when you do run into asituation where that has
happened, simply replace thatclamp at that point.
Now there are a few occasionswhere you can get away with
replacing just the bolt and theactually the nut and the spring
barrel, but really for overallsafety, whenever that clamp
(15:42):
seems to be compromised, you cankind of see it too if it looks
like it's kind of loose a littlebit as far as you know the
threaded part, how it fits intothat clamp.
Whenever I see something thatlooks compromised, and just a
word of caution here, Haywardhad a really bad run of clamps,
and they may look like they'relike 50 years old or from the
(16:05):
Titanic because all the paint ischipping off and it's getting
really cruddy looking.
Those are perfectly fine, it'sjust a manufacturing defect that
they had these clamps they made,it had a run of them for many
years.
So you may get a Hayward Dfilter cartridge filter with one
of these really thick blackclamps on there, and you may
(16:26):
think, well, this thing is soold it's compromised, but it's
really not, it's just reallypoor manufacturing at that
point, causing that clamp tolook like it's you know made in
the 1950s.
It's really probably just likethree or four years old in a lot
of cases, it just looks reallycruddy, it's still perfectly
fine.
And I prefer the Hayward clampsmyself because they're like
(16:47):
super solid, Hayward and Jandy.
The Pentair clamps, I mean, theylook flimsy to me, but they've
they work pretty well.
The Hayward clamps and the jandyones are just solid, solid
clamps where you really don'thave to worry too much.
So the last thing I would say isthat when you do turn on the
filter, put the lid back on, thepump fill it up with water, turn
(17:08):
the system on, open up the airbleeder.
Some air bleeders are betterthan others, of course.
The pentare ones are the bestbecause they're gigantic, let a
lot of air out fast.
But this is where the danger ofrestarting is if the clamps on
correctly, if there's somethingcompromising the clamp and or
the ring that you're putting on,and the air is filling up the
(17:29):
filter at that point.
Here's where it could becomeexplosive with the air getting
the air being evacuated out ofthere.
So this is what I always walkaway when I'm bleeding it out
until I hear the water, justbecause I'm a little bit
paranoid, and you never know ifthere's some kind of mechanical
failure with the clamp, eventhough it looks good.
So this is where I step back alittle bit until water comes out
(17:52):
the top, then I know I'm in theclear.
Now I'll give you a coupledanger points here too when you
turn the system back on, andthis could happen.
There can be debris or leaves orsomething that gets into the
return line sometime betweensomewhere between the filter and
the return line.
(18:13):
You could also have blockage inthe salt cell.
That's why I recommend thatwhenever you do a filter
cleaning, you also take the saltcell off to clean it.
Because a lot of times, and alsoif you see this happen, you want
to make sure you turn the pooloff right away.
And of course, if there's a saltcell, take it off and inspect
it.
But sometimes debris will bypasseverything when you're draining
(18:33):
everything out.
This has happened to me, ofcourse.
That's why I'm telling you this.
This is the possibility that ifyou're in a location where
there's a heavy debris load, youknow, like there's um cypress
trees nearby, this is this isthe actual incident that
happened.
The cypress tree tree leaves arein the filter, completely
filling up the cartridge filter.
(18:54):
And then when I removedeverything, some of them got
into the return line in betweenthe salt cell and the filter.
The bottom line, if any debrisgets into the return line at
that point, which can happen,you turn on the pump, the
pressure gauge could go from sayzero to well over 30 to close to
40 pretty rapidly.
(19:15):
So turn everything off and thencheck for something blocking the
return line at that point, whichcan happen.
Doesn't happen all the time, butthere is a possibility that
something could have gotten inthere and could be blocking the
return line.
This is a dangerous situationbecause the water has nowhere to
go, the air has nowhere to goreally, except in the tank, and
(19:38):
that keeps expanding to thepoint where it can actually
explode, even with a reallytight clamp on there.
And this is more typical of acartridge filter when you remove
the cartridge, you're you have adirect opening to the return
line at that point, and thatcould be full of debris D.
Not quite as often because whenyou remove the grids, there's it
(20:00):
could happen if the tank's notdraining properly, or if you
know the backwash valve when yougo to drain it is not working,
or if you don't take the drainoff, that could happen as well.
So just be aware that you cancause an obstruction of the
return line while you'recleaning the filter, and to be
aware of that with the pressuregauge.
(20:20):
Now, when you turn on thefilter, you should have a normal
pressure, and it should go to15, usually or 18 on a D filter,
and then you're perfectly safethere.
You know, close the air bleederand everything's good to go.
Check for leaks, make surethere's no leaks in the O-ring.
And of course, I can addresssome other aspects of the filter
in a different episode, but Ijust wanted to focus on really
(20:44):
being safe out there to preventthose two danger points when
you're taking the filter lid offand when you're putting the
filter lid on.
These can be a very dangerouspart of the filter cleaning.
So, of course, follow thiscaution and you should be really
safe out there.
And your employee your employeeshould also be safe out there
doing the filter cleanings.
If you're looking for otherpodcasts, you can find those by
(21:06):
going to my website,swingingprolearning.com.
On the banner, there's a podcasticon.
Click on that, and there'll be adrop-down menu over the podcast
for you there.
And if you're interested in thecoaching program that offer, you
can learn more atPoolGuyCoaching.
Thanks for listening, poolguycoaching.com.
Thanks for listening to thispodcast.
Have a great rest of your weekand God bless.
Hey, welcome to the Pool Guy Podcast Show.
In this episode, I'm gonna talkto you about some safety around
pool filters, and I'll go overspecific things that could go
wrong, of course, plus somethings that I think are
important to keep you safe whenyou're doing a filter cleaning
or servicing or working on apool filter.
(01:23):
Are you a pool service prolooking to take your business to
the next level?
Join the pool guy coachingprogram.
Get expert advice, businesstips, exclusive content, and get
direct support.
From me, I'm a 35-year veteranin the industry.
Whether you're starting out orscaling up, I've got the tools
to help you succeed.
Learn more atswimmingpoollearning.com.
I think it's wise to look at apool filter as kind of like a
(01:47):
pressure cooker in a kitchensomewhere.
If you ever use a pressurecooker, you know that maybe you
have a background working in arestaurant or something when you
were younger.
And if this thing were to gettoo hot and under too much
pressure, it could explode.
And of course, this is adangerous situation.
And I think a pool filter shouldbe seen in the same light, that
(02:12):
it is something that's under ahigh amount of pressure, and if
something goes wrong with it, itcould explode, potentially
causing injury and death.
And it is the most dangerouselement on your pool equipment.
Now, some filters are moredangerous than other filters.
I want to clarify that there arefilters that are under a lot
(02:35):
more pressure.
And I would say sand filters areprobably the safest filter type
because they're one completeunit usually, and typically you
don't take those apart to cleanthem.
You just take them apart tochange the sand or check the
laterals, and they're probablywhat I would consider to be
relatively safe back there.
(02:56):
The cartridge filters and a Dfilters are the ones that pose
more danger because you takethose apart to clean them, and
they have, of course, a clamp ora ring that holds them on, which
under pressure could explode onyou if not put on correctly.
(03:19):
So with that said, I think it'simportant to look at the filter
as something that's a hazardback there in a way, and as
something to be treated as such.
And I think if you take itlightly and don't think of it
that way, you could, of course,leave yourself open for
potential danger by being kindof lax or laxadaisical about the
(03:42):
danger presented by this objectunder a lot of pressure, under a
lot of water pressure, that is.
And one thing to note about thefilters is that in most cases
you'll never have a problem ifyou follow the procedures and if
you follow the rules ofanything.
That's kind of how it is outthere.
When things start to get older,of course, replace them, and
(04:05):
always err on the side ofcaution.
Whenever I clean a filter and Iput it back together, and I open
up the airbreeder valve and Iturn on the pump, I kind of
always back away to a safedistance.
It's kind of like a habit Idevelop.
It's just because I'm maybeparanoid.
I've seen, you know, too many,I've heard about too many of
(04:27):
these accidents happening whenyou turn on the filter and the
clamp fails and the filterexplodes at that moment, which
is probably pretty rare again ifeverything is working correctly.
But still, I guess I'm a littleparanoid and I'll step back.
I'll take a few steps back ormove away from the filter
entirely until I hear the watercoming out of the air relief
valve.
(04:47):
Then I know it's pretty safe.
Because there is a lot of air inthere when you start it up, and
so to me, I think that's adanger point when you put the
filter together, put the clampon, turn on the pump, and you
need to hear the hissing, theshhh, and then water comes out,
and then I think you're safe atthat point.
And again, I always treat itthat way because it's one of
(05:09):
those things the label on thereis true.
If that were to explode at thatmoment, you could of course be
severely injured by the top ofthe tank hitting you.
And I've heard of pool pros thatwere putting the tank on and
then they didn't turn the timeroff.
I'll get to that in a minute.
Then it came on while they'reputting the clamp on, which is
(05:31):
also a dangerous situation.
So most of the danger you'regoing to encounter with the
filter is when you're taking thelid off, to clean it, and also
when you're putting everythingback together.
I just want to clarify that andemphasize those are the two
danger points of filtercleaning.
Now, the Aquastar Pipelinefilter is an interesting filter
(05:53):
that has built-in safetymechanisms to kind of help you
navigate the danger when youtake it apart.
So, for example, if you have anAquastar pipeline filter on your
route, or if you put one in, ifyou take that ring off to clean
the filter, but you don'trelease the air in the filter
first, that that ring won't spinfree, which is a really cool
(06:18):
safety aspect.
I really like that, and I thinkmore manufacturers should
introduce that with thosefilters with that plastic ring
type lockdown ring.
Not the bolt and spring knotclamp type filter, but the ones
with the plastic locking ring,that'd be a great safety
feature.
So with the Aquastar pipelinefilter, in order to clean it,
(06:41):
you have to open the airbleeder, then remove the drain
and drain the water out, andthen that will depressurize the
tank, and you can actually spinthat locking ring and remove the
lid.
It's really nice, and this iskind of the same procedure you'd
want to use with a four-quadcartridge filter or a D filter
(07:01):
as well.
But of course, step one shouldalways be turning off the
equipment so that you don't havethe pump accidentally coming
back on during two criticaljunctions, which is one when
you're getting the lid off thefilter, and two when you're
putting the lid back on thefilter.
These are the two areas where itbecomes critically important
(07:24):
that the filter pump does notcome on at any time during these
two moments.
And these moments could be splitseconds, by the way, and this
could be you know a potentialfatal thing that you do or a
fatal error that you can make.
So the first thing I do, ofcourse, is I if it's an
(07:45):
interromatic timer, I'll takethat timer and I'll pull the
dial towards me and I'll spin itaway from the on-tripper.
You can also remove theon-tripper, a lot of pool guys
do that as well.
And you can, of course, kill thepower if there's a subpanel
there or a kill switch to turnthe power off to the pump so
that it's not going to come onat any point during the filter
(08:07):
cleaning.
If you have the standalone VSpump, hit the off button and
turn that pump off.
It's a good idea also to turnoff the subpanel if you can find
it.
I don't think many pool guys goto the main breaker and turn off
the pool equipment there.
You can do that as well.
Sometimes it's inconvenient isin the garage or it's on the
other side of the house.
(08:27):
As long as you can turn off thepump at the pump itself, that
should be enough because there'sa secondary thing that I'm going
to tell you to do in a momentthat's going to, of course,
prevent any kind of accidents.
But primarily turn off the pump,turn off the power to it, and if
you have an automated panel, putit in service mode.
That's the 24-hour off mode,basically, 24-7 off mode.
(08:50):
And then you can safely open upthe air relief valve on the
filter, open up the drain, andthen take the filter lid off.
It's a pretty easy procedure,and it's something that you
should do at every single filtercleaning.
Now, the secondary thing thatI'm going to tell you to do
here, which is going to preventany kind of accident before you
(09:29):
take the filter lid off, isremove the pump lid on the pump.
Now be careful that you're notbelow the water level or below
sea level at the equipment.
The first thing you want to do,of course, if the equipment is
below the pool water line, isturn all the valves off to the
return and suction so thatthat's a closed system.
(09:50):
95% of the pools are going to beat the same level or above the
pool water line.
That's not a problem usually.
So take the pump lid off, andnow you can easily proceed with
removing the filter ring or thefilter clamp and getting the
filtered lid off without havingto worry about any kind of
danger with the system coming onand causing injury.
(10:15):
This is something I've beendoing a lot lately, removing the
pump lid on the systems.
I had a couple scares.
I don't know exactly what theerror was, and I've called
Penter on this before, and theycouldn't figure it out either.
It's when you have an olderPenter Intelliflow connected to
an Intelli Intelli.
(10:38):
It's not the Easy Touch, it'sthe IntelliTouch panel.
And when that's connectedtogether, there's been a glitch
I've had happen to me, and youmay have had this happen to you
as well there, where you put thesystem into service mode, and
you everything's off.
And then you go to take thefilter apart, whatever, doing
(10:58):
whatever.
I have had this happen when Iclean the assault cell as well,
and then all of a sudden the thepump comes on and everything,
you know, comes on while itshould not be coming on at all.
And this is something that I'mnot sure exactly what the glitch
is, but that's happened, and sowhat I've been doing since this
has happened to me on a coupleoccasions when I'm doing
(11:20):
something around the pool,filter cleaning, salt cell
cleaning, whatever, I'll takethe pump lid off.
And if the pump comes on, sowhat?
It's not going to be able toprime up the filter or pull
water through and floodeverything with the salt cell
off the plumbing at that point.
(11:40):
And I think it's something thatyou should incorporate into any
time you're doing service on thefilter or maybe a salt cell
cleaning, it's just remove thepump lid.
Now, of course, this will causeair to go into the system and be
aware that in certain situationsyou may have priming issues
afterwards, you know, you mayhave tough trouble priming it,
(12:02):
but in most cases, I don'treally have this problem.
There's like one or two poolsthat are like super far away
from the equipment where if Iwere to do this and try to prime
it, it takes a little bitlonger.
You can always, of course, primethe system from the spa and then
turn the valves back to poolmode if you have any problems
with air in the pool line.
So not really a problem, butit's an extra level of safety,
(12:25):
in my opinion, that should betaught to all the pool techs out
there, all your employees, thatbefore you take the filter lid
off, take the pump lid off.
And before you put the filterlid back on, of course, and
tighten everything up and turnon the system, then you put the
pump lid on, fill it with water,prime it up, and you're good to
go.
Now, this is really simple todo, and more people should be
(12:47):
doing it because again, withoutthat pump lid on, there's no way
that filter could fill withwater, fill with air,
pressurize, and cause any kindof accident.
This is also a good time whenyou're doing the filter
cleaning, especially with thespring barrel nut clamp, which
is on a lot of the DE filtersand cartridge filters out there.
The four by cartridges, most DEfilters have this clamp.
(13:11):
I like this clamp because itdoes have that built-in safety.
And if you look at the actualdiagram on that clamp, it tells
you to close it and keep turningit until there's no gaps in that
spring.
And I really would advise you todo this.
Now I've had some accounts whereI've taken over the pool and I
get back there and I see thatthe homeowner was doing the
(13:34):
filter, and I look at that clampand I look at the spring that's
in that nut, and I it's liketotally open, like there's gaps
on there, and you know, I'msometimes amazed that the lid
hasn't blown off the filter yet.
So the good news is you have toput it on extremely loose for
that actually to blow off.
And and from my experience oftaking over pools where the
(13:56):
homeowner put that on, and tome, it's very loose.
So, of course, tighten that up.
If you're using the multi-torquesocket set, which I highly
recommend by the way, if you areinterested in these, go to multi
multi-tork multi-torque.com, andthis will allow you to put these
spring barrel nuts back on superfast.
(14:16):
But what I do when when I'mdoing when I'm using the
multi-torque is I'll put it onthere, and then once it gets to
the end of it, I'll take thedrill with the multi-torque
socket on there, and I'll kindof spin the drill three or four
times to kind of manuallytighten up that spring barrel
nut.
And one thing that you can alsodo, by the way, to preserve that
(14:37):
and allow that to last longer,because those are pretty
expensive, the clamps areexpensive, they're one solid
piece, is to get a tube of magiclube.
And the magic lube tube actuallyis the exact diameter for that
threaded bolt to fit into themagic lube lid, and put some
lube on there, and then when youput this, when you put the
(14:58):
spring barrel nut back on there,you're not gonna strip it.
Sometimes you put it on if youdon't do that and you're putting
it on, you can actually put iton cross-threaded, and that
weakens the clamp.
It also makes it nearlyimpossible to get off the next
time you clean the filter.
So be sure that you don't uhcross-thread that clamp with the
(15:19):
spring barrel nut, and it'ssomething that does happen out
there.
So when you do run into asituation where that has
happened, simply replace thatclamp at that point.
Now there are a few occasionswhere you can get away with
replacing just the bolt and theactually the nut and the spring
barrel, but really for overallsafety, whenever that clamp
(15:42):
seems to be compromised, you cankind of see it too if it looks
like it's kind of loose a littlebit as far as you know the
threaded part, how it fits intothat clamp.
Whenever I see something thatlooks compromised, and just a
word of caution here, Haywardhad a really bad run of clamps,
and they may look like they'relike 50 years old or from the
(16:05):
Titanic because all the paint ischipping off and it's getting
really cruddy looking.
Those are perfectly fine, it'sjust a manufacturing defect that
they had these clamps they made,it had a run of them for many
years.
So you may get a Hayward Dfilter cartridge filter with one
of these really thick blackclamps on there, and you may
(16:26):
think, well, this thing is soold it's compromised, but it's
really not, it's just reallypoor manufacturing at that
point, causing that clamp tolook like it's you know made in
the 1950s.
It's really probably just likethree or four years old in a lot
of cases, it just looks reallycruddy, it's still perfectly
fine.
And I prefer the Hayward clampsmyself because they're like
(16:47):
super solid, Hayward and Jandy.
The Pentair clamps, I mean, theylook flimsy to me, but they've
they work pretty well.
The Hayward clamps and the jandyones are just solid, solid
clamps where you really don'thave to worry too much.
So the last thing I would say isthat when you do turn on the
filter, put the lid back on, thepump fill it up with water, turn
(17:08):
the system on, open up the airbleeder.
Some air bleeders are betterthan others, of course.
The pentare ones are the bestbecause they're gigantic, let a
lot of air out fast.
But this is where the danger ofrestarting is if the clamps on
correctly, if there's somethingcompromising the clamp and or
the ring that you're putting on,and the air is filling up the
(17:29):
filter at that point.
Here's where it could becomeexplosive with the air getting
the air being evacuated out ofthere.
So this is what I always walkaway when I'm bleeding it out
until I hear the water, justbecause I'm a little bit
paranoid, and you never know ifthere's some kind of mechanical
failure with the clamp, eventhough it looks good.
So this is where I step back alittle bit until water comes out
(17:52):
the top, then I know I'm in theclear.
Now I'll give you a coupledanger points here too when you
turn the system back on, andthis could happen.
There can be debris or leaves orsomething that gets into the
return line sometime betweensomewhere between the filter and
the return line.
(18:13):
You could also have blockage inthe salt cell.
That's why I recommend thatwhenever you do a filter
cleaning, you also take the saltcell off to clean it.
Because a lot of times, and alsoif you see this happen, you want
to make sure you turn the pooloff right away.
And of course, if there's a saltcell, take it off and inspect
it.
But sometimes debris will bypasseverything when you're draining
(18:33):
everything out.
This has happened to me, ofcourse.
That's why I'm telling you this.
This is the possibility that ifyou're in a location where
there's a heavy debris load, youknow, like there's um cypress
trees nearby, this is this isthe actual incident that
happened.
The cypress tree tree leaves arein the filter, completely
filling up the cartridge filter.
(18:54):
And then when I removedeverything, some of them got
into the return line in betweenthe salt cell and the filter.
The bottom line, if any debrisgets into the return line at
that point, which can happen,you turn on the pump, the
pressure gauge could go from sayzero to well over 30 to close to
40 pretty rapidly.
(19:15):
So turn everything off and thencheck for something blocking the
return line at that point, whichcan happen.
Doesn't happen all the time, butthere is a possibility that
something could have gotten inthere and could be blocking the
return line.
This is a dangerous situationbecause the water has nowhere to
go, the air has nowhere to goreally, except in the tank, and
(19:38):
that keeps expanding to thepoint where it can actually
explode, even with a reallytight clamp on there.
And this is more typical of acartridge filter when you remove
the cartridge, you're you have adirect opening to the return
line at that point, and thatcould be full of debris D.
Not quite as often because whenyou remove the grids, there's it
(20:00):
could happen if the tank's notdraining properly, or if you
know the backwash valve when yougo to drain it is not working,
or if you don't take the drainoff, that could happen as well.
So just be aware that you cancause an obstruction of the
return line while you'recleaning the filter, and to be
aware of that with the pressuregauge.
(20:20):
Now, when you turn on thefilter, you should have a normal
pressure, and it should go to15, usually or 18 on a D filter,
and then you're perfectly safethere.
You know, close the air bleederand everything's good to go.
Check for leaks, make surethere's no leaks in the O-ring.
And of course, I can addresssome other aspects of the filter
in a different episode, but Ijust wanted to focus on really
(20:44):
being safe out there to preventthose two danger points when
you're taking the filter lid offand when you're putting the
filter lid on.
These can be a very dangerouspart of the filter cleaning.
So, of course, follow thiscaution and you should be really
safe out there.
And your employee your employeeshould also be safe out there
doing the filter cleanings.
If you're looking for otherpodcasts, you can find those by
(21:06):
going to my website,swingingprolearning.com.
On the banner, there's a podcasticon.
Click on that, and there'll be adrop-down menu over the podcast
for you there.
And if you're interested in thecoaching program that offer, you
can learn more atPoolGuyCoaching.
Thanks for listening, poolguycoaching.com.
Thanks for listening to thispodcast.
Have a great rest of your weekand God bless.
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