Replacing Pentair CCP drain port with a valve and hose attachment

[jmastron]

I thought this might be of interest to some people -- I have a Pentair CCP420 filter on a concrete pad with the pumps, and opening the drain makes a big mess everywhere, so I wanted the ability to connect a hose to a better location when cleaning the filter or draining excess water from the pool. Other threads showed this for filters with horizontal drain ports, but the CCP series has the drain plug vertically in a recess under the filter, so putting fittings on is not as simple.

After browsing the local ACE PVC fitting aisle, I came up with:

- 1.5” -> 3/4" reducer
- 3/4" street elbow (male on one end, female on the other)
- 3/4" short nipple
- 3/4" ball valve
- Hose adapter (3/4" male pipe thread on one end, male hose thread on the other, plastic)

By reducing to 3/4" I was able to screw the reducer in, then the elbow into that with plenty of clearance before adding the rest. I used teflon tape on all of the male threads, and it doesn’t appear to be leaking at all.

Obviously this won’t drain as fast as a 1.5” pipe would, but it’s a clear 3/4" path and seems to work fine. It will vary with your pool size, pump speed and plumbing, but I can drain an inch of water in about 20 minutes, so I just set an alarm on my phone or watch to come back and close it up. It’s probably better to have a somewhat restricted flow to keep enough pressure in the filter that air doesn't enter the system.

Pictures:

 

[Jimrahbe]

J,

Thanks for the pics...

I need to do this on my filter, as I'm just getting too old to stand on my head to remove the drain valve...

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[Illupo]

What a GREAT idea! Thank you for posting this...will be doing this to my Pentair too!!!

 

[miles267]

Going to follow your instructions today. We had a ton of rain. What pump RPM do you typically run at when opening the ball valve?


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[miles267]

Unfortunately I just tried this and was unsuccessful. My filter sits directly on the equipment pad with barely and space between drain plug and the concrete pad. Was unable to rotate the ball valve to tighten into the PVC without the handle hitting the ground [emoji51]


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[jmastron]

Unfortunately I just tried this and was unsuccessful. My filter sits directly on the equipment pad with barely and space between drain plug and the concrete pad. Was unable to rotate the ball valve to tighten into the PVC without the handle hitting the ground [emoji51]


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It was tight; I think I did have to tip the filter ever so slightly to screw on the valve; there was enough give in my pipes to do that. Could you just disconnect the unions from the filter to be able to tip it? Other think I can think of is another street elbow (so the valve ends up vertical) or two (to bring it horizontal again but higher).

I just run at a regular higher speed (I think 2500, but I had set my IntelliFlo's max RPM to something like 2650 to be equivalent to the old 3/4 HP pump). I don't think you have to worry about overpressuring the hose since you're not forcing all of the water there; whatever volume the hose can't handle will go through the normal filter/return path.

 

[miles267]

Good suggestion. Will try that. What did you use to seal the 1.5 inch to 3/4 inch reducer? Just teflon tape? Did you also use the o-ring from the original drain plug?

Did you use teflon tape or something else to make water tight at each of the couplings and connections?

Thanks again. Am determined to make this happen.


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[jmastron]

Good suggestion. Will try that. What did you use to seal the 1.5 inch to 3/4 inch reducer? Just teflon tape? Did you also use the o-ring from the original drain plug?

Did you use teflon tape or something else to make water tight at each of the couplings and connections?

Thanks again. Am determined to make this happen.


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I used teflon tape on all of the threads and I did not use the drain plug's O-ring.

 

[Paul_I]

I used teflon tape on all of the threads and I did not use the drain plug's O-ring.

Really appreciate this thread! For sure full-sized 1-1/2” fittings will not work on the bottom drain. Going to 3/4” is a great solution.

To get around the issue of not having room to thread the valve on, use a valve with slip fittings. Depending on what street elbow you use you’ll need another fitting, but they all exist.

You could plumbing it in 3/4” pipe rather than hose if that is convenient. I’ll start with hose.

 

[lhehenb]

Really appreciate this thread! For sure full-sized 1-1/2” fittings will not work on the bottom drain. Going to 3/4” is a great solution.

To get around the issue of not having room to thread the valve on, use a valve with slip fittings. Depending on what street elbow you use you’ll need another fitting, but they all exist.

You could plumbing it in 3/4” pipe rather than hose if that is convenient. I’ll start with hose.

I've been trying to do something like this and like everybody else hit a dead end trying to get a 1.5" elbow under the filter (it's a stupid design). But instead of going all the down to 0.75", I wonder if a 1.25" or 1" elbow would fit? There are similar reducer bushings that can go from 1.5" down to either 1.25" or 1". Those sound like better options than 0.75" if I can make it work. I'm going to look into it next time I need to clean my filter.

Update: the good news is a 1" MPT/FPT street elbow is small enough to fit. The bad news, teflon tape didn't make a tight seal between the 1.5" to 1" reducing bushing and the filter housing. And the threaded section on the bushing is too long for the rubber gasket from the old drain plug to be of any use. Back to the drawing board. I really hate Pentair's design.

 

[Flori-Dan]

Here are my notes, in case they help someone in the future.


CCP Filter - Drain Plug Repair
- The drain plug is a 1.5" straight thread plastic style plug with an O-ring to seal.
- The drain plug blows out under pressure.
- The threads on the plug itself are worn but not cross threaded.
- The threads on the filter housing feel very dull. They are close to the ground and very difficult to look at.
- The plug had a significant leak. I removed the plug, carefully threaded it back in, and it blew out under pressure repeatedly. When the plug is tightened, it pops and loosens up.

To-Do:
- Check to make sure the back of the hole in the filter housing isn't cracked.

Repair 1 - Pool store re-tap the hole in the filter housing
- Called Leslie's, Tex-Sun, Pinch a Penny. No availability.

Repair 2 - Bulkhead fitting
- Checked Lowes, Home Depot, Amazon, Grainger, McMaster-Carr - Can't find one with 1.5" OD that would fit the existing hole.
- Re-checked Hayward bulkhead fittings on their site. Looks like 1" ID has 1.87" - 1.91" OD. 1.5" PVC pipe OD is 1.90". This size should work.
- Need to measure thickness of filter housing to pick BFA/SF/LF or BFAS style - about 1/2" thick. BFAS1010TES seems to be the part number. Grainger sells it for ~$30, but it will take several days to arrive.


Repair #3 - Install reducing bushing and valve
- The reducing bushing's threads won't catch, so I need either teflon tape or glue to keep the coupling from blowing out.
- Glue ideas for PVC to fiberglass:
- 3M 5200 - cure is 1 mm/24 hours. Will need to cure for a week.
- 3M 5200 Quick Cure - will set up in 24 hours and is at least 90% as strong as the regular. Strength is 600 instead of 650. cures 3 mm per 24 hours. Plug is 5/8" = 16 mm = 8 mm if curing from both ends, just under 3 days to cure. People report it bonds to PVC.
- Polyester Resin - Not sure of brand or how to use
- PVC Cement - Weld On 845 - 2 part epoxy in a 4:1 mixture that takes a special 2 tube caulk gun. Can't find a place to buy it.
- Gorilla glue - hard to tell what it bonds
- J-B Weld 50172 25 ml. MarineWeld Syringe - $8 at Home Depot

Repair #4 - Replace the pool filter housing
- Lower Half is $600, entire unit is $1,100. Might be able to increase filter size to reduce cleaning frequency.
- If I end up with this option, I'll need to install a drain valve for future maintenance and to avoid a repeat of this issue.

 

[Flori-Dan]

I ended up installing a 1.5" to 3/4" reducing bushing and 3/4" street elbow with a slip coupling on the other end. I cemented the reducing bushing into the filter housing using the JB weld product described above. I PVC glued a pipe nipple I cut into the street elbow and put a valve on the other side. The assembly is like this

1.5" to 3/4" threaded reducing bushing - 3/4" street elbow with slip female coupling - 3/4" pipe - 3/4" ball valve - 3/4" pipe - slip coupling with 3/4" threads - 3/4" brass to garden hose connection. I'll try to add a picture if I get one.