Hayward 1.5HP pump strainer gasket leak

[Euphonicus]

Wasn't happy at all with the performance of my filter last summer (some of the filter cluster fingers were broken, allowing silt and yuck back into the return), so this year bought a new Hayward EC65A and rebuilt all my above ground plumbing. It's tighter than it's ever been since we bought the place seven years ago but I'm still getting a very tiny bit of suction leak at the pump basket. It's a Hayward 1.5HP with the square-ish strainer basket. I'm almost certain that's where the leak is coming from because when I pour water on it the bubbles stop and it stays tight until I turn off the pump. Just to be certain I applied pool putty to the MTA into the pump basket, which did not stop the leak - only pouring water on the strainer lid seems to stop it.

My question, how do I permanently stop the strainer lid from leaking? It's a new lid and gasket and I slathered the gasket liberally with silicone when re-seating it in its groove, to the point that I now can't get it back out with just my fingers, haha! And pouring water on it stops the leak until I turn off the pump. Sometimes the seal even survives turning the pump off and back on. It's kinda nit-picky because the leak is *so* tiny and not really affecting the performance of the pump and filter. But I've seen that 100% is possible, so now I want it perfectly tight all the time! Suggestions? TIA

For reference, my pool is 20' x 45' in-ground with vinyl liner, approximately 35,000 gallons, I think.

 

[Richard320]

Try rotating the lid 180 degrees. Could just be minor imperfections in the seating surfaces.

If your sealing ring has ears like mine does, I just give mine a few taps with a piece of wood to make sure it's cinched tight.

 

[Euphonicus]

Thanks for the advice, Richard. Mine does indeed have the ears. I gently tapped the lid with a 2x4; didn't seem to make any difference. Next time I have the lid off I'll remove the gasket, thoroughly clean the groove and bottom of the lid and reapply silicone to the gasket, and I'll also check my drain hole gaskets, they could probably stand to be replaced. If all that doesn't work I guess I'll just keep pouring water on the lid, lol!

Try rotating the lid 180 degrees. Could just be minor imperfections in the seating surfaces.

If your sealing ring has ears like mine does, I just give mine a few taps with a piece of wood to make sure it's cinched tight.

- - - Updated - - -

It's a little odd how it works - I'll slosh about a half gallon of water over the top of the lid, no change. Another half gallon, no change. Third half gallon, no change. Then gradually over the next 20 seconds or so the bubbles will dissipate and then the seal is good.