Hayward Perflex D.E. Filter Backwashing & Troubleshooting

If you have a Hayward Perflex D.E. Pool filter on your pool you are going to have to do something called “backwashing” from time to time in order for your pool filter to work properly. Now your probably thinking; “What is backwashing a pool filter” or “how do I back wash my pool filter” because you have never heard of this.

Well let me explain; Inside your pool filter is a set of fingers that get cover with the D.E. powder that you add from the pool skimmer. This D.E. powder catches all the microscopic bacteria but allows the cleaned water to return to the pool.

After a while the D.E. inside of the filter will have absorbed so much bacteria and debris that you will need to do something called, backwashing and basically most people will tell you the phrase “back wash pool filter”. So lets get started explaining to you how to back wash your Hayward D.E. Filter. By the way this backwashing method will work for all the Hayward Perflex Models including the EC30, EC40, EC50A, and the EC65, no matter what age. Each one of these models is a D.E. powered filter, they all have a bump handle, tube sheets, fingers and are to be backwashed the same way.

How To Backwash The Hayward Perflex D.E. Filter

Shut Down The Filter System

The first thing you will always want to do before you bump the handle or attempt to backwash your pool filter is to first shut down the filter system. If you try to bump the handle on the filter while the filter system is on, well chances are you will wind up breaking something inside the filter.

Bump The Handle On The Top Of The Filter SLOWLY

Now that you have the filter system shut off, you will want to push down on the bump handle slowly until it moves all the way down. You should feel some resistance when you are pushing down on the handle which is also known as “bumping” this type of filter. If your handle is moving freely and it feels like it is not doing anything, then you could have broken C-clips on the bump shaft, see the troubleshooting section below for more info on how to fix that. But for now if you have resistance you will want to slowly push the bump handle on your Hayward Perflex filter up and down around 10 – 20 times. What this does is shake all the D.E. powder from the fingers that are inside of the pool filter. Remember the pool filter system should be off when you do bump the handle.

Open The Bottom Filter Drain Valve

Once you have bumped the handle on the filter, you will want to open the bottom valve on the filter tank. Sometimes the T-handle on this valve is broken making it seem that you will not be able to open the valve, but this is possible with channel lock pliers, please see the troubleshooting section below. But if your valve handle is good and you can open the valve you now will want to do so. If you have a backwash hose hooked up to the valve you first will want to unroll that.

Turn On The Filter System, Run The Pool Filter

Now that the handle has been bumped, you have opened the valve and your backwash hose is rolled out if you have one you will be ready to get all that old D.E. out from inside of the filter. So now you will want to turn on your filter and let it run for a few minutes. If you look at the end of the backwash hose or your valve you will see all the dirty water and D.E. coming out from the filter.. The basic rule of thumb is to let the filter run for around two minutes or so or until all the water being pumped out is clear.

Shut Filter, Close Valve, Let Filter Run, Repeat Process

Now you will want to shut down the filter and close your valve. Once the valve is closed you will want to turn on your filter again. Once you see water coming from the return jet on your pool you will want to repeat the above process at least one or two more times for best results. The more you backwash the filter the more D.E. and debris will be removed from the filter.

Add New D.E. Powder Through The Skimmer

Once you are all done with the steps above you will want to add new D.E. powder to the filter, This is very important, failure to add new D.E. to your filter after you backwash it could lead to filter damage. So what you will want to do is to look on the side of the filter and add about a 1/2 cup less then recommend to the filter through the skimmer. So here is how you do so. Make sure the filter system is on and walk over to the pool skimmer and one pound at a time add the D.E. power into the filter.

As you add the D.E. to the skimmer you will see it get sucked down into the skimmer and then will get trapped inside the filter until next time you backwash. You can buy a D.E. scoop or measure the D.E. yourself with a coffee can etc. But the measurement for filter media (D.E.powder) is done in LBS or pounds. The EC30 will take 3lbs of D.E., the EC40 will use 4 lbs of DE., the EC50 & 65A should use around 5.5 lbs of D.E every time you backwash it.

Hayward Perflex D.E Filter Backwashing Troubleshooting

My Bump Handle Is Loose & Doesn’t Work

If the bump handle on your Hayward filter doesn’t work then chances are the C-clips on the bump shaft have gone bad and need to be replace. They often can pop off from bumping the handle to hard or they can break from wear and age. To replace them you will need to take apart the pool filter. Check out: Hayward Perflex D.E Filter Repair & Troubleshooting for more info on how to do so.

The Handle On My Backwash Valve Is Broken & Stuck Closed

If the handle on the bottom of your Hayward D.E. filter tank is stuck, or broken and you cannot open the valve, well your not alone. This is a common problem. What you can do is remove the old handle and then take a pair of channel lock pliers or a small pipe wrench and open the valve by turning the valve stem sticking out from the valve. And off course when you can you will want to replace that valve with a new ball valve to make things easier in the future. Sometimes you may also have to loosen the center ring a half turn or so before the valve stem will turn on those types of Hayward backwash valves.

My Pool Filter is allowing D.E. back into the pool.

If your pool filter is allowing D.E. back into the pool you either have cracked tube sheets or the fingers inside the filter have rips or tears in them. You will need to open up the filter and visually inspect the tube sheets and then also look at the fingers to see if they are in fact damaged. Check out Hayward Perflex D.E Filter Repair & Troubleshooting and also see the image on that page because that will show you how to disassemble your Hayward Perflex D.E Filter.

If you need any help or have questions about your Hayward Perflex D.E. pool filter please leave your questions below in the comment area on this page and we will be glad to try to help you fix your filter issue.