Water coming out of the Waste Port and Pressure at 3

[tamter]

I have an above ground pool, we didn't shut it down for the winter and we had a hard winter when it would freeze we would turn the pump on. Now that it is in the 70's I have added chlorine we had to replace the pressure gauge because guess the other one froze and stopped working and when we changed the gauge it still only read about 8-10 psi. Also we took the pump apart to check to see if we had anything clogged and we didn't, we also replaced the filter sand.
THe pool will be only 2 years old this august. When I was out there brushing the pool I noticed water coming from the waste port where you back wash and the pressure was barely registering. So I have turned the pump off because I don't know what to do next.. But since it is getting warmer I don't want to leave it off because I don't want the green monster to appear. Anyone have any suggestions or advice :?:

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP.

Sounds like some kind of multiport valve damage. Water is bypassing the filter and some of it is going out the waste line. You probably need to disassemble the valve to see what you have. Maybe just a gasket, but it could be more.

 

[tamter]

Thanks for the quick response I have been researching on this site wonder if it could be the spider gasket? I wonder why before ever since the freezing cold weather we had the pressure has been low around 8-10 psi. And this is a new gauge that we replaced after the freeze, seems like there is good flow going into the pool. But today when I noticed the water coming out the waste port it was probably about 2psi I was thinking if water was coming out the waste port then the some of the pressure inside the tank is being released hence the even lower pressure reading today. We live in Texas so having 4 snow events this year is alot and one being 13 inches. I think next year we are covering and shutting it down like we did the first year. I hope the weather didn't do an major damage to our pump... Since it is not even 2 years old, could we have a bad gasket causing the low psi prior to it leaking out the waste port? I want to disconnect and take it to Leslies for a check up and service if needed. but my husband is not ready to do that yet, he is very handy and mechanically inclined I am just trying to figure out where to start. So any guidance would be greatly appreciated or could it be too many things it might be and just better to have it serviced :?

 

[Bama Rambler]

First; Welcome to TFP.

It sounds like the valve is bypassing water and that's most likely causing your gauge to read low. It could be the spider gasket but you won't know till you have it opened up. Since your DH is very handy he should be able to take the multiport apart and reassemble it without problems. They're not really very complicated. You can always come back and ask specific questions if he gets stuck on something.

You can add your location to your profile sometimes it helps us when trying to help you figure out problems. You can also add your equipment (i.e. pool size, pump, filter type & size) to your signature. There's a button at the top of the page just under the big TFP logo for the User Control Panel.

 

[stev32k]

I recently had a similar problem with water leaking by the multi-port valve. It turned out to be the O-rings on the valve stem. They were hard and had cracks in them that would not let the valve seat like it should. I think the o-ring package cost around $3 and was easy to install.