Anthony Apollo VA-52 DE Pool Filter Repairs

One of my favorite pool filters out there is a vertical grid DE filter, made by Purex for Anthony Pools. The vertical grid arrangement is easy to clean, and the DE powder doesn’t bridge as easily as filters with curved DE grids.

There are plenty of pool guys out there who will tell you to “replace that old filter” – but it could be the best pool filter ever made, and it’s easy to repair. If they don’t want to repair it, you can do it yourself!

The Anthony Apollo DE filters were used from 1970-1995, which means that Anthony installed around 100,000 of the Apollo filters, by my own estimate. They are now out of production, discontinued, obsolete – however, replacement parts are still available, with the exception of the tank body, or tank halves.

So, as long as the stainless steel Anthony DE filter tank doesn’t develop pinholes (usually caused by poor water chemistry), you could rebuild this filter many times, for less than the cost of replacing it. Did I mention that I LOVE this filter?

How to Remove Anthony Vertical DE Filter Grids

When DE powder is blowing into the pool, or if you notice holes in the grids last time you cleaned them, you can replace individual grids, or the entire set of 6 large and 4 small grids. First step is to backwash the filter thoroughly to remove most of the DE powder and then shut the power off at the breaker. Open the air bleeder on top of the tank, to allow the tank to drain out of the backwash line.

1. Remove the clamp band. Be careful with these old clamps to avoid twisting the welds or stripping the nut. Use a 9/16″ socket or wrench (not a crescent wrench!), to loosen the soft brass nut from the bolt. When the nut is completely off, remove the clamp band.

2. Remove the filter lid. This may require a flathead screwdriver inserted between the tank halves to gently pry apart the two lid halves. Once loose, give the filter top a bear hug, pull the lid off and gently set it to the side to avoid dinging and denting the tank or the scalloped edges. The edges of the tank halves can be sharp, so be careful.

3. Open the retainer clip on one end of the horizontal rod, or thru-bolt. Once the clip is open, grab the filter rod beneath the clip and with your other hand, grasp the 90 degree fitting that connects to the filter, on the other end of the rod. Wiggle it a bit as you pull upward. When wet and caked with DE powder, the grids can be heavy, which may require two people to lift it out of the tank.

4. Remove the grid set to a place where you can hose it off clean. This will make the job much less messy, as you begin to take apart the grid assembly.

How to Replace Anthony Pools DE Filter Grids

anthony filter grids

1. On the end of the 90° fitting, there is a brass insert nut, internally threaded to screw onto the end of the brass rod. Use a 3/4″ socket or wrench to remove it in a CCW direction.

2. Alternatively, instead of loosening the insert nut, you can loosen the set screw on the opposite end of the rod, on the flange part known as the end bell, using a 5/32″ hex key. In most cases, this step can be skipped, as there is no need to remove the end bell when the insert nut (step 1) can be successfully removed.

3. If the brass rod begins to spin as you turn the brass insert nut, clamp the opposite end of the rod with a pair of vice grips, to hold the rod in place, while the brass insert is threaded off of the end of the rod.

4. When needed, which is most of the time), use some water-displacement 40 (WD-40) or other light penetrating oil, to loosen the brass insert nut, and make it easier to remove.Be careful not to overspray onto the filter grids.

Reassembling Anthony Apollo DE Filter Grids

Sorry, no pictures for this part, but if you have successfully removed the rod from the center of the Anthony grids, you will easily see how the grid assembly comes apart, and thus is put back together.

Anthony DE grids are separated by plastic spacers, which come in two widths, 1″ for the VA-38 and 1.5″ for the VA-51 and VA-52, which have the 1.5″ collection elbow and the 2″ collection elbow, respectively. The spacers are constructed so that they press fit into the grids.

To reassemble an Anthony grid assembly, it’s easier to have a second set of hands to help hold the assembly together, or you can use two bricks or blocks to lay the grid set onto, with the end bell facing the ground and the other end facing the sky. Stack the grids, alternating with spacers, lightly pushing the spacer into the round hole of each grid.

For the VA-51 and VA-52, a complete grid set has two small grids on each end, with 6 large grids in the middle. This allows the grid assembly to conform to the cylindrical shape of the filter tank. The VA-38 filter is narrower, and uses three small grids on each side, with 2 large grids in the middle. 

Once all of the grids and spacers are stacked and pressed, slide the collection elbow over the rod and thread on the brass insert nut. Tighten down smoothly, ensuring that the spacers are pressed into the grids on both side of each spacer.

Pop the grid assembly back in the tank, clean the tank body o-ring (replace it if it is no longer round, but triangular shaped), and replace the filter lid. Be extra careful tightening the clamp band, being sure that it is centered, and tapped lightly with a small hammer while the nut is tightened. Don’t overtighten, which could strip the nut or break the welds, but be sure that the clamp is not under-tightened, either.

For Anthony Apollo grids, and all other Anthony filter parts mentioned above, click here.

16 thoughts on “Anthony Apollo VA-52 DE Pool Filter Repairs

  1. Benny ruiz

    2″ o rings set of four the smallest one where dose it go can u show me a video of how to do it pls. Thxx

    • Hi Benny, I guess you are speaking of the Anthony push-pull filter valve? Two of the larger ones go on the disk, the third large goes under the cap, and the small one goes inside the cap, as a seal for the shaft where it passes thru the cap. You have to remove the pin, to remove the cap, and then you can replace the o-ring, or not if it is not leaking, you could skip it I suppose, and save it for later, if it ever did start leaking around the shaft, where it passes thru the cap.

  2. Thank you so much. Makes sense.
    I guess we leave the grids out while vacuuming up dead algae.

    • Carrie, well… you were asking about Recirculate, did you mean “Waste”? If you are wanting to vacuum dead algae to waste, Then remove the grids, replace the tank lid securely, and then pull the valve handle up for the backwash position, to flush the vacuum water out. Fill the pool up first very high, and vacuum semi-fast, before the water level drops to where the skimmer starts to suck air.

  3. The person who normally takes care of the pool is unavailable. The pool water is green. We purchased HTH green to blue. It requires that we bypass the filter however I don’t know if that’s possible with the Anthony VA 52-2.

    • Hi Carrie, because of the push-pull valve, you have no ‘recirculate’ setting, so you will simply open up the filter and remove the grid assembly, then close up the filter again tightly, to ‘bypass’ the filter.

  4. Lawrence

    I’m having a persistent problem. The material on the filter grids is pulling away from the end bell and elbow I’m guessing during backwash. And since the material is no longer clamped behind these pieces it’s allowing DE to blow into the pool. As far as I know I’m tightening the nut on the elbow pretty tight but definitely don’t want to break anything. Any ideas would be helpful

    • Hello, great question. The entire grid assy must be so tight that you can handle rotate any grid. The end bells must both be tight and the nut super tight to make all of the insert pieces tight as well, up against the fabric. If the end bells and spacer inserts are not tight, then it will pass DE in the small gaps between grid and spacer. You may need to back off on the nut a few turns, and then move the other end bell closer by loosening, sliding and retightening the set screw, which must be very tight to hold. Of course all of the spacers have to be inserted into the round hole of each grid, and then tighten the nut on the other end, to pull it all together so tightly that the grids won’t move. You could try some light WD40 oil, and you need a large socket or box end wrench on the nut, to really get leverage. You can also add a 2′ piece of pipe to your socket wrench handle, to increase length and leverage.

  5. I have a DE filter from 1976 on a 24,000 Anthony/Sylvan pool. Can you give me proper backwashing information including how much DE to use to reload?
    Thanks

    • hI Jim, 1. Shut off the pump 2. Twist the handle on the slide valve piston (SS, marked Anthony) and then pull the handle straight up, about 3″, 3. Roll out the backwash hose if available (if there is a smaller tank, a ‘separation tank’, make sure the bag is inside and any valve after the tank is open), 4. Turn on the pump and let it run until the water runs clear (about 2 mins), 5. Shut off pump, push slide valve handle back down, turn pump back on for 15 secs to reset the remaining DE, 6. Shut off pump, pull up handle again and backwash again until water runs clear (about 1 min), 7. Repeat again until water runs clear (about 30 secs). 8. Shut off pump, Push handle back down and twist to lock in place, turn pump back on, 9. Immediately, within 1 minute, add the DE powder to the filter, via the skimmer, using five 32 oz scoops of DE powder for the VA-52 model, or 3.5 scoops for the VA-38 model. 10. OPen air bleeder on top of tank and bleed out air until just water is spraying, Note the start-up pressure, repeat backwash again when pressure is 7-9 psi higher.

  6. My Apollo is showing 20 psi and no dirty de comes out when I backwash. I’ve changed the grids recently.

    When clean they show 9psi, and stay that way for a week. Once I vacuum the pool the pressure climbs and eventually settles between 19 and 20psi.

    I’ve replaced the brass rod and nut, and double checked the grid assembly is correct. I still get debris in the return.

    I’ve checked the backwash valve for blockage, everything seems clear.

    I’d hate to replace the filter after so many years of service, but I’m stumped.

    • Vince, please don’t replace that filter – it’s my favorite filter of all time, very effective. I would suspect bad DE powder. Not that I have ever heard of that, but this year we have had some bad filter sand, so perhaps the gremlins have decided to mess with DE too? If you suspect the (new-ish) grids may be clogged with oil or scale, you can soak the grid assembly in DE Filter Cleaner, or in a TSP solution (for oils), followed by a 15% acid solution (for scale). And then a full charge of DE, remembering that 1 lb of DE powder is actually 32 oz dry measure, not 16 oz as one would think – cuz it’s so Fluffy! 🙂 But seriously, if cleaning grids does not help, try a new brand of DE. Let me know what you figure out?

  7. Hi! We moved into a house recently that has an Anthony Apollo system. Last week the pool maintenance crew replaced our filter and immediately the whole system started leaking water and blowing water into the pool. I don’t know enough about pools and the pool company isn’t able to tell us what’s wrong other than we need to replace our pump. Any thoughts would be helpful.

    • Mary, maybe they just want to sell you a pump too. I wish pool companies would realize how AWESOME the Anthony filter is, and not try to replace it, just because it is old. Sorry I can’t better advise, but your question is a little vague.

  8. Wade Easley

    What would be a good replacement system for this filter system?

    • Hi Wade, nothing could ever truly replace the Anthony Apollo – my favorite filter of all-time! But seriously, I know, there comes a time…. You could look at the Waterway, there’s a lot of filter there for a good price. The Waterway DE 48 SF $599 is good for pools up to 30K, And the 60 SF model $649 is good for pools up to 50K gals, or put it on a smaller pool, its only $50 more! Another good option, although more expensive, is the Hayward ProGrid 48 Sf, for $999. Waterway filters have a lot of features, and the beat Pentair/Hayward by more than 30% in price.

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