I have a question about a new lid for the Hayward Northstar 1HP pump. I bought the pump in 2001 and it has a blue o-ring that gets lubed and helps the lid seal after cleaning the skimmer out. This o-ring has cost anywhere from $24 to $33 depending on where you buy it. When my pump begins to lose its prime (reflected by bubbles in the see thru lid) over time it's usually the o-ring that is no longer effective. From the first time I went into a pool store to purchase another one they tell me that it's common for that type of o-ring to be replaced by the owners of the Hayward Northstar pump. I think the most I ever replaced it was 3 times in one year. Pretty pricey if you ask me. The also claim that it was a bad design by Hayward. I went in this past weekend and they showed me the new designed replacement lid for that pump. It came with a t-ring that, according to instructions provided, was supposedly there so that a pressure reading could be checked for a newly installed pump. After the pressure reading you were to remove the t-ring and install the lid. No mention of the old o-ring. Of course this didn't work at all without the o-ring. I went back in to question the store and they said you are now to leave the t-ring in there as an o-ring. It seems to work but I am skeptical. The attached orange tag on the new lid said to remove the t-ring after the pressure check. Does anyone have any info on this new type of lid or similar issues with the blue o-ring?