Pump leak

[Maestro]

Had the sand in my filter replaced last week and the next day I noticed a leak where the outflow pipe connects to the pump (at the red arrow in my photo). I thought it was an o-ring problem, but the pool company says there’s no o-ring there. They want to silicone it to stop the leak, but that doesn’t seem right to me. Any advice?

 

[Mike1162]

Thread tape should work. Not sure why they would want to use silicone.

 

[Maestro]

Thanks, that’s what I thought. There’s a decal on my sand filter that says to use Teflon tape or Permatex on the unions connecting there. Shouldn’t it be the same on the pump unions? And what is Permatex -a joint compound?

 

[Mike1162]

Permatex makes quite a few products mostly for automotive use. Not sure what product of theirs you would use on pipe threads.

 

[Maestro]

Permatex makes quite a few products mostly for automotive use. Not sure what product of theirs you would use on pipe threads.

I don’t know either, but here’s a picture of the decal on my Hayward sand filter:

 

[Mike1162]

I'd stay with the teflon tape. The Permatex reminds me of something that was very hard to remove if you ever needed to take it apart.

 

[Maestro]

That’s a go – thanks!

 

[azide999]

I noted with my assembly that it was better to use heavy duty teflon tape which is grey. It is much thicker then the white tape.

 

[Olivier]

I concur with AZIDE999. Heavy teflon tape. I used a 100% Caulk as well but it will be PITA if taking the motor off. your case you have unions everywhere, it should not be that PITA.

 

[zea3]

I'm assuming there is a union at the top of the picture? Check and make sure the pipe into the pump wasn't loosened when they tightened the union.