I have had two the basic plastic autofill levers this year and they both leak. They just don't seem to have the mechanical oomph to push up and close all the way against our fairly high water pressure so they dribble all day. Drives me nuts. Our toilets don't leak using a similar mechanism. Should I upgrade to a sturdier brass autofill or what?
best float valve for high water pressure?
- Thread starter GilesM
- Start date
- May 23, 2015
- 24,709
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Are you sure it's not just from evaporation?
My autofill "dribbles" a little all day too but it's because of evaporation. Pool's can lose around 1/4" of water per day on the low end and, for a lot of pool designs, that's 50-100 gallons of water. You will typically see the greatest amount of autofill run when there is temperature inversion - the water temp is warmer than the air temp and/or the dew point temperature is lower than the water temperature.
My autofill "dribbles" a little all day too but it's because of evaporation. Pool's can lose around 1/4" of water per day on the low end and, for a lot of pool designs, that's 50-100 gallons of water. You will typically see the greatest amount of autofill run when there is temperature inversion - the water temp is warmer than the air temp and/or the dew point temperature is lower than the water temperature.
My pool is the same temp as the air these days, so minimal evaporation. Even with evaporation, I wouldn't expect a float valve to dribble. I would expect it to come on, fill up, shut off and not come on again until it went below a threshold.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,709
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
That’s not how float valves work. They are sensitive to water level and will dribble a bit once the float is below the closure level.
Test it - put a rubber stopper on the outlet pipe of the auto fill inside the pool. The autofill should stop once it has filled the pot up. If so, then it’s likely just evaporation.
Water/air temp differences are only one factor in water evaporation. Low RH and wind speed matters a lot too. So even when air and water temps are similar, wind blowing over a pool will pick up water.
Test it - put a rubber stopper on the outlet pipe of the auto fill inside the pool. The autofill should stop once it has filled the pot up. If so, then it’s likely just evaporation.
Water/air temp differences are only one factor in water evaporation. Low RH and wind speed matters a lot too. So even when air and water temps are similar, wind blowing over a pool will pick up water.