did I almost kill myself?

[MugZona]

Cleaned the cartridge filter today, and inexplicably, I forgot to open the air release valve before taking off the belt and trying to take the top of the filter off. (Of course I didn't forget to turn off electricity to the system.) Finding it difficult to take off the too, I suddenly realized what I did, and I opened the valve. Cleaning went as planned.

Just how bad WAS that, and how lucky am I to be typing this? How big a catastrophe did I avoid?

 

[jrs_diesel]

Nothing catastrophic with that. All you were doing was trying to open a sealed chamber. Pulling off the top makes the chamber larger, so in essence making the chamber larger, which creates negative pressure. Without releasing the pressure you would have needed superman strength to pop off the lid.

Getting the lid back on square and lining up the V band when your done is the bigger challenge

 

[JamesW]

If you have compressed air in the filter, the top can come off quite violently. It could potentially cause serious harm.

 

[jblizzle]

But the pressure is relieved the instant the pump is turned off ... Right? As long as the pump is off there should be no danger.

 

[bobodaclown]

Pump off/no pressure/no danger.

 

[n240sxguy]

If the pump was off, you were just pulling it against a vacuum. When I turn my pump off my pressure gauge goes negative because of the water trying to return to the pool.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JamesW]

In most cases, with the pump off, the pressure goes to zero to slightly negative. So no real risk. I have seen people try to remove the top with pressure, which can be dangerous.

 

[MugZona]

Thanks everyone!