I have small leak coming out of the filler hosing has anyone ever tried to repair the fiberglass.
Filter info: Triton Fiberglass Sand Filter
Thanks Mike
Filter info: Triton Fiberglass Sand Filter
Thanks Mike
fiberglass repair to the filler
- Thread starter mjt123
- Start date
Rarely have I seen success with repair of a fiberglass tank, especially since it's not just a "blow molded" tank. There is a substance called "schmeer", with is a combo of ground pvc and epoxy that has a mythical reputation for repairing pvc or other pool items under pressure, but I have no encouraging words for you.
A TR tank is tested for pressures up to 60 psi, and once the integrity of the tank has been compromised by a crack, it cannot hold proper pressure. Perhaps someone has a magic fix.
A TR tank is tested for pressures up to 60 psi, and once the integrity of the tank has been compromised by a crack, it cannot hold proper pressure. Perhaps someone has a magic fix.
I usually don't do them myself, but I've seen a few customers have luck with a plain old fiberglass patch, specifically on two tagelus filters I can remember. I've only done it once on small leak at the very bottom of the filter where the little nub that they wind it around is. It's still holding three years later. Replacing the tank is so expensive that it's worth a shot.
Hey spishex !
You mentioned you have seen more than a few busted (split) Tagelus filters. I was helping a girlfriend with her "new" house with some old equipment on it.. her poolsweep was rather lethargic so I adjusted her "three way" discharge valve to divert more pressure to her pool sweep supply pipe by throttling the flow to the three "oversized" supplys on the side of the pool. The problem also is/was that the pressure gauge was shot, full of water/no needle on it so one of the things we did was to buy a new one, but tooo late, I guess...
Well, as we were gone to the pool store (bought a new gauge) the Darn Tabelus filter blew out the side, basically structural failure. She seemed to get very upset and all went down hill after the failure. The test pressure shown is 50 psi (115' of head) on the filter housing . I'm feeling there's no way in heck that the pressure ever got up that high. As I recall, the pump is a 1 hp, but I don't have the model/etc. to check pump head curves/etc. I'm a mechanical engineer, retired, and had a pool for over 25 years, and understand hydraulics.
My question is this.
Do you find that Tagelus have a high rate of structural failure, even at much lower pressures? the housing is black/blown type of 'fglass and looks like it's about 1/8" thick. looks like some of the f'glass is actually exposed/flaking.
Thanks in advance.
You mentioned you have seen more than a few busted (split) Tagelus filters. I was helping a girlfriend with her "new" house with some old equipment on it.. her poolsweep was rather lethargic so I adjusted her "three way" discharge valve to divert more pressure to her pool sweep supply pipe by throttling the flow to the three "oversized" supplys on the side of the pool. The problem also is/was that the pressure gauge was shot, full of water/no needle on it so one of the things we did was to buy a new one, but tooo late, I guess...
Well, as we were gone to the pool store (bought a new gauge) the Darn Tabelus filter blew out the side, basically structural failure. She seemed to get very upset and all went down hill after the failure. The test pressure shown is 50 psi (115' of head) on the filter housing . I'm feeling there's no way in heck that the pressure ever got up that high. As I recall, the pump is a 1 hp, but I don't have the model/etc. to check pump head curves/etc. I'm a mechanical engineer, retired, and had a pool for over 25 years, and understand hydraulics.
My question is this.
Do you find that Tagelus have a high rate of structural failure, even at much lower pressures? the housing is black/blown type of 'fglass and looks like it's about 1/8" thick. looks like some of the f'glass is actually exposed/flaking.
Thanks in advance.
The Tagelus and Triton models make up probably 90% of the fiberglass sand filters around here, so all the structural failures I see are with these models but that's not necessarily because of the filters themselves.
You're right, the pump was not likely to apply 50psi, but UV light degrades fiberglass over time once the outer varnish or paint wears through (sounds like the case with your filter since you can see some of the threads). The odds of a break are obviously increased if it's mishandled or abused. For instance: moving it with sand in it, tipping over the tank to get the sand out, accidentally thwacking it with a 4x4 while you're building a roof over it, etc.
How big is the crack? I never thought it would work but I have a customer who patched a 4 inch crack in a Tagelus tank from the outside and it held, so you might give it a shot. As I mentioned in the other post it's not something I'd ever do as a service call (except in that one particular instance) but I've seen it work too many times to say you shouldn't try it yourself.
You're right, the pump was not likely to apply 50psi, but UV light degrades fiberglass over time once the outer varnish or paint wears through (sounds like the case with your filter since you can see some of the threads). The odds of a break are obviously increased if it's mishandled or abused. For instance: moving it with sand in it, tipping over the tank to get the sand out, accidentally thwacking it with a 4x4 while you're building a roof over it, etc.
How big is the crack? I never thought it would work but I have a customer who patched a 4 inch crack in a Tagelus tank from the outside and it held, so you might give it a shot. As I mentioned in the other post it's not something I'd ever do as a service call (except in that one particular instance) but I've seen it work too many times to say you shouldn't try it yourself.
Thanks for the response. To answer your question, the filter housing split all the way down the side of the cylindrical portion of the side (weakest portion). The distribution of forces is higher than the spherical top and bottom.
I guess my question is, based on a percentage of what you've seen, does this indicate a "sorry" product that is prone to failure? About how many have you seen "blow up" ?
I had a DE filter on my pool (when I had a pool) that had 32 - 3/4" bolts and a 3/4" flange on the two halves of the housing, and about a 1/4" thick shell, and my maximum dead head pressure on my 1.5 hp pump was about 40 psi. There was NEVER any thought that it would "blow up".
Thanks again.
I guess my question is, based on a percentage of what you've seen, does this indicate a "sorry" product that is prone to failure? About how many have you seen "blow up" ?
I had a DE filter on my pool (when I had a pool) that had 32 - 3/4" bolts and a 3/4" flange on the two halves of the housing, and about a 1/4" thick shell, and my maximum dead head pressure on my 1.5 hp pump was about 40 psi. There was NEVER any thought that it would "blow up".
Thanks again.
Was the DE fiberglass or molded plastic?
I've seen maybe half a dozen crack, but at least three of those were because of mishandling and all of them were older tanks (>10 years). Only the one I described above were the "belly button" on the bottom popped out looked like a possible manufacturing defect, and even that tank lasted 15 years. The newer Pentair tanks are painted instead of varnished so that may last a little longer and keep them stronger. I don't know that the thickness has changed any.
FWIW I've had just as many, if not more problems with people over-tightening bolts on DE filters like you described and cracking the lids. Granted, the part is cheaper and easier to replace, but it still has it's potential downsides.
We have 90% sand filters here (slowly changing towards carts) and I'd guess that over the last 10 years I've dealt with close to 1,000 pools in the area, so I'd estimate the failure rate that I've seen is just under 1% including cases of abuse.
I've seen maybe half a dozen crack, but at least three of those were because of mishandling and all of them were older tanks (>10 years). Only the one I described above were the "belly button" on the bottom popped out looked like a possible manufacturing defect, and even that tank lasted 15 years. The newer Pentair tanks are painted instead of varnished so that may last a little longer and keep them stronger. I don't know that the thickness has changed any.
FWIW I've had just as many, if not more problems with people over-tightening bolts on DE filters like you described and cracking the lids. Granted, the part is cheaper and easier to replace, but it still has it's potential downsides.
We have 90% sand filters here (slowly changing towards carts) and I'd guess that over the last 10 years I've dealt with close to 1,000 pools in the area, so I'd estimate the failure rate that I've seen is just under 1% including cases of abuse.
I think a fiberglass repair will work well on a fiberglass tank, unless your tank is leaking because it's getting fuzzy from the UV breaking down the resin then just replace the whole filter to be safe.