Blaster 1000 Automatic Pool & Spa Cartridge Filter Cleaner

I've been using this for my hot-tub filters I bought it 3 yrs ago and it is amazing. I was surprised to see that this does not have a solid 5-star rating in the amazon store because to me it is a "must-have" if you have a hot-tub or pool. I recently came back to order the longer/taller version for our pool filter since I saw that our pool maintenance guy was just using a hose which would not do the job as well at all. I will say that I am blessed with very strong water pressure, and it appears to me that this is why many reviewers are not satisfied with the product. Honestly, if I didn't not have great water pressure I would purchase a pump to go along with it, and put the pump in a bucket of water and use the pump to provide the water pressure. A pump is much more expensive that this item is, but given the amount of time that it would save, I would still spend the money in exchange for the time savings.

Call me lazy but I have better things to do than stoop over a filter for 10 minutes while I clean it with a garden hose. Along comes the Blaster 1000 to the rescue. Well constructed, easy to use. As Ron Popeil would say "just set it and forget it". Seriously though, I just sprayed one filter with filter cleaner and after about five minutes, I set it on the blaster let it do its thing for about 7 minutes or so. Then when I cleaned the second filter, I did not use a cleaner and just put it on the blaster; I saw no difference between the two. I also checked between the pleats of the filters and found them to be clean and free of debris. I will continue to use filter cleaner but not as often as I did before the Blaster. Highly recommend.

Wish there would have been more info provided before I wasted my money. You need to check your water pressure before you even consider purchasing this. To do so, get a 5 gallon bucket and fill it. If it takes 45 seconds or more to fill, don't waste your money - and this is on the 1000 blaster. I am guessing you need even more pressure for the 2000 and 3000 model. Anything more than 45 seconds will only provide "minimal to moderate efficacy" according to the manual. I could fill the bucket in slightly less than a minute and I live a half mile from the water tower and had no other water running in the house. The spray was minimal and at most would rinse off the outer filter if the pressure was high enough to keep the unit rotating my filter (which it did not and rotating bars would click incessantly until they would stop rotating on their own and I would have to manually spin the bar to restart rotation). I closed off one of the valves on the blaster to try to increase pressure to the other valves and that did not help. The pressure of the remaining jets was not nearly strong enough to penetrate into the pleats and flush out debris. It is a great concept, but seems to need unreasonable water pressure to operate. I think if the jet holes were smaller and more directed on the blaster, it would work better. Unfortunately, the fan pattern of the spray seems to use too much water and therefore decreases pressure. The suggestion in the manual to correct low pressure was to buy a booster pump. Seems like spending good money after bad in hopes the thing MIGHT work. Might also be better on spa filters with less dense pleats and not all the debris that pool filters encounter. For dense pool filters, I don't see how a home ever gets natural water pressure high enough to work. Last note, if you purchase from In The Swim Pool Supplies, return will be frustrating. You pay shipping even though water pressure requirements are not disclosed in the listing. Plus, if they do not "receive" it within 14 days, they will deduct 20% for handling. Plus, they determine if it is "suitable for resale". I will update if I lose more than just shipping costs on this bogus product/vendor. UPDATE: I did get a full refund minus the out of pocket money to ship it back. However, It took some work. I sent the unit back. I received an email that a refund would be issued, but it never was. A couple weeks later, I had to follow up again with them and wait through the several days to see if they would actually process it or not this time. They did, but I am not happy about having to pay shipping back when I feel their description was not adequate for a customer to make an informed buying decision.

Have 4 large cartridges that I run 2-3 months between cleaning. Cleaned each one for 10 minutes and I would say it removed 70% of the debris, then I had to hose the rest off. Not perfect, but it did save half the normal cleaning time. Might work better if they were cleaned more frequently, but that's too much work with my filter system so I wait for the pressure to go up before I tear it down.

Cleaning the four cartridges from my pool filtration system has always been a chore. When I saw this, I was elated that I wouldn't have to hunch over the filters for 20 minutes each spraying them out. I have massive water pressure at my house so I was looking forward to having the jets do my dirty work. However, when I put the cartridge on it the jets were sorely inadequate to clean them as well as I do with a spray nozzle. The only reason I gave it 2-stars is I use it to spin the cartridge while I spray the top out. It cut my cleaning time from 20 minutes each to about 10 minutes each.

We have great water pressure ... which is a necessity to make this work. It doesn't clean as thoroughly as I had hoped and uses a lot of water in the process ... but it cleans good enough to keep using it (with a slight touch-up on occasion). I just start it and set my kitchen timer to go change the next filter out. I am moving it around in my flower beds to get the biggest bang for the water usage.

Nice work (and back) saver! I pre-soak my spa filters in buckets of water with Cascade dishwasher soap for a couple of days (I alternate between two sets of filters so the spa never goes without a filter), then just hook this unit to the faucet closest to my water meter (for maximum pressure) and let them "blast" away while I tend to other things around the house. One note of caution: If your filter has bands around it like the one shown in the photo, pay attention to the direction of the overlap at the end of the band(s). If you place the filter the wrong way, the hard bump created by the band joint will stop it from rotating. Also, be sure the filter is saturated before you place it on the blaster. If it's drained first, it will be heavy to the blasting side (bottom) and won't rotate. If it's totally wet, it's heavier and the weight is more evenly distributed. It should also be as level as possible so the filter doesn't rub against the end or the keeper bar.

I got this filter cleaner hoping it would help my father out with his 3 times a week filter cleanings that took like 30 mins. it does great! you just hook your hose up to it and put your filter on it and 10 mins later its completely cleaned, which frees up a good bit of time for him. i would definately recommend this product if you have good water pressure otherwise it will prolly be a waste of your money, on account of the sprayers not spraying hard enough to clean it properly. My father has a well with a plenty of pressure so its a perfect fit for him!