Pentair 3-way Diverter Valve not diverting all water

[starkraven]

Greetings. I'm in Houston, and like a billion other people, various components of my pool equipment and suffered damage. It looks like it is isolated in two places: the cleaner booster pump about the manifold bypass inside of the Pentair Ultratemp heat pump. My question is not actually about those two things. It is about a couple of Pentair 3-way diverter valves. They are not fully diverting water when the valve is closed. Let me explain.

The valves are set up with one inlet and two outlets. When the handle is set parallel to the middle inlet valve, in theory it is diverting 50% of the water to each outlet. If I turn the handle all the way to the right, it closes off the left outlet, and vice-versa. I took one apart moments ago, and the handle does match the interior setup.

Here's my question. When the handle is turned so that it is ostensibly diverting 100% of the water to the right, significant water still goes to the left. I have discovered this because I can see the water (for the first time) as it sprays from the cracks to the heater pump manifold bypass caused by the freeze. Another 3-way valve in the same path suffers from the same inadequacy.

The valves are four years old. Are they just leaking internally because of worn pieces? Would silicone lubricant help? Or is my pump so strong it is overpowering the seals created?

I do not think that this issue is caused by the freeze--I can see no damage to any external nor internal piece.

 

[JamesW]

Do you have pictures?

 

[starkraven]

I didn't take any pictures of when the valve was taken apart. But here's an external photo so you can see the kind of valve I am talking about.

 

[JamesW]

Do you have a picture of the entire system?

 

[starkraven]

Certainly. Here's a picture with the valve in question circled. My belief is that this valve used to correctly divert water from the heater. That belief is based on the fact that if I turned the heater on with the valve closed, the heater would report to me that there was no water flow to heat. I do not know when the valve stopped diverting correctly.

 

[JamesW]

There are two pipes going to the heater, maybe the pressure is coming from the outlet pipe?

Can you show the plumbing going into and out of the heater?

What's to keep water pressure from going into the heater from the plumbing from the heater?

 

[starkraven]

I appreciate you taking the time to think through this with me. Here are a couple of additional pictures. The first is the inlet pipe, which extends directly from the valve I'm talking about. The second photo is of the outlet pipe, going from the heater into the ground. I do not believe water is going in the opposite direction -- that is, from outlet to heater -- because it happens at incredible volume and immediately. The heater worked well in the past, and I think that if water in such significant volume was going the wrong way, that would not have been the case.

 

[JamesW]

What keeps the water pressure from going into the outlet?

If the 3 way valve is ok, the water is getting into the heater from the exit pipe.

 

[JamesW]

Your system seems pretty convoluted.

How does the heater outlet pipe connect to the returns?

Can you dig it up some to see where the heater outlet connects to the returns?

 

[JamesW]

You have two valves blocking water flow to the heater. Both would need to fail if the water pressure was coming from the inlet.

In my opinion, the water pressure is probably coming from the outlet.

 

[starkraven]

You have two valves blocking water flow to the heater. Both would need to fail if the water pressure was coming from the inlet.

You're right. Your suggestion to dig is a good one to see if I can eyeball where the outlet joins the return line.

Are there one way valves that can be install to stop the back flow?

 

[JamesW]

You can use a check valve or maybe just get two identical unions.

Put one union on the line and use the other union to make a cap.