Replacing drain covers

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D

dwichman

0
May 4, 2010
24
San Jose, CA
Reviving an old thread here...

Topic split. Please ask questions in your own topic, rather than hijacking someone else's existing topic. JasonLion

I have drain covers (plaster pool and spa) that look exactly like those pictured in the schematic by OP (left side, photo attached below) and I'd at least like to replace them with the ANSI/ASME compliant covers.

View attachment 30010

Thankfully I can empty the spa so I can easily get to the drain and the existing cover outer diameter measures 7 3/4", and 7 3/8" between the existing screw holes, which like the OP have no screws in them. I looked up the StarGuard 500108 and their brochure shows the screw holes are slotted a bit and the largest distance between them at 7.6", so hopefully they are adjustable enough to go down to ~7.4".

I ordered the StarGuard 500108 as JamesW suggested as it appears to be the right fit and the only one I could find that listed the exact dimensions. Unfortunately the picture amazon showed with it did not have slotted screw holes, but most others I saw did, so hopefully the one I receive also does.

I have a few questions I was hoping you could help me out with:

1. I searched around and found a website called aqua-man that lists the 8" Retro Sumpless Suct.Outlet Cover R8HP101 as a replacement for the Sta-Rite 07017 that appears to have the screw holes located at the correct location, but they don't list the exact screw hole measurements, so I was apprehensive about trying this one. Any info on this?

2. Like the OP my drain cover is w/out screws, however appears to be quite securely fastened. I've tried using my hand to twist and pull (no tools yet), and it does not budge. I didn't want to damage the existing cover until I at least had a new one in hand. What is the best way to get the old cover off, screw driver between the cover and ring and pry it up?

3. Once I have the old cover off, if I do not have suitable screw holes for the new cover, what is involved with replacing the ring? It appears to be plastered in to me.

4. Can you tell me if my cover is indeed the Sta-Rite 07017?

I appreciate you all helping me out with these questions.
 
Re: Main Drain Cover question

Funny i have the same drain cover as yours. Just got done draining the pool today just to find out the hayward cover I bought would not fit the screws holes. I broke the old plastic cover into pieces with a screw driver, keeping the outer ring only, and hammered the ring with a flat screw driver to get it out. it was a perfect fit to the plastic ring inside the hole, which was plastered into the concrete.

here's a pic of the old, flat cover. safety isnt an issue as it is 8 feet deep none of us can swim down that far. just can't find this anywhere to buy:

I checked out the manual of 500108 cover, looks like the screw holes distance is 7.0. so it might not fit your drain - the number 7.6 is the inner diameter of the cover. look at page 20 of the manual:

http://www.pentairpool.com/pdfs/StarguardMainDrainIG.pdf

i was tempted to drill 2 holes in the outer ring of this hayward cover but i'm afraid it wont work.
http://www.amazon.com/Hayward-WGX10..._sbs_lg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=08YMDBSA3QRQR2EGRCC5

the 2 screw holes are also filled with concrete, so im not sure how the screws can get in securely? the old cover has about 1/2" wall that went down into the drain hole with a perfect fit and was pretty **** hard to get out. i'm pretty much stuck at this point. nothing i could find show the same shape of cover for me to just drop it into the drain hole.

oh i went to leslie and the guy suggested this for $50 but i wasnt convinced it'd work - he had one in stock
http://www.amazon.com/Paramount-Uni..._sbs_lg_9?ie=UTF8&refRID=08YMDBSA3QRQR2EGRCC5
 

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@caycarem, the hayward cover is a nice fit, too bad the screw holes aren't in the right place. I guess you wouldn't have been able to screw into anything anyways with a concrete/gunite sump. My sump is made of a PVC-like material so that gave me more options.

I was able to pry my cover out w/out too much trouble with a large flat head screwdriver:
View attachment 30710

I was then able to retrofit the StarGuard 500108 ring onto my existing plastered/glued in ring by trimming (with a PVC saw) the ring face on the new StarGuard to be almost flush with the the outer ring, and then carefully pre-drilling through the new ring and into the existing ring and main drain 4 holes, and then securing with 4 stainless steel #8 2-inch screws; in affect screwing the new StarGuard ring on top of my old one. The new ring is very secure and I'm fairly confident that it will remain that way.

I believe the StarGaurd drain cover could have been installed directly to the old ring with 2 screws in the same way, but having the new ring attached with 4 screws with good penetration into the existing ring and main drain and then securing the cover with the provided machine screws seemed more secure and serviceable in the long run.
View attachment 30711

I have one of the old covers in the deep end of the pool too which is obviously a lot harder to access. Not too sure what to do about that, although I'm sure entrapment is much less likely, but probably not impossible.

Let me know you end up solving your drain cover.
 
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