Has anyone fixed a leaky backwash drain on the Pentair 4000 filter by replacing the seal on the rotor valve?

[JamesW]

You would need to have a way to make the existing hole perfectly round and smooth without enlarging it too much.

You would need to spend time figuring out exactly what tools might work and then buying the special tools.

Are you going to pay me for my time and for the special tools?

It is worth an extra $500.00 to you to try to save the filter?

Now, the cost is $950.00 up front with no guaranty that the process will work.

Maybe the filter has some sort of sentimental value to you and you don't care about the cost?

Most likely, even 0.5 mm of material removed will make it leak.

The seal is not a separate piece, you can only get the whole rotor with the gasket glued in.

I cannot know for sure if a repair would work or not work.

My best guess is maybe 50% chance it would work and maybe 50% chance it would leak.

As a judgment call, I would pass on the work.

 

[PoolCharge]

The seal does not come as a separate part if that is what you are asking.

The rotor comes as a single part with the rubber seal built in.

The bottom hole in the filter gets scratched over time from sand and grit falling down and grinding against the plastic as the rotor is turned.

At 18 years old, the plastic is deteriorated and scratched.

For a service person, there is probably less than a 50% chance that the fix will work and probably more than a 50% chance that it will leak.

If it leaks, maybe they can spend another several hours trying to clean up the plastic to make it work, but you will not pay for that since you were quoted $450.00 to do the job.

So, the best case scenario is that the service person has about a 50% chance of getting paid for the job, which makes the pay statistically worth $225.00.

If the job costs are $175.00, the person is making about $50.00 for about 5 hours work, which is $10.00 per hour.

As the pool owner, you might have an incentive to try the repair and you might want to take the risk.

A service person has zero incentive to take the risk because it is not their pool and not their problem.

Being in Los Angeles, you can probably find plenty of new service people with little experience that you can badger into taking the job and shifting the risk onto them, but it is an unscrupulous way to act.

The valve seal can be purchased separately: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61GL7S5KjEL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

 

[JamesW]

Ok.

In any case, what are you going to do now?

 

[JamesW]

The valve seal can be purchased separately: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61GL7S5KjEL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

11 071720 Seal BW valve rotor tapered.

I should have checked better before saying that the seal was not made separately.

SM & SMBW 4000 SERIES FILTERS





Did you know that…if you order a tapered rotor seal and attempt to install it into a straight sided casting, the seal will be cut.

If you install a straight seal in a tapered casting, the valve will leak.

The tapered seal can be identified by a mark on each of the vertical legs signifying the top of the seal.

Since the straight seals are not directional, they have no marks on the vertical legs.

The tapered seal P/N is 071720.

The straight seal P/N is 071719, which we no longer manufacture.

Both 2000/4000 series filters with backwash now use the same Noryl rotor and the tapered seal.

The product number for the rotor and seal assembly P/N is 073370.

Tapered castings have a letter “T” stamped into the underside of the middle, pump port.

Don’t confuse this with a letter “T” in felt pen, which means the assembly has been pressure tested.

https://www.pentair.com/content/dam/extranet/nam/pentair-pool/residential/parts-sheets/filters/SM_SMBW_4000_Series_Filters.pdf

Pentair Seal, Bw Valve Rotor Tapered (071720) - INYOPools.com

071720 - SEAL, BW VALVE ROTOR TAPERED (071720)

www.inyopools.com

https://www.pentair.com/content/dam/extranet/nam/pentair-pool/pool-manuals/filters/SMBW_4000_Series_Operating_Manual_English.pdf