Polaris quick connect doesn't go all the way into wall fitting.

[Rocket J Squirrel]

Looks like that plastic was plastered in. That shouldn't have happened.
A regular hacksaw won't cut it (heh). I have used a mini hacksaw to successfully get the remains out.

Husky 10 in. Close Quarters Hacksaw 80-522-111 - The Home Depot

Husky's 10 in. Close Quarter Hacksaw features a compact design and unique saw shape ideal for cutting in tight spaces. It features a sturdy aluminum frame and an ergonomic grip handle that provides comfortable

www.homedepot.com

 

[1poolman1]

How did you get a hacksaw blade in there? Did you just use the blade itself and hold it somehow? I am thinking of how my hacksaw looks and it wouldn't fit of course since its a big thing... did you jsut grab the blade with protection of some kind and use it like a saw?

Just the blade with a bit of duct tape wrapped as a handle. Be sure the teeth are angled away from the pool and cut on the pull stroke, seems to work better that way. As I said, a pain.
You can try using a small screwdriver as a chisel. Angle it toward the middle of the cup right at the edge, hit with a hammer (not easy under water or from the edge of the pool but doable), and try to pry it out that way. Having been in the pool a while, the plastic has become more brittle and may come out in pieces and you don't have to try the saw. I've done it both ways successfully.

 

[Skenn81]

I guess it's time to get sawing! So I am sawing into the remaining part in the pipe there and then trying to peel it out? Is twisting out of the question at this point?

In the mean time I just want to say the absurd part of all of this is now that I completely broke everything apart I was able to fully lock the quick connect hose side to the wall much more secure than I was ever able to before. Now that there is now outer plastic bit I was able to fully push in the connector, latch it onto the single leg left, and it twisted and locked better than when it was all in one piece and I started this nonsense.

Maybe I should just leave it alone.... Heh.

 

[1poolman1]

I guess it's time to get sawing! So I am sawing into the remaining part in the pipe there and then trying to peel it out? Is twisting out of the question at this point?

In the mean time I just want to say the absurd part of all of this is now that I completely broke everything apart I was able to fully lock the quick connect hose side to the wall much more secure than I was ever able to before. Now that there is now outer plastic bit I was able to fully push in the connector, latch it onto the single leg left, and it twisted and locked better than when it was all in one piece and I started this nonsense.

Maybe I should just leave it alone.... Heh.

If it works, don't fix it. At some point you will have to remove that part because the little "ears" (one at least) will break off and the wall fitting won't stay attached.

 

[HermanTX]

I guess it's time to get sawing! So I am sawing into the remaining part in the pipe there and then trying to peel it out? Is twisting out of the question at this point?

In the mean time I just want to say the absurd part of all of this is now that I completely broke everything apart I was able to fully lock the quick connect hose side to the wall much more secure than I was ever able to before. Now that there is now outer plastic bit I was able to fully push in the connector, latch it onto the single leg left, and it twisted and locked better than when it was all in one piece and I started this nonsense.

Maybe I should just leave it alone.... Heh.

When that booster pump kicks in there will be a lot of force on that single pin and eventually will fail. I would suggest keep trying to get the whole piece out.

 

[Skenn81]

Looks like that plastic was plastered in. That shouldn't have happened.
A regular hacksaw won't cut it (heh). I have used a mini hacksaw to successfully get the remains out.

Husky 10 in. Close Quarters Hacksaw 80-522-111 - The Home Depot

Husky's 10 in. Close Quarter Hacksaw features a compact design and unique saw shape ideal for cutting in tight spaces. It features a sturdy aluminum frame and an ergonomic grip handle that provides comfortable

www.homedepot.com

This little guy is in stock at my local store, I am going to see about getting one tomorrow to continue this ordeal of a replacement project that I have gotten myself into.

 

[Skenn81]

Well that was miserable but I got it done!

The tools used:



I started by using the chisel and hammer to cut away at the plaster along the outside of the piece. Just slowly chopped around the whole thing until it was all free. Didnt make a difference, it still wasn't budging. I thought I would be clever and get a tub drain extraction tool from Lowes, attach that to a big 1/2" breaker bar, and just spin it out like a broken screw. Nope, it wouldn't move. Kept at it and it was just down to the pvc inside the pvc.

Next I tried the hacksaw method and made a cut into the broken piece. Did my best to not chop the female connector side in the pool itself. More on that later. Once I had a slit in the PVC made I started with the little screw driver trying to wedge that in. Still wouldnt spin. Began pulling at it with the pliers and I just kept cracking things. Once I had visual on the screw side itself I tool the little screw driver and tried to wedge it into the part I cut with the saw. Hit it with the hammer until I was able to slip it under. After a lot of wedging and pulling and pushing and everything else I was able to pop the connector out of the screw and all of it peeled out.

This all took an hour. I was under the water either in the pool itself or hanging off the edge trying my best not to get the snorkel filled with water. I am sure I did something wrong but it's out.

So about the part in the pool itself, I did slight damage, does it still look okay?



As you can also see a bunch of plaster was cut back. I dont think it was all plaster holding the piece in place, it wasn't moving even when it was completely chopped out.



This thing is a mess. It has to be the original. It refused to come out, I feel it was almost luck that got the screwdriver in there and I hit it at just the right angle to peel everything off.

So I got the new one screwed in thanks to the extraction tool that started me on this entire quest...







I did my best to get it screwed in as far as I could, and what you see there is how far I felt comfortable cranking it in, I didn't want to break anything after what I went through. The Polaris quick connect snapped right in completely and I felt it click over once I turned it. Put the pump back on and it hasn't shot out so I am assuming everything is okay.

So, with all that, and the apparent month that I have been working on this, am I safe to put this one behind me and not worry about it? Does it look good (enough) to close this project out and move on to whatever I end up breaking next?

I think I am going to go sit in a tube and float around thinking about all of this now...

 

[HermanTX]

Great job.
That slight damage to the female threads. Did you try to clean that up? Did you thread the wall piece in and back out to see if any damage to the new male thread?

When you have the booster pump on - feel around that new male piece to determine if any flow coming through that connection.

Again, well done. Sometimes we all need a little luck to fix things. Glad it worked out.

 

[Skenn81]

Great job.
That slight damage to the female threads. Did you try to clean that up? Did you thread the wall piece in and back out to see if any damage to the new male thread?

When you have the booster pump on - feel around that new male piece to determine if any flow coming through that connection.

Again, well done. Sometimes we all need a little luck to fix things. Glad it worked out.

For the first part, yup, I screwed it on, then unscrewed it back off. It didnt look like anything was wrong. I put it back on and screwed it in again and besides the eventual tightness when it was in as far as I have on the picture it seemed to move very smoothly in both directions. When you say clean it up, what do you mean?

When the pump was turned back on I saw no signs of water coming out of the new connection point.

As an unintended side effect, with the same settings on the pump that I have had for quite a while, the Polaris has gained super strength. When I went out to check this morning I saw it trying to get out of the pool.



It has always just scooted around the bottom and made a few turns on the lower parts of the walls. Today it was way up there and I also found it trying to climb the steps. That old piece must have been falling apart more than I thought if nothing but replacing it with a new one resulted in this!

 

[HermanTX]

For the first part, yup, I screwed it on, then unscrewed it back off. It didnt look like anything was wrong. I put it back on and screwed it in again and besides the eventual tightness when it was in as far as I have on the picture it seemed to move very smoothly in both directions. When you say clean it up, what do you mean?

Just what you did. Remove any small debris from working that male piece out. Thread in the new piece, then removing it to check that it did not hang up on a thread in the female piece.
Great work in getting this done.

Prior to all of this, when it wasn’t fitting properly, you were most likely losing pressure out of that fitting - now with all repaired, you have full pressure going to the cleaner making it perform better. Well Done!!