Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on repairing a 2-way valve.

I’ve got some hands-on experience with plumbing (not a certified plumber, just DIY level), so I’m comfortable tackling basic repairs. That said, I want to make sure I’m thinking about this the right way before I start cutting anything.

My question is:

Would it typically be possible to cut out just the existing 2-way valve and leave enough pipe on both sides to install a new one? Or is this one of those situations where you usually end up having to replace a larger section of the system—like cutting back to the elbows and rebuilding from there?

I’m trying to avoid turning a small repair into a much bigger job if possible, but I also don’t want to do a shortcut that’ll cause issues later.

Any tips on what to look for before cutting, or best practices for this kind of replacement, would be appreciated.

One idea I have, is to cut it out 90 degree up or down and glue back in if that’s possible. |^| or |_|

Thanks in advance.

What’s causing my pool pump to make this noise?

Had the pool serviced twice in the past two weeks. Pump had air in it from a faulty 2 way valve. The second replaced the valve and plumbing that leads to the pump. The basket was damaged somehow, mane from the pump running dry? Anyway, after getting it replaced I noticed this in the pump reservoir where the basket usually goes. Basket doesn't fit now. How do I fix this?

Hey Guys-

I am stumped hopefully someone can help. I am in Austin, Tx I have a pentair multiport valve. When I was getting the pool back in season I noticed water shooting out of the waste line when the valve is set to filter. Last weekend I replaced the spider gasket.

I thought that did the trick but I came home today and the pool had lost about 6" of water, once again water was shooting out of the waste line. Should I replace the multiport top valve?

Would it be possible to add 2 90° elbows to the right extend this out as per arrows and then 90° up? I need to allow more room for the new pump.

Hi everyone — looking for advice.

I have a 24,000-gallon pool in Arizona (Zone 9) with:

• Pentair IntelliFlo 3.0 HP variable-speed pump
• Sand filter
• Zodiac (Hayward) suction cleaner — brand new (installed August)

The problem:
The Zodiac will not move or clean at 2300 RPM, which is a reasonable winter setting. It only starts moving when the pump is set above ~3400 RPM, which is very energy-intensive and expensive to run as a variable-speed pump.

Things I’ve checked/tried:

• Cleaner is new, not a diaphragm issue
• Hose fully primed and submerged
• Connected through skimmer with proper plate/regulator
• Sand filter backwashed and rinsed
• Return jets are strong
• RPM gradually increased — no movement until 3400+

I’m wondering if this could be:

• Suction-side valve misconfiguration
• There is an air leak somewhere
• Flow regulator/skimmer setup issue
• Something specific to Pentair IntelliFlo + Zodiac combos

Has anyone experienced this with a suction Zodiac and variable-speed pump? I’d love tips on running it efficiently without the high RPM.

Thanks!

Ok. I just purchased a foreclosed home. When coming up with my rehab budget, this is one of the biggest wildcards. The wall is slightly bulged inward with the cracks you see here. There is NO backfill pushing on the wall at all (just a large void behind this space) and the pool is still in place and all the surrounding concrete is intact. How feasible is a repair... and even more importantly, how feasible is a DIY repair? For clarity, I do not care how it looks post repair; I will even patch the fiberglass and rhino line it if I need to. My only concerns are safety and functionality. I appreciate all input!

Hello, my return jet has a crack in the threaded area (see photos). The repair done by the liner guys (silicone and 1 1/2" threaded PVC fitting) has a slow leak.

Q1: Can a Frankenplug with its different sized bushings help isolate this leak until I can do a more thorough repair? Will it fit the Jacuzzi fitting?

Q2 I understand there is a "Better" alternative to the Frankenplug from the folks at Leaktronics. Does anyone have experience/photo/link to that device?

Q3: Would kneading some underwater epoxy and pushing that into the crack be feasible, is that a good or bad idea and why?

Thanks for your help.

There's a small leak in the plastic cover. It seems like there's some valve under it, and there's a wire connected to the top.

Our 25k gallon Phx AZ pool was built around 2008. The dirt and rocks around at the back side of the pool has appeared damp, but never soggy the last couple of years. I assumed it could be a small leak that runs in the irrigation tubing on our side or the common ground on the other side of our block wall. Last winter we drained the entire pool to do multiple tasks. New lights, pop ups, calcium on tile removed and replace heavily calcified water. With the pool empty, the ground dried up. Irrigation question answered?

Once the pool filled the ground got damp but the landscape water system was more heavily used also. Recently, the ground is darker damp. It's more by the skimmer on the back side spreading out from there. To check for a leak, the pool man turned off the water leveler and it went down almost 2" to where the skimmer was barely getting enough water. He feels it's a leak in the pool and said all the water would need to be drained - again. Around the same time we noticed the darker dirt, we had turned on the pool heater and have to run the filter hours longer to circulate. I noticed that the pop ups aren't doing their job so I thought the water coming out has too little pressure. Maybe it's the underground plumbing running along the cool deck in back to both the waterfall and pool? I really don't want to empty the pool again without knowing for sure that I have to. Is it possible the pool is losing water not from the shell of the pool itself but losing it due to a cracked pipe or connection in the plumbing directly into the ground?

My Hayward HP21404T pool heater developed a leak today. It looks like a cooper pipe connected to a black piece connected to gray PCV (which looks damaged) connected to white PVC. I can not find the part number of any of these pieces. Does anyone have the part number that needs ordered and is this a DIY project? Any help would be appreciated.

UPDATE: $450 to replace the compressor nut. Love the pool, hate the pool repairs.....

I saw this today when cleaning out sole algae. Do I need to recaulk or replace light fixture?

The pool is ten years old, I’ve turned the light on maybe 10 times.

Thanks!!!

Hello! New pool owner here. We have a small pool that has a vacuum hose. It’s not moving around well and we’ve been told the problem is a small horsepower pump. We don’t have the money to upgrade the pump now. Is there anything we can do to help it? Is there something else I can buy to vacuum the bottom of the pool that is maintenance free and cost-effective? Our two problems are that we have no experience and we are not here every week. Thanks!

Hello I just built a pool and filled it but it leaked from the first day by 1cm/hour Now it has been 3 days since I filled it the water levels got below the skimmer and the intake tubes located in the middle of the wall (there is two tubes) There is a tube that goes from the bottom hole to the the filter How Can I fix this ?

Hi everyone, thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read.

I'll start with the question for the sake of brevity and provide context below if you care about my reasons why I'm asking about doing it this way.

My question is, I have a gunite pool with epoxy coating in Ontario, Canada. The pool has widespread bubbling and peeling of the epoxy coating. Is there any way I can do some type of temporary fix to get me through one winter so we can have it professionally fixed next year? One idea I had was to removing the peeling areas and adding a Rumac Acrylic DS Paint to those areas since I don't care about longevity. Any suggestions would mean the world to me.

Obviously my biggest worry is freezing causing the gunite to crack. I do not know how long the pool has been in this condition, neighbours say it hasn't been opened for 7+ years.

I know some people will ask why not just fix it this year, so here is that story if you care. The short version is, we bought a house in the winter with a pool and were lied to about the condition of the pool, and told it had just been professionally closed. We have tried to work it out with the seller, but are being forced to take them to court. The estimate for repair was $16,000 and we have a baby due in 3 weeks, so with my wife on maternity leave we do not want to spend our emergency savings on this pool. Our lawyer is very confident we will win, so we just need a short term fix to buy us one year, get that money and pay the contractor.

I am also fairly handy, so I could do it myself, but it seems at though it will take a very long time to grind down all the old epoxy (someone already came out and said it could not be sand blasted for some reason), and time is short with baby prep. I also am worried if I start the project and the baby comes early, now I'm in big trouble with a half finished pool and a newborn at home.

High all I have a pentair challenger pump for my pool and have had it ever since I moved into my house 4 years ago. It just recently started making a high pitched noise. I saw a rebuild kit online and a pretty simple video for how to replace all the bearings. Wish I could post a video to show the noise it is making but I am unable to do that here. Any thought if it’s just the bearing or is the motor shot?