Backwash Valve "Exploded...?"

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fatboy1271

fatboy1271

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LifeTime Supporter
Aug 16, 2013
176
West Hills, CA (Los Angeles County = no water)
We're remodeling our kitchen and haven't been home much lately. This has meant that I've unfortunately neglected my pool. Anyway, I came home last Sunday and found part of the PVC coming from the backwash valve about 3 feet away from the filter. The pump and SWG weren't running at the time, so I quickly put the pump in stop mode and took off the On switch for the SWG timer.

My gardener apparently saw the PVC on the ground and water leaking from the filter housing; yet, he didn't bother to contact me to see if I knew about it :| This means that it had happened Friday night or earlier and like I said I didn't see it until Sunday; therefore, the pump ran for at least two nights spewing water all over the place. I do have an auto-fill so the water is at its minimum level at this point.

I was thinking of replacing the backwash valve and PVC myself. I'm now a little intimidated to do so because it seems pretty obvious that a tree branch didn't cause this, but more like there may have been too much pressure and it blew apart the PVC. Any thoughts on doing this myself versus hiring someone? If I hire someone are there specific questions I should ask?

Thanks for reading and any help is greatly appreciated!
Patrick

Backwash Valve - Blown Out.jpg

PVC Damage.jpg
 
It is hard to believe that over pressure did that unless the PVC was tremendously weakened due to long term exposure to UV. But who knows.

It would be better to use a MPV rather than a bump valve.

Let's see what some other members have to say.
 
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Maybe “the gardener” knows more than he’s letting on ? Not impossible for that part to blow up but it would require the pump running at fairly high speed AND there would have to be something plugging up that pipe.

Have you taken the filter apart? Something is not working right and a more in depth investigation is needed.
 
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1271,

I agree with Marty about this not being an over pressure issue, other than the push/pull valve was old and the PVC was just brittle.

Personally, I don't see much of an improvement by going with an MVP valve..

I would for sure open the filter and make sure everything is clean inside.

I am done with DE.. I have two rent house pools that currently have DE filters and MVP valves.. When they die, they will both be replaced with large cartridge filters and no valves between the filter and the pump.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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One plus to a MPV is the ability to recirculate if you have an issue with the filter. Otherwise, not much different.
 
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An "explosion" would have burst open the PVC at one point. An over pressure would have burst the pipe at a weak point.

Something hit the pipe to crack that length off and find it laying on the ground.
 
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It looks like something physically broke the pipe.

Does the gardener trim the ivy on that back wall? Was it done recently?
Did your kitchen remodel involve taking large items like counter tops, appliances, etc by the pool equipment?
Could someone have been trying to climb the wall? If someone was climbing the wall, the natural place to step would be on top of that pipe and could easily cause the damage.
 
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JJ_Tex said:
It looks like something physically broke the pipe.

Does the gardener trim the ivy on that back wall?
Click to expand...

I’m with JJ. How high is that wall ? Chances are your gardener is like the gardeners by me...... short.

If you put the piece back the way it belongs, you’ll see that the way it broke was pushed hard from the wall towards the yard. Both ends of the pipe match that direction. If it exploded it would have pushed the whole thing towards the right and whichever way it forced the PVC pipe would have broke the other half of the other end.
 
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Thanks all for the replies! Busy weekend but I will try to open up the filter housing and see what it looks like inside.

My gardener is not short, haha, and I don't want to blame him for this, but it sure seems odd... Especially since he'd assume that I knew it was broken when it clearly hadn't been looked at.

All of the kitchen remodel work has been done well away from the pool equipment so I don't think I have any reason to suspect them.

What's an MVP versus a Backwash Valve?
 

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You would need to call them for the one that would work with your DE filter.
MPV is a Multi Port Valve.
 
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fatboy1271 said:
Hey James,

Yeah, the SWG timer starts 15 minutes after the pump kicks on. Then it ends 15 minutes before the pump cycle ends.
Click to expand...

Check that the timer is turning off the SWG. When an Intermatic timer ages it can skip by the off toggle.
 
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Maybe put the SWG timer 30 minutes inside the window on both sides for safety.

I would go with a 2" multiport valve.

Also, check the pump lid. It might be on backwards. It should be labeled "Front" for the front of the lid.
 
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