drain cap leaking on sand filter

[PolishPooler]

I had a small drip on the drain cap on sand filter. Went to pool store and bought new cap and it came with white plastic piece that goes inside tank. He said to try cap first if that doesnt stop leak, unscrew white plastic screen and install new one.

Well when I unsrewed plastic screen sand started running out. tried to quickly install new screen and it is not all the way in yet . I assume the sand clogged threads and I cant get it in any further or out at this point !!

I am wondering if there is a tool because the pliers I used ( which the pool guy recommended ) kind of started breaking the interior pieces of screen . Any advice appreciated , thanks

 

[PolishPooler]

I put a socket inside the pvc screen piece and tightened it most of the way in. About an 1/8 inch is protruding out . I thought i would file that down in the morning so that the cap will go back on.

Since I now have two caps I put some silicone in one of them , let that harden overnight . Put the cap on and see if it still leaks.
Before I started all of this I tried teflon tape numerous times with no luck . Anyone ever tackle this problem ??

 

[PolishPooler]

Put the cap back on , right where I started now , slow drip. I will try the cap I put silicone in when it dries good.

 

[kjcole]

I'm no expert but inside of my cap there is an O ring where the sidewall of the cap meets the top of the cap - it's buried in there. I had a drip because sand was in the threads (check cap and filter threads) and it wasn't screwing in far enough for that O ring to seal completely. You don't need thread sealer (tape etc) if that O ring is doing its job. Yours may be different.

Kelly

 

[Bama Rambler]

The pool store should have told you that in order to replace the screen successfully you have to remove the sand. As you found out, you can't get the screen back in with the sand in there.

At this point I recommend removing the sand, then removing the screen and cleaning the threads really well then reassembling it all correctly. As Kelly said, the original problem was most likely the o-ring not sealing for whatever reason.