Pentair Actuator broken under 2 years…..

Carnut12 said:

The PB promised to replace them under warranty, but has since sold his company.

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Do you have anything in writing?

Carnut12 said:

The new company was very understanding when I first called, but has dodged me since (about a month has gone by).

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Was it an "Asset Sale" or a "Company/Stock" Sale?

An asset sale is where the company sells all assets including the right to use the name in business and the customer lists, but not the company.

With an asset sale, no liabilities or contracts transfer.

If the company/stock was sold, then the liabilities remain with the company and the new owner is responsible.

Check the State Corporation database to see if the ownership of the corporation changed.

Check the business license database.

Check the DBA (Doing Business As or Fictitious Name) database.

For example, if the Old owner was XYZ Enterprises inc. DBA Tropical Pools, then the corporation was XYZ Pools inc. and they might have sold XYZ Pools inc. to a new owner or they might have sold the assets including the right to use the name Tropical Pools.

So, XYZ Enterprises inc. would still exist with all liabilities but no assets.

The new Owners would have a different corporation like ABC Enterprises inc. and they would register the DBA under their company.

Carnut12 said:

Should I reach out to Pentair?

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Definitely.

If the Company/Stock was sold, then you can file a civil suit and the new company owner would have to answer the complaint.

If only the Assets were sold, then the old owner still owns the corporation and the money for the sale of the assets would be paid to the corporation and you can file suit against the corporation and the original owner would have to answer the suit.

Most likely, if only the assets were sold, the old owner will take the money and close the corporation, so you might have a limited time to file suit before the old owner closes the company.

Having a suit against the company is like having a lien on a property when you are trying to sell the property.

If you get a judgment from a court, you can place a lien against the company.

The title search shows the issue and it interferes with the sale or disposition of the corporation.

Note: This is just my opinion and I am not an expert.

I am not giving advice or recommendations.

Can you show the labels on the actuators?

Besides the actuators, are there any issues that need to be addressed during the warranty period?

Those actuators are in horrible shape internally and not worth repairing. I’ve repaired many of them, some 10years old, and they look brand new compared to that rusted out pile of junk you have. Has the equipment been flooded by storms?? Those actuators not only have a rubber body seal but the shaft also has seals on it to prevent moisture and water from getting in. If the body compartment is missing seals then I would say that you got sold used actuators that may have been rebuilt previously. That much corrosion and water incursion really should not happen just from some rain storms or being out in wet weather.

The custom molded rubber seal around the perimeter looks to still be there so I’m almost certain the actuator was missing the shaft seals and water/moisture got in over a long period of time. I think when I disassembled mine to move the cams, I saw there was not one, not two, but three o-rings sealing the shaft from the outside environment.

The damage looks like another TFP thread where the shaft seals of the underlying valve failed, so water sprayed up along the shaft into the actuator housing. I wonder if your PB installed used parts. Before replacing the actuator, definitely replace those valve shaft o-rings.

We have a client with 3 rentals where he tries to juggle, against our advice, their shared systems. I.E. pool for 30, spa for 30, pool for 30, spa for 30, perpetually.

The diverter stem o-rings wear out or snap with the exponential tax from movement, and then water is forced up through on the return diverter. On the intake diverter, the vacuum is compromised and it will lose prime and continue to struggle to start.

You, the other hand, have two failed actuators with water intrusion. Failed return diverter is a possibility, but failed intake wouldn't cause this issue. Are these both on the pressure side? I can see the SWCG before the worst one, but can't make sure sense of the location of the other.

Look beneath the actuators, and look for scale. As seen below.

There are 4 longer obvious mount screws that will allow you to remove the actuator to look beneath, and also rotate the diverter manually as you've indicated you would like to do.

I would also recommend turning your system on and watching the diverter stem while it runs for water leaking there on return side, and listen for sucking/gurgling when recently shut off on the intake side. Below is one of the o-rings that fail with excessive wear. There are 2 plus a spacer.

Pentair will probably honor the equipment warranty if the actuator is actually a Pentair brand actuator and if the valve is a Pentair brand valve.

If the actuator and valve are not Pentair, they will not be liable for repairs.

If you have a big claim, you might consider arbitration.

Since the company has changed hands, you need to know who is liable for any claims you might have during the remainder of the warranty period.

Maybe contact the company and ask them if they want to handle the claim in civil court or if they would rather pay for arbitration or if they want to do the right thing and replaced the damaged parts.