Backyard Bomb

[BowserB]

Thanks to Mike1162 for posting this link. Should be a sticky somewhere, I think, or part of pool school. It's occurred to me that the warning label on my Pentair C&C 420 (which has long ago washed and faded away) should be bigger and permanent. I'm careful anyway about releasing pressure, removing the pump basket lid, and then opening the bottom drain on the filter tank before releasing the clamp that holds the pump top and bottom together, but someone in a hurry could find themselves in...well, let me not be a spoiler. Read the article.

The bomb in your backyard

www.plaintiffmagazine.com

 

[Jimrahbe]

B,

About as close to being untrue as you can get, without crossing the line...

Gee.. could there be a reason lawyers write this stuff???

There is just no pressure inside the filter once the pump is off...

There is no bomb..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Newdude]

My big FAT Sat-rite system 3 is *the* bomb. But it is not *a* bomb.

 

[Mike1162]

B,

About as close to being untrue as you can get, without crossing the line...

Gee.. could there be a reason lawyers write this stuff???

There is just no pressure inside the filter once the pump is off...

There is no bomb..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Agreed but the filters that have blown their tops had the pumps running.

 

[BowserB]

Agreed but the filters that have blown their tops had the pumps running.

Exactly. Most people on this forum are above average in their attention to detail. Most. How many people though never open an owner's manual for ... well for anything? Modern filters have internal air bleeds and will have the internal pressure drop rapidly with the pump off. Read through any of the popular "Darwin Award" sites, and it becomes obvious that most safety laws and regulations are for people whose procreation is destined to lower the IQ of humanity. The CPSC exists at least as much because of careless consumers, as because of careless product design. That said, there are subtle failures in reassembling these modern filter housings that could leave them at risk of failure, and the clamp is one of them.

How many owners of Pentair C&C+ filters have read pages 4 and 5 of the manual and know how to properly assemble the top, bottom, and clamp and tighten the nut. How many (besides me) struggle with assembling and putting on the clamp without a second person to assist? It is far easier to do something wrong than one might think. The article talks about the drawbacks of the clamp system, but in fact that is a superior approach to assuring even tightness of the top and bottom and O ring all the way around, short of making the tank out of heavy steel, using multiple nuts and bolts and requiring a torque wrench to assemble properly, not to mention a cost of probably two to three times what the plastic filter costs.

I think if one person on this forum reads the article and as a result says, "Oh *bleep* I need to be sure I'm being safe working with the filter," then that person should thank Mike1162 for posting the link. I'm already careful, but I thank Mike1162 anyway.