Ball Valve has slight "drip", advise on addressing?

[Cain]

I have a Splash brand Omega 20 round pool that came with the house we purchased.

as I live in North Dakota I went head this weekend and winterized and closed the pool.

While removing the various lines running to the pool, the lower "ball valve" as I believe it is called appears to have a slight drip. I thought nothing too much of it as I plugged it on the water side with a winterization plug and figured maybe some residual water left in there would drip out but it kept on coming.

I then closed the value by moving the handle and it stopped for a bit, but then it seemed to start again and when I went ahead and moved the handle to the open position some water came out, about say a dixie cups worth.

My question is this, when the previous owner stopped by to pick up some mail we discussed the pool a bit and his previous winterization method and I got the impression that he may have just left the valve connected to the line and may have just shut the valve handle.

I am wondering if with the winter water expansion may have damaged the valve since it won't fully close, hence the water coming through.

Short of buying a new valve and installing it, which I am not sure if that is possible with water in the pool, I went ahead and reconnected the hose line that ran to it previously and ran it "up" along the pool and secured it. I am figuring that the pressure difference with it up in the air, plus with the amount of water coming out should cause it to be okay for the winter till I can look more into the issue since I also have a winterization plug on the water side as well.

Thoughts?

 

[Cain]

anyone?

I added a hose / line similar to the previous owner who i think just left the line / hose hooked up and ran it up the pool to kind of have gravity I guess hold the water at bay. It seems to work, but you can tell there is water getting in there.

Hopefully if this works and I have to work on this next year with the ball valve that I don't have to drain the pool

 

[Texas Splash]

Re: Ball Valve has slight "drip", advise on addressing?

You seem to be in a tough spot since we ideally like to remove hoses and seal/secure valves to prevent water seepage which could later lead to freezing and/or ruptures if that water should swell and freeze. My concern now would be for that small amount of water exiting the valve and sitting in limbo between the valve and suspended hose. I'd hate to see that rupture in the dead of winter. Can you clarify what that valve operates, and also is the valve level with the pool water?

- - - Updated - - -

Perhaps a pic might help if you can post one.

 

[Cain]

Thanks!

The valve is basically at the base of the pool, being a Splash brand Omega 20. From the description its used to allow you to remove hoses, etc without having to drain the pool. So basically just stopping the flow of I am assuming gravity driven water.

the valve I have looks like this:

The splash website and others show they have gone to this:

What kind of concerns me is that I do have the opening on the pool waterside plugged with a winterizing plug so why I am seeing water dripping out?

Here is the manual, on page 17 image 5A you can see how the wall assembly basically goes (the pvc elbow part is not used here but the whole gasket stuff is) and on page 18 image 7 you can see the ball valve assembly:

http://www.splashpools.com/getFile.asp?fileName=SplashPoolManual2.pdf

it basically just screws on.

It makes me wonder if I order say another winterization plug, I could take off the ball valve and seal that side (pool non-water) since the drip is coming through the ball valve itself, which makes me wonder if on the water side if there is a crack or some sort of damage there where the winterization plug is not fully sealing, hence allowing water to come through the ball valve.

As the plug is only $5 shipped, I could give that a look on the cheap and see if I see any damage to the ball valve itself over the winter after its removed and maybe it will stop the drip drip drip.

Worse case, I still do the hose method that the previous owner was doing.

I'll probably refresh a few of the items on the pool I am thinking as it has no skimmer either, but its worth a shot as I think we will like this pool as a family. Just growing pains for a new pool owner possibly lol.

As a side question, If I take out the return line area (basically seal that up too with a winterization plug) I am assuming then I can do my winterization water "drop" just 6 or more inches below the deck? Reason I ask is that he cover I got is one that sits on top the water, and of course I messed up on size ordering.

 

[Cain]

are some more thought, I am going to see about removing the ball valve and taking a look and see if I can locate the area where the leak is coming from.

If it is what i am thinking, possibly a crack of some sort maybe I can line the inside of the tube with some kind of sealant and leave the ball valve complete off.

I think the big thing i am going to be wondering about next year is if it is possible to remove that wall fitting without draining the pool

 

[Cain]

well, that didn't go well!!

I went to remove the ball valve and as soon as I turned it I had a good gusher of water pouring out of the pool!!

So in a panic I pulled a portion of the cover off and tried to tighten the wall fitting from the insight and of course no go. Finally the pool gods must have winked at me as I started to turn the ball valve clockwise it started to tighten. I kept at it and finally it got super tight enough for the leak to stop.

From what I can tell while in this rush, I was able to see that:

- The wall fitting is damaged on the inside, like its chipped on the threads where the winterization plug went. So from what I could see, its not fully sealing hence the drip.
- The ball valve leaks and appears to be split, most likely from exposure to the elements in the past
- The wall fitting needs to probably have new gaskets added in some manner, most likely fully replacement

I decided after much thought I am not going to mess with the valve anymore, just leave it as is and plan on replacement next year of the parts in question.

 

[Texas Splash]

Cain, I didn't see you previous post(s) until just now. Wow. You've had a rough Monday. If it makes you feel any better, I got a flat tire as well. I think you have the best way forward - let it all sit tight and wait until spring to re-vamp those parts. No sense exhausting yourself any further. Hopefully you are closed and ready to enjoy the chilly season ahead. Have a nice evening.

 

[Cain]

lol yeah its been interesting. But all in all other than a few hiccups I think I can do this pool stuff.

We had a day here with some wind and I can confidently say that the winter plastic wrap that pcpools I believe sells is absolute garbage. It literally slid up the side of the pool and off and I found it in a nice pile along side the fence.

As for my cover, I noticed some fraying along one of the grommets so I am calling the place I bought it from, pcpools to see if I need to talk with them or talk with Artic Armor about it.

short of that, I think I am going to look into these Rail clips they sell, but need to know if they will work on my pool before buying.

 

[phonedave]

You can replace through the wall fittings without draining the pool. You would be surprised how well a folded up hand towel can hold back water.

It sounds like your assessment is correct, your plug is leaking, and most likely your ball valve too. I would get all new parts, the ball valve, winterizing plug, and wall fitting, plus the gaskets. When it comes time to replace them in the spring, do the following.

Pre assemble the wall fitting with the winterizing plug and gaskets. Lube the gaskets and threads with pool lube (not petroleum jelly, caulk, bacon grease, or any other goop - get lube made for swimming pools). Have one person push on the old fitting inside the pool so it stays tight against the wall, while the other person removes the ball valve. Once the valve is off, use the folded towel to push the fitting into the pool so the person inside can take it out. Press the folded up towel against the hole/outside wall - it will hold back much of the water until it soaks through - you have a good 20 seconds or so at least. Inside the pool, take the new fitting/plug/gasket and put it into the hole. push it in as the person outside backs off pressure on the towel. Once the fitting is against the inside wall of the pool, it is sealed (because you have the winterizing plug in place). The person on the inside holds the fitting in place while the person on the outside lubes the threads and screws on the backing nut and ball valve. You can now hook up your hoses and remove the winterizing plug.

 

[Cain]

figure give an update.

I started my journey to get the pool up and going this summer. The cover I got was a bit small, and of course with whatever evaporation was seen etc the pool water level dropped enough that the cover was pulling and has some damage. I am thinking I can get probably another year on the cover before needing another one. It wasn't bad though for what it did.

My water when I took the cover off had some silt I am assuming on the bottom, but was clear other than that. I started getting all my various filter stuff put out, and I tried to run the vacuum unit again but without the skimmer setup I was doing my best impression of someone dumpster diving to try and hook up the vacuum line to the intake line which of course didn't work well.

I finally went to the pool shop, Tubs of Fun here and purchased a few items:

- Wall gasket setup
- Spash Omega type Skimmer setup (has vacuum port on it too)

I was thinking of picking up a ball valve from them, but they didn't have the same type I saw and what they had had a press-down handle which I have on my filter setup, which, due to vibrations like to shake itself downward at times so I figured I didn't want to mess with that. Order online instead direct.

So now what I am planning to do as the pool is pretty drained is this:

- Install the skimmer setup
- install the wall plug (I have a winterization plug I can use as needed too)
- Hook everything back up as before and fill the pool
- vacuum the pool clean and run the filter setup
- when the new ball valve comes in, put that on instead

The old valve has a slight drip drip to it so I figure in the meantime I can work with what I have. I wish I had seen the last suggestion on plugging the hole lol I would have given that a go instead of draining the water. But, we do have a new water source for the city which is supposed to be much better (no more water softners are needed I have heard) so I am going to fill with that.

the lawn did at least get some watering so that was a plus when I drained the pool.

Outside of that, the big thing next will be to see about getting an auto cleaner. Looking to spend about $150 or so as I don't need anything that has massive heroic levels of cleaning.

I also sent a message to splash pools with my order to confirm that the ball valve they are selling does include the threaded pieces as shown on there website as I have seen a place advertising the ball valve but without the threaded ends. Curious how this comes.