Photo of the leak. It takes it nearly 15 minutes to develop a single drop, as seen here.
Spider Gasket Replacement
- Thread starter YesRushGen
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,951
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Ahhhh man. Bummer. Well, not the worst thing by any means. Probably more annoying than anything after all that hard work. That's the "TFP-OCD" coming out in you. Since it's so slow, just give it some time to see what happens. If you decide to just let it ride, you can always try to seal those threads later when you shut the system down in the future for maintenance or closing if you close in the winter.
Yeah, I do close for winter, so maybe I'll just deal with it then. Lol. I also haven't tried the multiport valve on any other setting yet, except filter. I do hope there's no surprises when I do.
Ya know, go figure the ONE PART I didn't replace and reseal has a leak! I guess there's some logic to that right? If everything else is sealed so we'll, the water would find the weakest link? Correct thinking, or am I off?
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,951
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
sktn77a
Gold Supporter
Try taking the plug out and replacing it after adding some teflon tape to seal any microchannels along the threads.
If I do decide to mess with it, can I use the "Closed" setting on the multiport valve to hold the water/DE in the filter?
If redoing the plug means loosing my fresh load of DE, I'm definitely waiting.
If redoing the plug means loosing my fresh load of DE, I'm definitely waiting.
Good grief, I've replaced spider gaskets in multiport valves 8 to 10 times over 20 years, and never saw one stuck like that! Then again, I usually put mine in with a thin coat of silicone based gasket lube from Leslie's. That stuff is hard to get off your hands too...
Yeah, this was my first time and it was a pain in the you know what!!! I just reviewed my photos here and realized I forgot to show the removed gasket. Rather, what was left of it. Here is halfway through, I neglected to take a picture after the whole thing was out.
So, I just couldn't leave well enough alone. I removed the drain plug, cleaned and lubed the o ring, applied teftlon tape to the threads and reinstalled. The leak is now worse than it was before.
I'm thinking replacement of the drain plug is in order?
Or, what about a permanent fix like treating the threads with silicone sealant?
I'm thinking replacement of the drain plug is in order?
Or, what about a permanent fix like treating the threads with silicone sealant?
Don't use more than 3 wraps of teflon tape. If you use too much it can't fill in the threads and actually spreads them apart more. You can try thread dope, or you can just seal it with silicone. I don't think you will be needing to open that plug very often.
I used 2 wraps of tape for the redo.
I think I can see the leak source. If you look back at the leak photo a few posts up, look at the 11:30 position. There's a tiny crack there about 1/8 inch long. I don't think sealing the threads with silicone sealant would seal that too.
At any rate, it leaked about 4 ounces of water in a 12 hour period.
I think I can see the leak source. If you look back at the leak photo a few posts up, look at the 11:30 position. There's a tiny crack there about 1/8 inch long. I don't think sealing the threads with silicone sealant would seal that too.
At any rate, it leaked about 4 ounces of water in a 12 hour period.
I did this too the last time I did my spider gasket. It was okay for a month, but after moving the valve a few times over a month I would get a leak to the waste port from time to time and my filter would siphon when turned off (sounded like a toilet flushing). I tracked the problem down to the spider gasket not being fully seated in the channels due to my lack of silicone. I lived with it for a few months as rotating the valve again would sometimes make the gasket find its place.
I opened it back up, applied the silicone more liberally, and haven't had the issue for about two months now. Just my experience with a limited amount of silicone.
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.
So, with pump off, I decided to apply a bead of silicone sealant around the drain plug and in the tiny crack. My thinking was maybe the sealant would be drawn into the leak.
Well, that didn't happen. The leak is still present, but the leak rate has been drastically reduced. At this point I'm just leaving well enough alone. (Must... Resist... OCD... Tendency!!!)
So, with pump off, I decided to apply a bead of silicone sealant around the drain plug and in the tiny crack. My thinking was maybe the sealant would be drawn into the leak.
Well, that didn't happen. The leak is still present, but the leak rate has been drastically reduced. At this point I'm just leaving well enough alone. (Must... Resist... OCD... Tendency!!!)
I just replaced my gasket, and I am having the exact same issue with the loose handle. The spring and everything underneath look to be working just fine. Did this eventually go back to normal for you?Ok, I've torqued everything evenly down and I may have a problem??? The handle is "loose." I can freely select different positions, but the rest state is loose. See attached photos. First one is where it rests, second is where I would expect it to rest. (I'm holding it up)
