Pentair air relief valve broke off - temporary PVC alternative to run pool while new part arrives?

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petepool

Bronze Supporter
Sep 1, 2019
96
NJ
Have a pentair cartridge filter - relief valve (part 98209800) on top snapped where the threads enter the filter. I was able to extract the remaining threaded section from the filter top.

I'm going to order/install a new valve but have a pool party tomorrow and want a PVC option from home depot to plug the hole temporarily. Does anyone know the official diameter/thread size and if there's any issue with doing this? I can eyeball it but don't want to mess up the threads on the filter top if i'm wrong.

thanks
 

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Sent you a PM about two local stores you can call tomorrow.
 
petepool said:
Have a pentair cartridge filter - relief valve (part 98209800) on top snapped where the threads enter the filter. I was able to extract the remaining threaded section from the filter top.

I'm going to order/install a new valve but have a pool party tomorrow and want a PVC option from home depot to plug the hole temporarily. Does anyone know the official diameter/thread size and if there's any issue with doing this? I can eyeball it but don't want to mess up the threads on the filter top if i'm wrong.

thanks
Click to expand...
Proprietary threads. Anything else forced into that opening will ruin a very expensive filter lid. Might find something like this at an auto-parts store and run the pump very slow.
shopping
 
petepool said:
Thanks, will try them. Any PVC backups if not available? Can also swing by my friend's house and borrow his for party
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Borrowing your friends might be the best option. Although the expansion plug that @1poolman1 showed would easily work. Might also be able to get a rubber stopper and duct tape it down. Mine broke last year and my wife stood there with her thumb over it for 30 minutes, pump at about 2700 RPM, and she had no issues keeping it plugged.

Fortunately I had one I keep as a spare. Order it on Amazon. Like $30. Best $30 I ever spent being able to keep the pool running. Ordered another one that same day.

--Jeff
 
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petepool said:
amazon had a non-OEM valve with free "overnight" delivery available. ordered at 10pm and was at my door at 7am. installed this morning and working perfectly.

going to buy a 2nd one to have on hand as backup. Anyone have any experience with the brass version of this valve here: Amazon.com
Click to expand...
I did not know about that product. Looks like a worthwhile upgrade to the factory valve!
However, reading the Amazon reviews, I’m shocked that there are so many people out there who are breaking theirs so often and requiring replacements every year.
 
petepool said:
amazon had a non-OEM valve with free "overnight" delivery available. ordered at 10pm and was at my door at 7am. installed this morning and working perfectly.

going to buy a 2nd one to have on hand as backup. Anyone have any experience with the brass version of this valve here: Amazon.com
Click to expand...
Added that brass one to my cart. The only thing to caution there is you have to be extremely careful threading metal into plastic. Very easy to overtighten and damage the plastic threads.

--Jeff
 
Generally a very bad idea to screw metal into plastic (fiberglass tank). The metal thermally expands and contracts at very different amounts than plastic and it (the metal) can easily crack the plastic lid. I suggest buying the OEM version (buy two) and keep the brass one for emergencies.

The Pentair high flow air relief is something that I have had to change many times on my filter. It’s simply a consumable part as there are many points of potential leaks and failures with it. It’s not worth rebuilding or fixing, the part is cheap and I keep a spare on hand at all times.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
Generally a very bad idea to screw metal into plastic (fiberglass tank). The metal thermally expands and contracts at very different amounts than plastic and it (the metal) can easily crack the plastic lid. I suggest buying the OEM version (buy two) and keep the brass one for emergencies.

The Pentair high flow air relief is something that I have had to change many times on my filter. It’s simply a consumable part as there are many points of potential leaks and failures with it. It’s not worth rebuilding or fixing, the part is cheap and I keep a spare on hand at all times.
Click to expand...
While I agree that it is a bad idea to screw metal into plastic/fiberglass, this thread being a loose tolerance because of the type of thread, and the fitting using an o-ring seal, the risk of thermal expansion cracking the housing is virtually non-existent.

I don't disagree that this high flow air relief valve is a consumable part, but they should design it so that it doesn't catastrophically fail. Had my wife and kids not been home, there is no telling how many hundreds, if not thousands, of gallons of water I would have lost. And if it were to fail like that while I was on vacation and there was nobody at the house, it could drain the entire pool. For this reason, I am willing to take the slight risk of screwing the metal into the plastic, so I do not have to be concerned with a catastrophic failure of the Pentair valve while I am away.

--Jeff
 
I put a small canvass drawstring bag over mine so that the gauge and plastic parts are shielded from the sun. I’ve also put foam pipe insulation over it (3-4” diameter works well). I tried a red plastic SOLO cup for a while but the wind kept blowing it off. Covering the valve and excluding the sun makes a huge difference.

Sure they could be better designed … you try convincing the dweeb in the accounting department at Pentair that they should splurge on a metal valve that costs 10X as much as the plastic one …

Black And White No GIF by Odd Creative
 
JoyfulNoise said:
Sure they could be better designed … you try convincing the dweeb in the accounting department at Pentair that they should splurge on a metal valve that costs 10X as much as the plastic one …
Click to expand...
This is the crazy thing... Retail price for both the metal one and the plastic one is within pennies of each other. So the cost to make a metal one can't be that high. Although I am curious how 'high flow' the metal one is.

--Jeff
 
Turbo1Ton said:
This is the crazy thing... Retail price for both the metal one and the plastic one is within pennies of each other. So the cost to make a metal one can't be that high. Although I am curious how 'high flow' the metal one is.

--Jeff
Click to expand...

I guarantee that the wholesale price is a lot further apart and if you are ordering parts in the “hundred thousand” quantity ballpark, every penny counts …
 
Turbo1Ton said:
This is the crazy thing... Retail price for both the metal one and the plastic one is within pennies of each other. So the cost to make a metal one can't be that high. Although I am curious how 'high flow' the metal one is.

--Jeff
Click to expand...
Difference is not in the cost to make.

Difference is in the profit expectations.

Also the Revo metal valve looks like it is being sold direct so profit goes direct to manufacturer.

Pentair valve gets marked up by one or two middlemen between Pentair and the consumer.
 

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