Hayward AQR Flow switch - slight leak.

[BPool18]

Hi everyone - quick question.

new cell replaced last year - no issues. This year, noticed a very small leak from the flow switch...creating water on the concrete pad etc. I tried tightening but seems to just be going in circles. Any recommendations?

 

[Texas Splash]

Check your manual to confirm. I believe the flow switch can be unscrewed for replacement. Maybe it just needs a couple wraps of teflon tape.

 

[BPool18]

Yes I replaced the switch last year. Trying to avoid having to buy a new one. I took the switch out today and reset it and was very very finicky. I understand the arrows need to be lined up but it took me about 20 min (I thought it would never go to green/flow, but I finally got it). So...I need to remove it again to do the Teflon - so hoping there’s another way. It’s a very small trickle and leak.

 

[-MacGyver-]

You could try some silicon sealant in the gap between the sensor and the fitting. There are some that can be applied to wet surfaces, and dry in a few hours. Silicon also remains pliable, so you could more easily remove if you needed to replace the sensor.

Second option,with the pump off, is to back out the sensor maybe half way and then add Teflon tape and re-tighten.

Another option is packing, that stuff that was used years ago for facets. You could back out 3/4 to 1 turn add the packing and then re-tighten. But I would look for packing that is lead free(if that even exists).

Did also think you could try to wrap Teflon tape around the space between the sensor and the fitting, but that could take a lot of Teflon tape, if you did not want to try the method of loosing above.