Replacing gaskets in Hayward multivalve?

[Saturn94]

Last season I noticed my multivalve (Hayward Variflo SP710XR50) was leaking just a little under the handle. The valve was installed in March 2004 and has never been serviced, so I figured it’s problably time to replace the gaskets inside.

I found a few videos online about replacing the spider gasket, but not the others in the shaft assembly.

Can anyone point me to a good how to video or offer tips on how to do this successfully?

Any other parts I should go ahead and replace while I’m in there?

I’ve never done this before, but I’ve successfully replaced pump seals and a pump motor before, so I figured I could handle this as well with good instructions (visuals are always helpful).

Thanks.

 

[RussellC]

I bought a gasket set for mine a while back and it still ended up leaking. So I just bought the whole top assembly instead (It was maybe $50-$70 from amazon). It came with all the gaskets already in. Unscrewed the old one, screwed the new one on, good as new. Glad I did it because the old one's handle was loose and everything.

 

[Saturn94]

I bought a gasket set for mine a while back and it still ended up leaking. So I just bought the whole top assembly instead (It was maybe $50-$70 from amazon). It came with all the gaskets already in. Unscrewed the old one, screwed the new one on, good as new. Glad I did it because the old one's handle was loose and everything.

I thought of that, but that’s about double what I would pay for the parts.

Depending on what other responses I get, I may still consider doing what you did.

Thanks.

 

[Saturn94]

Hmmm.....anyone ever service their multivalve?

 

[Saturn94]

Thanks again, Russell. Looks like you’re the only one to respond.

I guess I’ll just have to move forward on my own and see what happens. Wish me luck.

 

[brian10]

replace the whole top assembly. Removing the spider gasket is a PITA. You can end up ruining the assembly from fighting with the spider gasket so save time and replace top assembly. Unless you are lucky and the gasket comes out and leaves no debris that you have to scrape out.

 

[Saturn94]

Thanks for the reply, Brian.

Unfortunately, replacing the top assembly doesn’t address any issues with a worn or damaged spider gasket. That said, I finally found a couple videos from a pool repair guy in Australia that gave me confidence to go ahead and open up my multi port valve.

I was surprised to see the spider gasket looked and felt like new (it’s 14 years old!). I guess there is more than one benefit to keeping tight control over pool chemistry. Since I wasn’t experiencing any symptoms of a leaking spider gasket, I’m just going to put a little gasket lube on it and leave it in place. The shaft seal and lid gasket do look worn, so I’ll replace those. I expect this is why I was getting a little leaking under the handle and why the handle was getting harder to turn.

Certainly just replacing the top assembly would be an easy way to address my issues, but I discovered it’s not much harder to take it apart and just replace the worn gaskets (if that’s all that’s needed), and the cost is MUCH lower.

I’ll report how it went once I can test it when I open the beginning of May.

 

[Sfpat]

I fought this issue myself the past few years (replaced gasket, valve continued to leak, replace gasket again, etc.) and ultimately replaced the top assembly. With the new assembly though, I realized the cause of my problem was the old spring, which wasn't raising the face enough and would tug on the gasket when the valve was being rotated, causing it to leak. Maybe with some oil or a new spring I would not have had to replace the top assembly.

 

[Saturn94]

UPDATE

I started up the pool this weekend and the fix worked great.