Small leak

[Headbanger783]

I’ve posted about my small union nut leak in the past, but now my temp fox has failed…which I expected it to at some point…anyway…

Question… I have a small leak at my Jandy pump union. It’s a slow drip like a drip every 5 seconds, no leak if pump is off. I’ve ordered a new union nut but it’s going to take a week.

The leak is caused by a small gap between the pipe and the pump. Either the pvc going into the union wasnt cut straight making the union sit crooked creating the small gap ( 1/8 in on one side) at the pump or maybe the fact the pump wasn’t level?

The pipe leading to the pump was sloping down towards the pump. Is that correct or should it be level?

Am I going about it the right way by cutting out the pvc, rejoining it and putting on a new union?
Retightening the nut worked for a while but no longer.

I also have some flex pvc in my garage…should I use that in case I need a little bend to make a solid connection? It seems like the original pvc is just slightly off.
I hope I made sense….

Thanks!

 

[PoolGate]

By "union" do you mean the screw connector from the PVC plumbing into the pump? Does that have an oring on it? Slope doesn't matter but you should try to have no stress points in the plumbing. And as long as your solvent welds are correct, you should not have any leaks within those joints regardless of how the pipe is cut.

 

[Headbanger783]

The screw connector is fine and it does have the o-ring. When you unscrew it where the pipe sits on top of the pump it doesn’t sit flush, it’s cockeyed, so there is a gap bigger than the oring can seal. The back sits flush, the front has a gap making me think that’s the issue.

The glued pieces are solid, it leaks from under the union nut, but it’s not cracked.

 

[PoolGate]

The screw connector is fine and it does have the o-ring. When you unscrew it where the pipe sits on top of the pump it doesn’t sit flush, it’s cockeyed, so there is a gap bigger than the oring can seal. The back sits flush, the front has a gap making me think that’s the issue.

The glued pieces are solid, it leaks from under the union nut, but it’s not cracked.

Still not quite understanding. Are you saying the black screw part is cross-threaded? Or was that white PVC that goes into the black piece cut an an angle making the black part not screw in all the way?

 

[Darin]

Get a thicker o-ring at the hardware store.

 

[Headbanger783]

It screws in tight because the backside hits and the front doesn’t leaving the gap….I think because the white pvc wasn’t cut straight. I siliconed it for a temp fix it worked for 2 months. Here’s a zoomed in pic the gap looks bigger than it is but is only on one side