I broke my old main drain cover

[Jhsparky82]

So I was trying to remove my main drain cover to clean the leaves out of it. I'm not sure of the brand, but the pool was built in 1988 or thereabouts, and the skimmer is a Sta-Rite U3, so I'm guessing the main drain is the same brand.

The way the drain is built, it has a cover, gap between the cover and pool surface, and a basket that sits in the basin to catch large material. The cover attaches to the basket via one screw and a shaft in the center. The whole apparatus just sits in the basin, not secured directly to it. Well, it's old, brittle, and it broke when I tried pulling it out. So that's great. I tried looking for it online but I couldn't find anything. I'm hoping someone knows more about this stuff than I do. Has anyone seen something that sounds like this? Is there somewhere that sells obsolete pool parts? Is there a retrofit? This is the cover of the drain with the post that attaches to the basket, if it helps. No branding on the plastic anywhere.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I'm calling in the pros......
@JamesW
@Bama Rambler
@jimmythegreek

Maddie

 

[Jhsparky82]

Ok, so I did a little (a lot of) research... It's a product from 1984 made by Arneson. I found the patent for it (US4460462A - Leaf trap and main drain assembly - Google Patents) which confirmed the design and manufacturer, but I can't find anywhere that I can buy a new or any sort of retrofit.

Do I just pull the rest of the basket out of the pool, gorilla glue the thing together and hope for the best? Or is there a secret warehouse full of obsolete pool parts somewhere? Because that would be pretty handy haha.

 

[PoolguyinCT]

Arneson has been out of business for decades.

Measure your sump and acquire a new SOFA.

I replace hammer out & replace those sumps during renovations

 

[YippeeSkippy]

<slaps head!> PoolguyinCT to the rescue! I knew I forgot to page a few folks and you were one!

Thanks for your help, buddy!

Uh... what's a "SOFA" ?

Maddie

 

[PoolguyinCT]

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Wow...that's a classic!

 

[PoolguyinCT]

Suction outlet fitting assembly SOFA

 

[Jhsparky82]

I got all the pieces of it out, so I can measure dimensions without having to dive 8 feet under. I don't know what I need to be measuring when you say the sump. Inside diameter of the basin in the pool? Outside diameter of the rim?

 

[jimmythegreek]

Poolguy is a walking encyclopedia of pools. I've never seen a sump like that. He knew and even has the poster from Arnie's! When ur good ur good......

OP flip the lid and look at how it sits on the sump the post lines it up but some are yo the inside and some to the outside. That's the dimension you need based on how it sits. Mike have to Jerry rig something here