Intex Pool plunger valves seem terrible

[anderson110]

I upgraded the pump on my Intex 15' AGP, and noticed that there was a tremendous amount of suction pressure on the basket intake area. This seemed to imply that the pump was working very hard to pull water into the pump.

Wondering why this might be, I disconnected the hose from the bottom of the plunger valve and looked in there to see if there were any obstructions like leaves, etc.

Well, I didn't find any leaves, but what I did find seemed to be a terrible design, with the flow area nearly fully blocked even when the plunger was pulled all the way out. There was only a small annulus where the water could flow around the part that pushes down and seals the valve when the plunger is pushed down.

I'm about to take a hacksaw and just cut the entire bottom of the plunger mechanism off. I can seal the intake from the inside of the pool with a little rubber disc that came with the pool, so I don't mind losing the ability to close the valve.

Am I nuts or is this just a really bad design? I wonder if this contributed to my last pump dying in under a half a season.

 

[Charlie_R]

Are you using the large pool wall fittings or the adapters? If adapters on the small through wall fittings, why bother with the valve at all? You large hoses will screw right onto the adapters. Caveat: you will need to support the hose to keep the adapter straight.

Yes the valve is poorly designed, and does have a high resistance to water flow.

 

[gtnos]

hard plumb it with pvc ball valves using carlon adapters, smile as you chunk those crappy intex plunger valves in the garbage,

next to the 2650 sandfilter, best $$$ i have spent on pool thus far. you will find a guide to hard plumbing with carlon adapters in the sticky for "useful links for intex pool owners"