Fixing suction leak in ball valve by replacing valve handle?

Wfdula

Member
Jul 15, 2023
6
Northern Virginia
Greetings! I have a suction side air leak that causes my pump to loose prime overnight, and it takes some effort to reprime in the morning when the timer turns the pump on. Small bubbles were jetting into the pool and I could see a few large bubbles bobbing around under the pump basket lid. I found the problem area by closing the 2” ball valve on the skimmer line. The skimmer line is now isolated and all bubbles in the pool and pump instantly disappear and the pump holds prime overnight. If I open the ball valve while running the pump, bubbles again start entering the pool and appear again under the pump cover. With the skimmer ball valve open and the pump running, I ran water from a garden hose over the handle of of the ball valve and all bubbles disappear. So ….. I know the air is getting into the ball valve.

Question: Is there a chance I could fix the suction leak by just replacing handle of the ball valve?

(The wings are broken off on the current handle and I have to use a pipe wrench to open and close it. It would be a pain to cut out and replace the ball valve.)
Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!
 
Welcome to TFP.

Post pics of your ball valve and the pipes around it.

Depends if it is a rebuildable valve. The cheap ones are not repairable.
 
Those ball valves are not repairable.

Replace them with diverter valves. Rebuild it from the union to the elbow into the ground. You can use one 3 way diverter as a T or two 2 way diverters.
 
Thanks ajw22. Yep, that’s what a local pool guy recommended too. Mainly I wanted to know if replacing the handle would have any effect on the sealing ability of the ball joint.
No. It will not.
 
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