Pentair Clean and Clear Gasket Replacement

[dotyb]

Hi!

So... I just bought a house with a pool and this is my first. I've been learning a lot by following threads in the forum and by trial and error.

That said, the issue I'm having is this: I have a Pentair (Purex) Clean and Clear 320 that was installed around 10 years ago. The previous owner hadn't maintained the filter all that much. When I opened up the filter housing to clean it out, I noted that the gasket seemed worn. Tried to reseal the system after cleaning the cartridges and noted that there was a small leak between the seems of the metal banding. I resealed the upper and lower filter halves around 5 times, each with the same result: a small leak between the metal band clamp.

So based on that, I purchased a new gasket o-ring. It fits, however, I am unable to get the upper and lower halves of the filter to clamp together again. I can't seem to get the upper half of the filter to compress the gasket enough to get the clamp tightened down.

Any suggestions to make this easier?

Thanks!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Some people have had luck with rapping around the band with a rubber mallet. Also, did you lubricate the new o-ring when you installed it?

 

[dotyb]

I did lubricate the o-ring before installing it and also tried rapping around the band, but not with a rubber mallet. I was using a light hammer and a wood block. May not be applying force in the right way. Thanks for the suggestion.

A friend also suggested placing the o-ring into the sun for a few hours to warm it up prior to installing it. That seems to make sense...