HELP NEEDED - Pentair manifold pops off stand pipe

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Jimrahbe said:
eo,

At this point I am not sure why you have put up with this problem for so long or why you even want a DE filter... :scratch:

I have a large cartridge filter and I open and clean it twice a year. Dirt simple plumbing, no backwash or MPV to go bad or leak, very low backpressure.

I have two rent house pools that have old DE filters, I can hardly wait for them to crack open so I can replace them with large cartridge filters.

I will never ever install a DE filter again.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
I did not have the issue for the first few years. It just started several years ago with no reason as nothing changed.

I know I do not have any cracks in my less than 2 year old manifold, or tears in my less than a year and a half grid set as when I do get the pool circulating with out the manifold popping off the DE will go back in the filter and not come out. If those two items were cracked or torn it would continue to blow in the pool.

Since the manifold is on this time I am not going to touch it until the next filter cleaning but it will at that point pop off again and I will start this all over.

As for the DE filter after spending the money on a new manifold and grids in less than two years I can't at this point pony up more money for a complete filter. If I get free time I may contact Pentair and see if they have experienced this and report back what they say.

Thank you to everyone that has responded. I am very technical but this one has me stumped to where I had to ask for all your opinions.
 
HermanTX said:
Well I am going to throw this unorthodox suggestion out.
mark where the oring on the standpipe sits on inside of your manifold when in full seated position. Then take a Stainless Steel screw and tap on outside of your manifold BELOW the oring seal position. Lightly sand the ID of the manifold to remove any burrs. Reassemble, tap the screw that it pentrates the standpipe. I do not think it will leak but you can add some lube to it to try to help seal. This way your manifold is now fixed to the standpipe. Note - it appears there is not sufficient space above the oring to insert a screw, but you can measure that and need to be precise on your tap.
It does not need to be a massive screw - just large enough to hold the 2 pieces together.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your suggestion. At this point I do not want to possibly cause more issues where I would need to replace both a manifold and standpipe due to tapping a hole in it. If I get a response from Pentair I will report back here. Not sure when I will have time to call them but I will make it a point to get on the phone.
 
wireform said:
I still believe the backwash slide valve somehow isn't bringing it back open to full port so your getting resistance.
Click to expand...
If this is the case then why would it not pop off every time I put it back on? It seems like it just does it the first time once I service the filter. Back when this all happened I also lubricated the orings in the backwash valve. I can take it apart this weekend and see if anything looks abnormal in there but if that was the issue I would imagine I would be having DE in the pool all the time. I just made a few minute video of my pool today that I am posting next.
 
So today I recorded a 3 minute video of my pool with commentary. If you feel like listening to me talk about it then feel free to watch. If not it is okay as well.

 
What parts on the filter have been replaced?

How tall is the filter from the ground to the top of the filter gauge?

What is the length of the grids?

Can you show a picture of all labels on the filter?
 
As you can see in this cutaway picture, the manifold should be close enough to the top that it should not be able to rise up enough to pop off.

Maybe you have too much room from the manifold to the top for some reason?

Maybe the wrong top or maybe the wrong standpipe?

Maybe measure the clearance from the manifold to the top?

Why is there a check valve after the filter and before the heater?

Maybe that is sticking and creating back pressure?

Maybe try removing the flapper from the check valve?


1667625388548.png
 
eostrike said:
So today I recorded a 3 minute video of my pool with commentary. If you feel like listening to me talk about it then feel free to watch. If not it is okay as well.

Click to expand...
Thanks for the video. Now that the filter is working properly, assuming the pump turns off & on daily (not running 24 hrs), has the manifold ever popped off during daily operations? What about when you ramp up a speed?

From what I could understand on the video, it only appears to occur after you do a DE filter clean (every 6 mos) where it may or may not pop off. Just want clarification.
 
I think that distance A should be less than distance B, which should prevent the manifold from lifting.

For backwashing, water gets pushed into the grids, which would probably pop the manifold off of the standpipe unless the manifold was being blocked by the top.

1667657547466.png
1667657688328.png
 
Last edited:

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
HermanTX said:
Thanks for the video. Now that the filter is working properly, assuming the pump turns off & on daily (not running 24 hrs), has the manifold ever popped off during daily operations? What about when you ramp up a speed?

From what I could understand on the video, it only appears to occur after you do a DE filter clean (every 6 mos) where it may or may not pop off. Just want clarification.
Click to expand...
Good morning, you are correct, the pump runs approximate 10 hours per day. The manifold never has popped up on its daily on/off cycles. It only happens after I clean the filter and turn the equipment back on. And once it does pop off once I take the top off and sit the manifold back on it normally stays on for the second turn on attempt. It has popped on on the second attempt but that was rare.

What it seems like to me is because the filter after cleaning has no water in it it seems like the force or air that is coming out is what makes this happen.

But I will be good now until my next cleaning. What is even more odd is when I clean my pump basket the pump will lose its prime as the filter empties out but the manifold will not pop off then. Only after cleaning the filter.

I have been scratching my head for about 4 years I would imagine.
 
JamesW said:
What parts on the filter have been replaced?

How tall is the filter from the ground to the top of the filter gauge?

What is the length of the grids?

Can you show a picture of all labels on the filter?
Click to expand...

Hello James,

I attached a picture of the label on the side of the filter and from the floor to the pressure gauge. Not sure about the length of the grids, they are the same length as the original otherwise they would not fit in the filter housing.

Parts replaced to try and diagnose the issue:

Manifold (Aftermarket) - Did not fix the issue.
New Grids (Aftermarket) - Did not fix the issue.
Stand Pipe O-ring (About a month ago) - Did not fix issue.
Lubed O-rings backwash plunger (A few years ago) - Did not fix issue (I do not backwash, I generally clean the filter).

Only happens after initial startup once the filter was cleaned. I still believe it is from the amount of air coming in the filter housing so fast.

When I do clean the filter I have never been able to fill the pump basket with water, it just drains back to the pool. So when I do fire up the equipment the pump is dry.

I did remove the internals for the check valve between the filter and the heater as a member here mentioned to try. Not sure what the purpose of it was for. Removing the internal parts did not fix the issue as the manifold popped off after I tried that suggestion and fired the pump back on. I have kept the internals out as it does not seem like it did anything negative or positive from what I see.
 

Attachments

  • 20221105_102956.jpg
    20221105_102956.jpg
    236.8 KB · Views: 5
  • 20221105_103223.jpg
    20221105_103223.jpg
    234.8 KB · Views: 5
eostrike said:
What it seems like to me is because the filter after cleaning has no water in it it seems like the force or air that is coming out is what makes this happen
Click to expand...
It may have been mentioned before, so after cleaning and assembling the grids back into the bottom half of the filter, take your hose and fill It with water. This will force air into upper part of grids which will reduce any upward force after you put on the top part. Ensure to keep your air bleed valve open when filling the remaining part of the filter.

Additionally, if you have a spigot between your pump and filter - you can use that to fill up the whole filter prior to turning on your pump, Keep the air bleed valve open at top of filter to remove all air and then you should have a water filled filter prior to turning on the pump.

I know these are extra steps but you have a unique issue that has seemed to stump us all.
 
Definitely an unusual problem.

I would secure the manifold in some way.

Either a few zip ties on the manifold to the standpipe or maybe some sort of structure you can put on top of the manifold that would create a block or brace between the manifold and the top with maybe 1 mm clearance to block the manifold from rising.

Just be 100% sure that there is some clearance.

1667671856259.png
 
HermanTX said:
It may have been mentioned before, so after cleaning and assembling the grids back into the bottom half of the filter, take your hose and fill It with water. This will force air into upper part of grids which will reduce any upward force after you put on the top part. Ensure to keep your air bleed valve open when filling the remaining part of the filter.

Additionally, if you have a spigot between your pump and filter - you can use that to fill up the whole filter prior to turning on your pump, Keep the air bleed valve open at top of filter to remove all air and then you should have a water filled filter prior to turning on the pump.

I know these are extra steps but you have a unique issue that has seemed to stump us all.
Click to expand...

Herman,

Yes it was mentioned to fill the filter half way. I have never done it this way before but I will definitely try it next time. I am okay with extra steps if that works. I do have a spigot inline on the plumbing, the pool company never explained what the purpose was so I had no clue. I did put a hose on it years back and turned it an and it did not do anything. If the purpose of that is to fill the filters maybe it did nothing if I did not open the pressure gauge on the filter.

I will also give this a try next time.... Thanks for these tips!
 
eostrike said:
I do have a spigot inline on the plumbing, the pool company never explained what the purpose was so I had no clue.
Click to expand...
The primary reason for that spigot is to either help prime the pump (if needed) or be a waste line to drain the pool (such as for those pools that use cartridge filters) where no dedicated outlet is set up (such as is done on a DE or Sand filter that require backwashing to a drain line).
 
So here is a new one that must have just happened recently. I highly doubt this is why the manifold pops off but I was out looking at the pool equipment a little while ago and noticed a small puddle of water at the handle of the backwash valve. I dried it up and it bubbles out slowly. I took it apart and cleaned up everything and replaced the small oring at the handle with one from my harbor freight kit which looked identical. I then lubed all the orings up and fired it back up. The manifold did not pop off, only a small amount of DE entered the pool from the skimmers since there is no check valve before the pump. The new oring resolved that issue.
 

Attachments

  • 20221106_163203.jpg
    20221106_163203.jpg
    155.3 KB · Views: 7
Last edited:
Hopefully im not simply repeating something someone has already mentioned. But have you attempted to add some teflon around the grooves and the stand pipe o ring and then placing the o ring back over to make a tighter seal?
And secondly, have you tried firing up the system without the top on, just to see the actual flow?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply