Troubleshooting water running out of pipes when filter is turned off

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H

heat4212

Active member
Jun 13, 2021
30
Lafayette, IN
Pool Size
21900
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Edit: I believe this is resolved and all my problems were due to the issue described in the next comment (about water running out of the pipes). Thanks for the help on this -- I still need a little help on the pipes.

I have two questions but first some backstory.... I get the pool professionally closed in the fall and then I open it myself in the spring. See the gray valve in the picture with the arrow? I have opened the pool 3 times and have never needed to touch it so I didn't think about it when opening the pool this time either. I now realized it's also a two way valve just with the handle missing, but because there is another one on the other side I never paid attention to it. The pool guys must have never closed it before and instead closed the other one.

So I opened the pool without opening this valve. Everything went fine except for the heater (Pentair Mastertemp 250). When I turned it on the temp would skyrocket and then it would go to a 126 error. I checked and double checked that the gas was on and all the red handles were open. Water was clearly going into the heater and when I drained some I got scalded so it was also heating up. I figured it wasn't leaving the heater, but I didn't know why until I figured out that gray thing was another valve. I opened it and the heater started working normally but is now running VERY loudly.

Question #1 Did I mess up the heater by running it without having the exit pipe open? It only ran long enough for me to watch the temp go up and then error out. I never left it running.
#2 Does anyone know how these valves are sized so I can buy a replacement handle?

I am also having a problem with water draining from the pipes when the pump is turned off so it seems unrelated but maybe not if you want to check that out as well.... Troubleshooting water running out of pipes when filter is turned off
 

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Could you please help me troubleshoot this?
. (Please let me know if there is a better way to share a video.)

Water is draining out of the pipes when we turn off the pump for the night -- you can hear it in the video above. It sounds loudest near the heater at first but then you can hear it from all the pipes. They drain loudly for a solid 4.5 - 5 minutes. I don't have an air valve on my filter but the chlorine dispenser has one and when I open it water does not shoot out like when the pump is running. The pump basket is holding it's seal, does not drain, and the pump starts up again just fine except air blows out of the returns for a good 45 seconds. Searching this forums says there is a leak is in the system somewhere but we are not losing pool water and I don't see a leak. I checked the o-rings on the basket cover and the pipes going into the sand filter.

[Edited to add photos of pipe layout. ]

Full disclosure: I also just posted this problem with my heater: I may have screwed up my heater -- I'm not sure if they are related. Thanks for any help!

Note: I originally had these posts in two different forums because I wasn't sure if the problems were related -- sorry if this caused any confusion!
 

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The heater should not have been damaged by the safety system shutting it off.

Saying the heater is loud is not sufficient to know if there is a problem or not.

Are there and letters or logos on the red handle to help identify the manufacturer?
 
Yeah, you have a leak on the pressure side. My guess it it around an O ring that does not show much or any water leak when the pump is running but lets air in when the pump is off.

You need to figure out how to isolate parts of your system using the valves to try and find the area the leak is in.

I see a bit of water under the right side of the heater. Is it leaking?

It is hard to understand your system to help you from the video and with the hidden pipes. A full set of pictures showing all the pipes from the suction through the returns would be helpful.
 
ajw22 said:
Yeah, you have a leak on the pressure side. My guess it it around an O ring that does not show much or any water leak when the pump is running but lets air in when the pump is off.

You need to figure out how to isolate parts of your system using the valves to try and find the area the leak is in.

I see a bit of water under the right side of the heater. Is it leaking?

It is hard to understand your system to help you from the video and with the hidden pipes. A full set of pictures showing all the pipes from the suction through the returns would be helpful.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response! The water under the heater is from me opening the drain plug to see if water was getting into the heater and heating up (I just went out there and it's dry now). I was scalded with insanely hot water and I had to let it all drain before being able to put the plug back. So that is how I figured water wasn't exiting the heater! I will edit the original post to add pics of the whole setup. The video was more for the noise so I could confirm my suspicions about water leaving the pipes.

Edit: The pipes all run underground to the pool so beyond the pool house there is nothing I can photograph.
 
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ajw22 said:
The heater should not have been damaged by the safety system shutting it off.

Saying the heater is loud is not sufficient to know if there is a problem or not.

Are there and letters or logos on the red handle to help identify the manufacturer?
Click to expand...
I went out to take a picture and realized it probably doesn't have a handle because the wings would hit the two pipes on either side. The middle pipe is set back some (which is hard to tell in the picture. So okay... 1 problem solved I guess! lol
 

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ajw22 said:
Yeah, you have a leak on the pressure side. My guess it it around an O ring that does not show much or any water leak when the pump is running but lets air in when the pump is off.

You need to figure out how to isolate parts of your system using the valves to try and find the area the leak is in.

I see a bit of water under the right side of the heater. Is it leaking?

It is hard to understand your system to help you from the video and with the hidden pipes. A full set of pictures showing all the pipes from the suction through the returns would be helpful.
Click to expand...
I took your suggestion to isolate the parts of my system and narrowed the problem down to the pipe going into the heater. I shut the valves going into and out of the heater right after I turned the filter off and the draining noise stopped immediately. I then noticed that the top pipe was indeed leaking a little bit but the water was collecting on the lower pipe so I didn't notice. I checked and re-lubed the o-ring (it felt fine - not stretched or damaged) and then put it back and tightened the collar. The pipes are no longer draining, air is no longer shooting into the pool, and the banshee howl has lessened but is still noticeable. So I dried off the collar really well and checked again and there is still some water oozing out but no longer dripping.

So apparently I tightened it enough to stop the main problems, but still haven't stopped the leak completely. Should I use pipe thread tape? Get my husband to apply man-strength? Use a better wrench? The only wrench that fits that pipe is my smooth strap wrench and it's started slipping. How about one of these: Amazon.com or Amazon.com ?

Thanks again for your suggestions! I am learning and getting there!
 
You want to tighten an O ring fitting just enough and not too much.

Over tightening will deform the O ring and cause it to bulge and leak.

Let's see what pro tips @1poolman1 @wireform have.
 
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Sorry I'm late to the party.
You may have an O ring that isn't seated in the groove properly so it may not be sealed and you shouldn't need excessive force at all. Open it back up and pull pipe back enough to first see what it looks like before you touch it. If it's out of the groove remove it completely and do a visual to be sure it’s still undamaged. Then clean both mating surfaces at the pipe including the groove. Lube the O ring but careful not to stretch it, seat it back into the groove and manually align the pipe before attempting to close the collar nut. Hold the pipes together as best you can till the nut doesn't move and then use 2 hands to snug it. That may do it.
 
wireform said:
Sorry I'm late to the party.
You may have an O ring that isn't seated in the groove properly so it may not be sealed and you shouldn't need excessive force at all. Open it back up and pull pipe back enough to first see what it looks like before you touch it. If it's out of the groove remove it completely and do a visual to be sure it’s still undamaged. Then clean both mating surfaces at the pipe including the groove. Lube the O ring but careful not to stretch it, seat it back into the groove and manually align the pipe before attempting to close the collar nut. Hold the pipes together as best you can till the nut doesn't move and then use 2 hands to snug it. That may do it.
Click to expand...
I tried to take your advice but I could not pull the pipe back far enough to see anything. I did manage to pull the o ring out with my fingernail, visually inspect it, put lube on it and then fit it back in using the tips of my fingers to make sure I could feel it in the groove on all sides. Then I held it in place like you said, tightened it up by hand keeping it aligned, then a little more with my strap wrench. At the moment, all my problems are better except the whole thing seems to be running a little louder than I recall from last year. But memory is a funny thing so I am just keeping an eye on things and thankful for the help you all have given me! (And saving me a trip from the pool guy.)

Thanks for taking the time to help!
 

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