Filter top burst out of clamp

[Coach67]

ai awoke to tje sound of water being pumped out of my pool very rapidly due to the fact the filter top had burst out of the clamp, Clamp still was in place and tight but the lid had been pushed out yet not broken or cracked anywhere. I lost about 5000 gallons of water, enough for the sundeck to be out of the water line. We remove all toys and floats after every swim and I have skimmer baskets in place held down by chlorine tabs. So not sure that anything could get in line to block return. Asking for suggestions. Also have a home warranty that covers pump, filter, plumbing but not sure if I want to call them just yet.

Help appreciated

 

[Dirk]

Can you show a picture of the locking mechanism (nut and bolt)? On mine the nut is cranked down all the way it can go, and there is a spring that is fully compressed when the band is tightened correctly.

 

[Dirk]

Oh, welcome to TFP!

 

[Coach67]

This shows the lock screw with the clamp. It screws on then adjusts with a 9/16 wrench

 

[Dirk]

Sorry, I don't know that brand, but it looks like it wasn't tight enough, or some part of the mechanism corroded and failed/broke. Is that all cast aluminum? (Mine is all stainless steel.) I certainly wouldn't trust it again from the looks of it. I can't evaluate the housing from a pic. If it's got any life left to it, you could try finding the replacement for the band/bolt/nut assembly and put it all back together. I was told by a tech that worked on my filter that there's enough force behind those covers to launch them over your roof, so the band has to be installed and tightened carefully and correctly. For now be sure the breaker(s) to your pump are off. Can't have the pump coming back on until the repair is done, obviously.

 

[Dirk]

Oh, home warranty, right. Call them and insist on a brand new filter. That's what I'd do... Tell them to make it urgent, as your pool's sanitation is in jeopardy.

 

[Newdude]

Heck yeah, I'm with Dirk. This is why you paid for the home Warranty. Get yourself a new $800 filter. Tell them If they dont fix it ASAP they will be paying to clean the swamp also. (Treat with chlorine just like you were doing but stir it around with the brush, dont actually let it become a swamp, its just a threat) I'm also with Dirk in wanting to Welcome you !!

 

[Dirk]

If they can't get out soon enough to get you going again, I've read here that Lowes (maybe it was Home Depot) rents small submergible pumps. You could put one in your deep end and run the output hose to the other end, to keep the water and chlorine moving until you get the new filter. I wouldn't expect it to take many days at all in Texas for your pool to turn on you.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

I have skimmer baskets in place held down by chlorine tabs.

We recommend against keeping tabs in the skimmer unless your filter pump runs 24/7. Otherwise, while the pump is off, the chemicals become concentrated in the skimmer and send a nice potent acidic slug to your pump and filter when the pump resumes. And with your pump currently off, those tabs won't really chlorinate the pool. You might consider switching to liquid chlorine. If you have been using tabs exclusively, you could have an undesirable buildup of cyanuric acid in the pool. Then replacing the lost water would be the silver lining in your cloud.

Home warranty companies are good at squirming out of their obligations based on technicalities. I would get the tabs out of the skimmers and not mention they were there.

 

[Coach67]

The tabs are out and I do use liquid chlorine. Most times tabs are for when I need extra due to lots of little kids swimming.
I think I will call home warranty today and get an idea of what they do, they did replace pump couple of years ago when needed.
Wish me luck bc Murphy has been a resident lately (Murphy's law) . When it rains it pours right?!

 

[Coach67]

And I do run pump 24/7 due to Texas heat

 

[HermanTX]

I had similar event but not quite the volume loss that you had. Mine was a failure of the filter top. It was a Pentair DE filter. Not sure how old it was as installed by initial owner. There were a couple of lessons learned.
Ensure the seal and its support ring are properly in place before placing the filter top in place
Ensure the locking ring is properly seated around the whole perimeter. It needs to grasp both the lips of both the top and bottom filter pieces. If it cock-eyed, it may initially seal but then leak due to temperature changes, etc.
Bleed air from you filter every so often. Air enters after you clean pump basket, if your water level drops to skimmer level, etc.

Use a floater to place extra chlorine in your pool - not in the skimmer. Alternatively, if you have a chlorinator in your plumbing (normally right before the return to the pool line at the equip. pad), you can add pucks there, since you run your pump, 24/7.

 

[WhiteWine]

I have this exact DE filter. Jandy DEL48.
When the clamp is installed correctly it would be impossible that the top separate from the bottom without either the clamp physically breaking apart or the top fiberglass cracking that entire lip off.
What I'm guessing happened is that the last time the clamp was pump on it was installed askew, and not over the two lips (upper and lower) and instead only was clamping the outside of the upper lip. With enough compression it could have held it this way for a while.

As I mentioned, I have this exact filter, The bolt when tight should have the metal clamp touching in the middle. The fact that yours has such a gap adds to my guess of what happened above.

You don't need to call your warranty or replace the filter. You just need the clamp installed correctly (make sure the thick rubber o-ring is seated correctly, it may have moved when they separated).

 

[Dirk]

I have this exact DE filter. Jandy DEL48.
When the clamp is installed correctly it would be impossible that the top separate from the bottom without either the clamp physically breaking apart or the top fiberglass cracking that entire lip off.
What I'm guessing happened is that the last time the clamp was pump on it was installed askew, and not over the two lips (upper and lower) and instead only was clamping the outside of the upper lip. With enough compression it could have held it this way for a while.

As I mentioned, I have this exact filter, The bolt when tight should have the metal clamp touching in the middle. The fact that yours has such a gap adds to my guess of what happened above.

You don't need to call your warranty or replace the filter. You just need the clamp installed correctly (make sure the thick rubber o-ring is seated correctly, it may have moved when they separated).

What about all that corrosion? Does yours look like that? Even if it came off as you described, what explains that 1/2" gap where you say that clamp comes together and touches? I defer to your experience with this model, of course, but if you zoom in you can see a crack in the clamp. Maybe that's just in the paint? It's just that, in the pic, it looks like the whole connection is falling apart...

 

[Dirk]

Is it supposed to look like this?

 

[WhiteWine]

Mine looks just like that. The clamp isn't damaged. The "C" channel of the clamp needs to be around the upper and lower filter lips.

 

[Dirk]

Mine looks just like that. The clamp isn't damaged. The "C" channel of the clamp needs to be around the upper and lower filter lips.

Yikes, yah it sure does. OK, thanks for straightening that out. Looks like you've got this covered. Maybe the clamp was never situated correctly, which might explain why it didn't get tightened down all the way, and then finally shifted off whatever it was clinging to and let go.

Ha, those ribs on top are for added strength I guess, but they sure give the thing an interesting look!

Coach, WhiteWine's got you...

 

[Coach67]

i had the warranty people come out and he said the clamp failed and also had hairline cracks in top- the threads were stripped where the pressure got to it - guess he knows?! The inside manifold was also damaged - likely over time and not this one issue. He is going to put in for a whole new filter so we shall see what happens. Going to have to figure out something to keep water moving - maybe a bunch of kids in the pool?
Thanks for all of the discussion about this issue for me, much appreciated.
Coach

 

[Dirk]

Sounds good. That fits the story the pic was telling... Just beware... some of the contractors these warranty companies send out look for ways to make up for the paultry sum the warranty co pays them. This can take the form of "drumming up" other work, like "Oh, you're going to also need to change out the frazzle-hopper valve, and that's not covered, so that'll be an extra $400." This has happened to me more than once, which turned a $1000 water heater replacement into a $2000 cash cow for the plumber, or an $1800 bonus for the HVAC guy when he billed for a Title 24 engineering expense that he never actually did. The Home Warranty business does not always favor the consumer. Hopefully you'll get a new filter without all this falderal...

Kids in the pool will work. Someone mentioned brushing. I suggested renting a small pump from Home Depot. Kim says you can walk around the perimeter with a canoe/kayak paddle and "stir" your pool, round and round. Whichever, but keep the FC up and circulate the best you can. The last thing you want is an algae outbreak and then have to deal with a SLAM without a pump!

 

[cowboycasey]

2 or 3 people running circles splashing your hands will get a great current going and be plenty to stir chlorine around