Hayward Extended Cycle D.E. Pool Filters (in ground pools)
4.2
5
12
12
Poor quality
Admittedly, we bought this pump and filter because of its price. We had a cartridge system that went out and heard DE filters were the way to go. Since system was old, decided to get a new pump as well. We got the EC 65 with 1 HP pump.
To In-The-Swim's credit, the equipment arrived in 2 days, even with a Sunday order.
Comes with a stand that is sized for the filter and pump, if you use the included J-pipe to connect the two. But if your system is like mine and most all I have seen, piping after the pump actually splits to other branches rendering this J-pipe useless. Any piping arrangement other than their J-pipe and the inlet port of the filter is too close (vertically) to the outlet port of the pump so I had to build a stand that would accommodate how it actually gets set up (or install a bunch of piping elbows). The provided stand is sitting in my back yard waiting to be cut up and thrown away.
Ports on the pump and filter are sized for 1-1/2" threaded pipe. This should be included somewhere in the on-line literature as all my piping is 2". Might be, but I did not see it. Regardless, it is much easier to plumb down than plumb up. Would have been real easy to make a "universal" piping ports where simple insertion of bushings would reduce piping size. Even better would be to have these connections as couplings to permit easy breakdown/removal if a problem arises. I saw a pump at Home Depot today that had this. The J-pipe does have a coupling at the midpoint, but again, it is useless if you have to accommodate anything other than the presumed installation.
The ports are poorly cast for replacement use. The parts (J-pipe) they provide seal by a rubber gasket seated between a shoulder on the nipple body and the rim of the port on the filter. If you use a standard PVC nipple, the female threads of the inlet port are not tapered to provide a seal and PVC coupling do not have a shoulder to seat their gasket against. As a result, a std. PVC nipple bottoms out and the only way to keep it from leaking is to pucky it up with pipe dope.
Wiring the motor is an unbelievable task. There is insufficient room inside the connection compartment for routing, twisting and connecting wire of sufficient gage for 240 volt power. Got to get real creative and if you have never done something similar before, forget about it and call an electrician. One of the issues is the terminal screws are too close to the edge of the housing and using a standard non-metallic exterior-grade weather-tight whip, the portion of the whip body that extends into the housing is less than 1/4 inch from the terminal screw. So if you try to run the wires directly to the screws, the spade eyes touch since there is no room. You have to run one wire all around the compartment and connect from the opposite side to keep them from touching.
The inlet port of the filter and the outlet port are not 180 degrees apart, being off by approximately 10 degrees. You can clock the top of the filter tank to a number of different positons, but none is 180 degrees, (straight in line with the inlet). So if you are working with existing piping and just replacing the filter, you have to get creative with making connections as most piping installations are set up roughly 180, 90, 45 or 22.5 degrees apart.
The bolts used to hold the filter container lid on are junk. In order to clock the lid, out of the roughly 16 bolts, over half broke. Broke while UNSCREWING, not tightening. Seems like a burr is intentionally cast on the bolt or nut threads. No idea why they would do this as you have to get inside the tank from time to time. But again, over half broke and I had to go to Home Depot to buy all new stainless steel bolts and nuts to secure the lid.
Which brings us to the lid. It is necessary to open the lid from time to time in order to service the filter components. Besides being a hassle having to unbolt/bolt 15-16 fasteners, the outlet port IS PART OF THE LID!!!! So if you want to access the inside of the filter tank, you have to disassemble the piping leading out of the tank!!!!! Why they could not have lowered the port 3 inches and put it as part of the tank wall body is beyond me. So when you install it, make sure you have a union-coupling immediately outside the port, or you will be lifting off parts of your piping along with the lid and when you reinstall the lid, you obviously have to go through the hassle of reconnect your plumbing. Do not know about you, but taking apart the piping to get the lid off is absurd and poor design. And unfortunately, I have to open it up already as there is something rattling around inside the tank. No idea what but it is loud. Something may have got sucked into it or it may be a part of the workings, I do not know yet. I am just not looking forward to the hassle necessary to access the inside.
Now, with all that said, in the roughly 24 hours it has been up and running, it appears to be running well and doing a good job (albeit with a leak at the filter inlet that I have to take off, pucky with sealant and reinstall). I hope I do not have any problems with it because it does not look like it is durable enough to endure repeated opening and closing.
June 30, 2012
A Maintenance Headache
I've had a "75" for several years now and it does keep the water in my 16 X 36 pool very clean. I usually have to change the earth once during the season, which seem reasonable.
My only complaint entails the bumping mechanism. The whole thing is held on the shaft that attaches to the handle by two "C" clips. Every season at least one of the clips breaks and has to be replaced. The clips themselves are cheap, but replacement means washing all the earth from the filter, complete disassembly, putting it back together and adding new earth.
I won't buy another Haywood filter unless they replace the bump mechanism with something more reliable.
October 11, 2011
Not real happy
I purchased this as an upgrade from a sand filter. It installed easily and seemed to work well at first. It ran for several hours and then the flow quit. I bumped the handle as directed and it worked a few more hours. It finally got to the point it lasted 15 - 20 minutes so I changed the DE. After 3 boxes of DE, a local pool company finally told me the tubes were stopped up and to clean filter with a cleaner. I did this (This takes about 40 minutes to take it appart and clean) and it worked again. The DE lasted a week or so between changes after the pool was cleaned up and it only had to be cleaned 2 more time during the 1st season so I figured everything was OK.
Then last September, I started getting a powder in the bottom of the pool. I also started to notice the water coming out of the jets was cloudy every time I bumped the unit. I vacuumed the pool as usual thinking it was my imagination. I dealt with this until I closed the pool a few weeks later.
I started the pool again a few weeks ago and found it was still doing the same thing. I now find the powder is actually DE and the tubes need to be replaced. This unit is only 15 months old, but it is out of warranty. I am waiting to see if Hayward will still warranty the tubes, if not the tube assembly cost almost as much as whole filter. I would not purchase this filter again, nor would I recommend it. Next time I will spend a little more and buy the better one.
May 27, 2011
Wow!
After having tried many things ($$$) to fix problems (cloudy to green water) with my old sand filter for two seasons, I bought the Perflex EC65A. Installation was very easy and fast. The results were incredible - in one day the algae was gone and the cloudiness much improved, and in two days the water was sparkling clear. Why did I wait so long? Cleaning the filter with the "bump" is much easier, quicker and saves so much water compared to backwash, and is just as effective. I could not be happier!!!
June 24, 2010