I was cleaning the cartridge filter thing for my pool and as I was putting it back in, I saw a black plug thing on the ground. I tried to screw it back in but there weren't that many threads and it didn't really screw in. There is also a rubbery greased ball thing that goes in the hole. I put it back on as best as I could, but when I turned the pump back on it started leaking A LOT! so now the pump is off and I have "placed" the plug in so that air and water don't leak out but it is not secure at all. Plus I can't turn the pump on now. Does anyone know what this part is and what I should do? I am freaking out! My pool is an in-ground saltwater pool, if that is necessary info, I don't know. I'm new to the pool care thing so any help is greatly appreciated!
Plug thing came off! leaking! Don't know what it is!?!
- Thread starter rebecca1122
- Start date
- Jun 23, 2012
- 1,053
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Liquid Chlorine
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Tell us what filter you have and post a pic of where it came from. It looks like the drain cap but it's hard to tell
The filter is called Sta rite system 3 filtration. I posted a pic of my whole setup; the black plug thing comes from the valve/pipe area in the lower right corner of the picture. I will also post a close-up pic of the area that it goes into. I took it to Leslie's this morning and he seemed to recognize it and I had him order me a new one so hopefully that will fix the problem. He also said some people just find some sort of plastic screw or something to plug it up, but I would rather just get the real part since I don't know what I'm doing 
It will take a few days to get here so I'm worried about not running the pump for that long...
It will take a few days to get here so I'm worried about not running the pump for that long...Attachments
I misunderstood. I thought it came off the filter. It's the grease cup for the valve. The pool store guy is right, most people just plug them off.
Just go to your local home improvement store and buy a plastic pipe plug and plug it off temporarly till the new part gets there. I can't remember if it's 1/8" NPT or 1/4" npt so you may want to get both just to be sure.
Just go to your local home improvement store and buy a plastic pipe plug and plug it off temporarly till the new part gets there. I can't remember if it's 1/8" NPT or 1/4" npt so you may want to get both just to be sure.
Thanks!! Just got back from Lowes, they only had brass plugs that were that small (1/8" for the record). The smallest plastic one was 1/2" but the brass seems to work fine, I tightened it by hand and it was leaking a little when I turned the pump on so I tightened it a little more with pliers and it is not leaking. So now I'm kind of regretting buying the $17 part from Leslie's but oh well! Thanks again!!
In all reality it should have the proper fitting so you didn't actually waste the money. Plugging the hole will work for a while but I'm sure it shortens the life of the valve, so don't feel too bad about spending the money.
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