Help! Chlorinator lid broke off!

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JoannaB

JoannaB

Well-known member
Oct 17, 2018
47
Lake Oswego, Oregon
We had a few days of freezing temps here and even though I kept the pump running 24/7, the plastic lid to our Pentair 300 Chlorinator tower popped off and there's a chunk of plastic missing so it won't go back on. I only found out because i noticed the pool water level dropping. I've shut down the pool an closed the skimmers but water is still coming out the top of the chlorinator. Is there anything else I can turn off to prevent this? Not sure where the water is still coming from. We don't even use this thing because it tended to clog. Would like to disconnect and remove it at some point.
 
Post pics of your equipment pad and let us see what valves you have.
 
The chlorinator is in the foreground in the second pic. Water leaking seems to be slowing. I am hoping it will stop when pool level drops below skimmers. Is that correct? Luckily the freeze is ending today and temp is already up to 40 so shutting down the pool won't hurt it.

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You did not show the complete equipment pad.

You did not show the suction valve I think you turned off.

I think these are your RETURN valves. Close them.

IMG_1125.jpeg
 
JoannaB said:
If I disconnect the hose doesn't that leave a hole for water to come out? I am not at all handy.
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If you don't want to bypass, as JamesW shows, cut each hose with a sharp knife, place about 6" in a cup of hot water for a minute or so, fold the end over and tape/wire/wire-tie it in that position. Its better to bypass, but a crimped hose will generally not leak. Do it to both hoses. In the cold, if you don't soften the hose in hot water it will split.
 

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JoannaB said:
Can someone answer this: If the pool level gets below the skimmers will the water stop flowing out of the Chlorinator?
If that is the case, we can wait until the new cover arrives. I am just not comfortable disconnecting hoses.
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Waste of water and the rest of the equipment might freeze. That will leave you with a much bigger headache. Is the pool above the level of the equipment? Those closed valve seem to indicate that.
 
1poolman1 said:
Waste of water and the rest of the equipment might freeze. That will leave you with a much bigger headache. Is the pool above the level of the equipment? Those closed valve seem to indicate that.
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We are above freezing now. 40 degrees and rising with no freezing temps in the forecast . The worst is over. I just want to get the water to stop flowing. YES the pool is above the equipment .
 
JoannaB said:
We are above freezing now. 40 degrees and rising with no freezing temps in the forecast . The worst is over. I just want to get the water to stop flowing. YES the pool is above the equipment .
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There should be no water flowing from the pool with the valves closed unless there is no valve after the heater (can't see one in the picture). Anything coming out of the chlorinator should be from the filter and heater draining. If there is no valve after the heater, it may take the water in the vessel draining below the return lines before it stops. If you are getting a new lid, be sure to get a new O ring also. Use silicone lube on the O ring.
 
Late to this party - but JamesW had the best solution for now. Turn everything off. Unscrew the black cap and pull off one of the black hoses from one of the chlorinator fittings. Keep the black cap on the hose. Do the same for the other hose - but take it off the fitting on the pipe and not the chlorinator. You now have one hose connected to a pipe, and another pipe with just the nipple fitting - put that hose on the nipple, and tighten the black cap (finger tight). Turn things on again, if desired.

I did this for years in the very early spring, when starting the equipment, before I wanted to start using tablets (the chlorinator was uninstalled for the winter). There will be a little cross flow from one pipe to the other via the black hose, but a pretty small amount, and should not be any issue.

Throw away the rest of the chlorinator and parts, if you never use it. Eventually, one will need to cut out the sections of pipe with the black fittings, and join things up again with a coupling. That could be a very long time in the future, and more for esthetics than any plumbing reason.
 
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