Intake safety valve problem

[JustThe12OfUs]

I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the phone saying, "I have no idea what you are saying." trying to speak to the off shore tech support at Intex. Very, very frustrating to spend 20 minutes on the phone with a gal who could not understand my English when I said "plunger valve" and kept telling to empty the basket or flipping ask it. I'm not sure which. Sigh.

Anyways. The safety valve thingy on the outside of the intake on the pool end of the hose? That thing? It refuses to stay open. There is absolutely nothing blocking it. All the seals are in place. I made a small flood in the yard to take it off and replace it just to be sure nothing was cracked or whatever. No problems on that. The pump is otherwise working beautifully. But I don't much care to stand there holding the valve open for the hours I run the pump. Yes, I already deployed duct tape. But I'd rather have it properly working sans duct tape. Also, when the valve is open and the pump is going, all is good. When the pump stops, it starts to leak water under the valve where it connects to the hose. I suppose from the water pressure building up?

Has anyone else had this problem? Suggestions to solve it?

I can post a picture if that helps.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Can you post a pic of it? I've just never seen one (or haven't paid attention if I did) and it would help to see it.

 

[JustThe12OfUs]

Here's the picture. The duct tape is holding the safety valve dial at the top in place to prevent it from shutting. As soon as the pump comes on, it automatically dials shut.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I did not realize that was a safety valve. I thought it was just a block valve.

Is it the one with the vacuum release valve in the neck against the pool?

I don't think it's supposed to close under suction. If anything happens the vacuum release should allow air into the pump causing it to lose prime.

What happens if you tighten the nut?

 

[JustThe12OfUs]

We tightened the nut as tight as we could. No change.

 

[Bama Rambler]

There was a thread a while back about those valves. If I remember correctly they had the same problem. I think they wound up removing theirs all together. Use the Google search at the bottom of the page and search for "new plunger valve".