I knew I was Pool Stored when...

[Dirk]

I had the drain cap on my filter break. It was plastic and old and I tightened it just a bit too much. Pool store had one for about $12 or so. As I stared at the broken cap, the size looked very familiar. I then went to Lowes and picked up a 2 pack of caps for an outdoor garden hose for 97 cents.

Just a caution, as I am having a similar experience (wrote about it here). I needed a filter plug quick, because I couldn't run my pump without that plug. The $25 Pentair OEM part would take almost a week to arrive. The $13 generic one I ended up buying arrived in a couple days and got me running. And I saw some on Amazon that were half as much. Very tempting. But the reviews revealed that some of those cheaper third-party parts failed after a time. That got me nervous, so I ordered the OEM part, too, which I will install today, and keep the generic as a temporary back up.

Point being, a filter is a pressure vessel and its components are subjected to many extremes: the pressure, temperature swings throughout the year, and even each day, a constant exposure to harsh chemicals (chlorine, acid, etc), and sometimes some serious torque (as you now know). A filter component failure could be as simple as a small leak, or it could be catastrophic, emptying your tank, some amount of your pool, and potentially causing an expensive pump failure (which is the exact story an Amazon reviewer told after buying a cheap plug). In other words, it is not the place to try and save money.

So your 97¢ part might fit, and it might not*, and it might be made out of great materials, or it might not. You won't know until it fails. Up to you, but personally, I didn't want to chance it to save 12 bucks. Coincidentally, that was your savings amount, too...

* A very cheap PVC plug would screw into my filter. Sort of. Turns out, the NPT threads of the PVC cap are tapered, while the threads on my filter and its plug are actually straight threads. So they seem to fit at first, but they don't, and shouldn't be trusted to. So that's something else to consider with a DIY fix.

Sometimes, you do get what you pay for, even at a pool store.

 

[cledee]

The test results they give you then shows recommendations like Step 1 add X which cost $80 to get when you could have gotten baking soda for $15 and you probably didn't need to add. Step 2 add X which cost $30 but you could have gotten Borax for $5. It goes on and on and then you end up spending $400-$500 to get your pool in range according to the Pool Store, repeat this process 2 more times while getting algae, not being able to swim and then you have been properly pool stored.

 

[Winger 03]

Just a caution, as I am having a similar experience (wrote about it here). I needed a filter plug quick, because I couldn't run my pump without that plug. The $25 Pentair OEM part would take almost a week to arrive. The $13 generic one I ended up buying arrived in a couple days and got me running. And I saw some on Amazon that were half as much. Very tempting. But the reviews revealed that some of those cheaper third-party parts failed after a time. That got me nervous, so I ordered the OEM part, too, which I will install today, and keep the generic as a temporary back up.

Point being, a filter is a pressure vessel and its components are subjected to many extremes: the pressure, temperature swings throughout the year, and even each day, a constant exposure to harsh chemicals (chlorine, acid, etc), and sometimes some serious torque (as you now know). A filter component failure could be as simple as a small leak, or it could be catastrophic, emptying your tank, some amount of your pool, and potentially causing an expensive pump failure (which is the exact story an Amazon reviewer told after buying a cheap plug). In other words, it is not the place to try and save money.

So your 97¢ part might fit, and it might not*, and it might be made out of great materials, or it might not. You won't know until it fails. Up to you, but personally, I didn't want to chance it to save 12 bucks. Coincidentally, that was your savings amount, too...

* A very cheap PVC plug would screw into my filter. Sort of. Turns out, the NPT threads of the PVC cap are tapered, while the threads on my filter and its plug are actually straight threads. So they seem to fit at first, but they don't, and shouldn't be trusted to. So that's something else to consider with a DIY fix.

Sometimes, you do get what you pay for, even at a pool store.

Dirk:

Thanks for the insight, I never really thought of it that way. Going on 5 years and still OK, but your larger point is a good one. I may just pick up an OEM and use that one for peace of mind.

 

[Dirk]

Need to update. I got the "official" Pentair plug a few days ago. It clearly says "NPT" on the package. Now, I thought I read somewhere that "NPT" is the more encompassing acronym that can include both straight and tapered threads. Not sure about that. We need a plumber to weigh in, I guess. Anywho, I grabbed a couple of scraps of wood and held them as best I could to the threads, to see if I could see a taper or not. Inconclusive. It seemed to taper a small amount, but then I realized I don't actually know what amount a true tapered thread is. Frustrating.

Regardless, I have to trust that Pentair sells the part that fits that filter body correctly. (And theoretically would be liable if it doesn't. Theoretically.)

Now the worse news. The thing showed up without an o-ring! That, apparently, is a separate part!! So I ordered the Pentair OEM o-ring and am awaiting its arrival before I can try out this new plug. Uhg. So in addition to the added expense of the OEM plug, there's the cost of the o-ring, too! I paid $6.98 for the ring, and $22.50 for the plug, so $29.48 total. But...

While the o-ring is still the same price today on Amazon, the plug now lists for $34.32, not including tax! I expect this is the kind of thing we can expect with the new tariffs. So shop around...

 

[generessler]

Now the worse news. The thing showed up without an o-ring! That, apparently, is a separate part!! So I ordered the Pentair OEM o-ring and am awaiting its arrival before I can try out this new plug. Uhg. So in addition to the added expense of the OEM plug, there's the cost of the o-ring, too! I paid $6.98 for the ring, and $22.50 for the plug, so $29.48 total. But...

Yeah welcome to the island of $8 (single) screws and $2000 lights. I know retailers need good markups to do what they do, but we are in Gucci territory with our pools. I'm guessing venture capital buyouts figure in somewhere, too.

Your speculation about tariffs is interesting. The manufacturing cost for that plug is tiny compared to retail. Quality injection molding, certainly less than $2. Probably a lot less (Gemini thinks $0.50 to $1) , but use $2 for the sake of argument... That design is decades old. Mold costs have been amortized by now. With tariffs the $2 becomes less than $3 or $5 at the original 145% rate for China. All other costs remain the same. But the price goes up by $12? Something does not compute.

 

[TinFoilHat]

Let's not forget Hayward's Minimum Advertised Price policy too. The entire reason I switched to CircuPool and how I came to be a member here.

 

[Dirk]

But the price goes up by $12? Something does not compute.

I expect we're boardering on the political (a no-no at TFP), but prices of pools and components is a legitimate topic (IMO). Anywho, we know from the pandemic woes that corporations will leverage anything that might increase their cost to exaggerated increases in retail prices, because most people can't be bothered with the math that you just did. And then we pay those exorbitant prices, which just sends the message to the corporations "Yep, we'll pay." Which is why prices "necessitated" by inflation (or tariffs) never come back down when inflation/tariffs subside.
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Which is all to repeat what I wrote somewhere else here: buying your next SWG, or similar expendable pool component now, instead of later, will likely end up a good investment. Hmmm, I should order some filter cartridges.

 

[generessler]

I expect we're bordering on the political (a no-no at TFP), but prices of pools and components is a legitimate topic (IMO).]

Yeah I just did the math with a shrug. No intent to be political. It's interesting to me because when vendors go crazy with prices, what should happen is that another arrives selling at more reasonable ones. Then everyone strikes a balance to keep their market share. This appears to be happening with Black & Decker for example. Will be nice if we eventually see broad benefits, but it's bound to take a while. The "big three" are pretty entrenched. Until then, screws (for e.g. Pentair valves) will probably be $11 each soon.

 

[TinFoilHat]

This is why my wife is frustrated that I still have two 4 packs of cartridges in the garage. They were old stock Pleatcos at $125 per 4 pack. Kind of hard to beat.