Saved myself a new multiport valve over a two dollar o-ring

Started by Sam Whitaker · · 1 reply
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#1
Had a slow drip out the back of my multiport handle all summer, figured the whole valve was toasted and started pricing replacements, ouch. Finally pulled the handle off on a whim Saturday and it's just the little o-ring under there, dried out and flat on one side. Local pool store had one in a drawer for a couple bucks, popped it in, done in ten minutes. Kicking myself for eyeballing a new valve for weeks over that. Sand filter's been solid other than that, glad I didn't just throw money at it before actually looking. Anybody else finally check the obvious thing and feel dumb for waiting so long.

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#2
Good on you for pulling that apart before writing a check, Sam, but I'd push back a little on kicking yourself over it, that's not a dumb delay, that's just how most of us are wired. Nobody wants to pop the top off something that's working to go looking for trouble, you wait for the drip to get bad enough to make you act. I did the same thing with a union fitting a few years back, priced out a whole new pump before I noticed it was just the gasket gone hard.

I'm on a saltwater setup with a heat pump these days so no multiport valve for me anymore, but back when I ran a sand filter up in Michigan it was always the small rubber stuff that failed first, orings, gaskets, diaphragms, never the actual valve body. Worth keeping a couple spares of that oring size on the shelf now that you know the fix, cheap insurance. Glad it worked out, now go enjoy the rest of the season not thinking about it.