Hayward SwimClear

Two different filters carry the SwimClear name, and the parts on this page fit only one of them.

SwimClear multi-element is the tall tank with four cartridges clustered inside it and a single clamp band around the middle. Models run C2030, C3030, C4030, C5030 and C7030. That is the filter this page covers.

SwimClear single-element is a different product, with one cartridge in a smaller tank, covered on its own page. Hayward's 2026 manual lists the C100S, C150S and C275S, which replaced the C200S. The S on the end is the difference in the model number. None of its cartridges, heads or bodies fit this filter, but Hayward's parts lists give both filters the same adapter nut (CCX1000N), drain plug (SP1022CBLK) and union connection kit (SPX3200UNKIT).

The C7030 takes eight cartridges

This is the one thing worth knowing before you order anything for the largest model, because the mistake is easy and expensive.

Every other SwimClear holds four elements. The C7030 holds eight, in two clusters of four, with a mid-plate connector — CX7020M — between them. It is also the one model Hayward has discontinued, which the section below goes into, so this matters for maintaining one rather than buying one. Hayward's parts list spells it out in the description column: CX591XRE, 1 of 8 required, and the four-pack CX591XREPAK4, 1 of 2 required.

So a "cartridge set" for a C7030 is two boxes. One four-pack rebuilds half the filter, and a filter running four new elements and four tired ones is worse than one running eight tired ones, because the clean half takes the flow and the dirty half stops doing anything at all.

What Hayward's flow numbers actually mean

The design flow rate on the spec sheet is not the maximum the filter can pass, and reading it as one is how people end up buying too much filter.

The figures — 84 GPM on the C2030, 122 on the C3030, 150 on the rest — come with a footnote in Hayward's own brochure: "Based on NSF recommended rate for commercial use at .375 GPM/ft²." That is the commercial rating, and it is deliberately conservative. On the C2030, 225 square feet at 0.375 gives 84.4. On the C3030, 325 gives 121.9.

Hayward's product pages print the residential figure beside it. They call the 84 and 122 the public design flow, and give a residential design flow of 120 GPM on the C2030 and 150 on the C3030. From the C4030 up, both read 150.

The three biggest models all read 150 for a different reason. The C4030's area would give 159 and the C7030's would give 262, but Hayward caps the published figure and states plainly that it does not recommend flow rates above 150 GPM on any of them. The brochure also asks for 2-inch piping at or above 90 GPM, which on this line means anything from the C3030 up.

Pentair's Clean & Clear Plus is the direct competitor, and it rates the same way and on the same figure — 0.375 GPM per square foot, with a 150 GPM ceiling on the larger tanks. The two lines land in much the same place; what differs is the cartridge numbers and which dealer network is near you.

None of which a backyard pool is likely to test. A 20,000 gallon pool moving 50 GPM is a long way under the smallest model's rating, and that is normal — a cartridge filter sized well above your pump's real flow does not filter better on any given day. It goes longer between cleanings. Work out the flow your pump actually moves, then pick the tank by how often you are willing to pull cartridges, which is what the filter sizing guide walks through.

Hayward's own documents disagree about the C7030, and it is now discontinued

Take the second part first, because it changes what to do about the first.

Hayward has discontinued the C7030. Its product page says so outright and names the replacement: HCF7030C, from the HCF series, which Hayward describes as a dual-quad-cluster cartridge filter at 700 sq ft. The 2024 SwimClear sell sheet backs this up by simply not listing the C7030 at all — that sheet covers four models, 225 through 525, all four-element. So the SwimClear line as Hayward sells it today stops at the C5030, and the eight-cartridge tank has moved to a different family.

Existing C7030s are not affected. The manual still covers it, the cartridges are still cataloged, and everything below about eight elements and the mid-plate connector still applies to the one on your pad.

Now the numbers, which matter if you are comparing it against anything. Hayward publishes three different areas for the same filter:

• 680 ft² / 63.2 m² — both owner's manuals, ISC2031 Rev B and the earlier ISC2030 Rev C
• 700 ft² / 65.0 m² — the 2019 brochure, and the description on the CX591XRE cartridge pack
• 725 sq ft — the title of the product page

Each is internally consistent — 680 ft² really is 63.2 m², and 700 ft² really is 65.0 — so this is not a typo in one cell. 680 is the number to use. It is what both installation manuals say, across two revisions, and the manual is the document Hayward puts in the box. The 700 comes from a brochure Hayward has since replaced, and the 725 appears only in a page title, above a listing that also tells you the product is discontinued.

It makes no practical difference to how you run the filter. It matters if you are comparing tanks on square feet per dollar, which is exactly when a 45-foot spread changes the answer.

Torque the clamp, and do not do it by hand

Hayward is blunter about this than most manufacturers, and the reason is that a filter lid letting go is the one genuinely dangerous failure on a residential equipment pad.

The manual's instruction: torque the clamp nut to 150 inch-pounds using a ¾-inch socket, and never rely on hand tightening. Note the unit. That is 12½ foot-pounds, so a torque wrench that reads in foot-pounds needs the conversion first — and it is a lower figure than some other cartridge filters call for, so do not carry a number over from a different brand's tank.

Hayward also restricts what may go in the clamp system at all: DEX2421JKIT for the clamp assembly, DEX2421J2 for the nut and bolt, DEX2422Z2 for the metal reinforced seal. Its warning says non-Hayward clamp components may fail in use and cause explosive separation of the upper body.

The startup sequence that keeps it safe:

1. Kill power at the breaker and set the valves so nothing can flow to the filter.
2. Put the manual air relief valve in the OPEN position before the pump starts, and check the valve body is in LOCK in the filter lid.
3. Start the pump standing clear of the filter, not over it.
4. Close the air relief only when a steady stream of water comes out — not air, and not an air and water mix.

If water appears at the clamp on startup, shut the system down immediately and reassemble the clamp properly. Never adjust a band on a running filter.

Clean at 7 to 10 psi, and know when to stop cleaning

Write down the pressure on the day clean elements go in. That reading is your baseline and it is the only one that means anything.

Hayward's trigger is 7 to 10 psi above that starting pressure, or whenever flow drops below the rate you want. The gauge has two arrows for exactly this: line the green one up with the pressure when the filter is clean, and clean again when the needle reaches the red one.

The more useful rule is the one almost nobody quotes, and it answers the question people actually have — when do cartridges stop being worth cleaning?

After the elements have been cleaned and reinstalled, if the starting pressure is more than 6 psi above the starting pressure you recorded with new elements, replace them the next time the gauge reaches the red arrow. That is Hayward's own wording, and it is on page 5 of the manual.

That turns a judgment call into a measurement. Elements that come out of a proper clean and still start 6 psi high are not dirty, they are worn — the pleats have lost their shape and no amount of further cleaning brings the flow back. Knowing that saves a season of cleaning cartridges every three weeks and wondering why it keeps happening.

The cleaning method itself — degreaser before acid, never acid on an oily element — is in the filter cleaning guide.

Check the prefix before you buy the tank

A plain C3030 and a W3C3030 are the same filter. The prefix is the sales channel: W3 is Hayward's Open Line, approved for online sale, and the version without it is Expert Line through authorized dealers, on longer coverage.

Buying the W3 online is sanctioned rather than void — you are trading warranty length for price, which is a fair trade to make on purpose and an unpleasant one to discover afterward. The Hayward brand page has the full channel explanation.

Only the three middle models have a W3 version. W3C3030, W3C4030 and W3C5030 exist. W3C2030 and W3C7030 do not — Hayward lists the 225 and the 680 as bare part numbers with no Open Line equivalent, so the smallest and largest tanks in the range are dealer purchases whether you want them to be or not. If a listing offers you a "W3C2030", it is not a Hayward SKU.

One inconsistency to be aware of on the warranty itself: Hayward's current terms are three years parts and one year field labor on the Expert Line, but the owner's manual PDF still carries an older one-year warranty on its back page. Go by the published terms rather than the PDF, and keep the receipt.

What actually fails

The list is short, and it is the same on every cartridge filter of this size.

Cartridges, first and by a distance. Two to four seasons depending on how loaded they run and how well they get cleaned. The tell is pressure climbing back to the cleaning point within days of a proper clean, and the 6 psi rule above tells you when it has stopped being worth the effort.

The seal and the clamp hardware, usually after a service rather than on their own. A seal that gets pinched on reassembly leaks on the first restart.

The gauge, quietly and without anyone noticing, which is why it is worth the few dollars to replace alongside cartridges rather than trusting a reading you have no reason to trust.

The drain plug o-ring, every spring, because it spent the winter out of the filter as Hayward instructs.