Newbie Pool Owner Having Problems With Hayward Vari-flo Valve

[gamble007]

Hey all...I'm new to these forums (and pool maintenance) so be gentle. I just bought a house with an inground pool that uses a Hayward Vari-Flo pump/valve along with a DE filter. The pool was a black lagoon that we had drained, acid washed and refilled. The guys who cleaned the pool, left the pump running on filter and everything looked great....that was until I got my hands on it. I started screwing around with the valve settings and tried to change it from filter to backwash...while it was running. Water naturally started to come out of the backwash tube, but then I realized that that's not what I actually wanted and went to change the setting back to filter...but water was still coming out of the backwash tube. Eventually I turned it off, but now every time I go to turn the pump on with the valve set to filter, water is coming out of the backwash tube. Yes, I realize I was an idiot for not turning off the pump before switching settings...but now I'm not sure what to do...any suggestions?

[quantumchromodynamics]

Whenever you change a valve like that while the pump is on, you create a phenomenon called "Water-hammer". Water-hammer is a shock wave of energy that travels through the water. It can be very destructive to plumbing and equipment.

You probably broke a wall inside the multiport valve. You need to disassemble the valve and check for damage. Most likely, you will have to replace the valve. You should also disassemble, clean and inspect the DE filter for damage.

[gamble007]

Whenever you change a valve like that while the pump is on, you create a phenomenon called "Water-hammer". Water-hammer is a shock wave of energy that travels through the water. It can be very destructive to plumbing and equipment.

You probably broke a wall inside the multiport valve. You need to disassemble the valve and check for damage. Most likely, you will have to replace the valve. You should also disassemble, clean and inspect the DE filter for damage.

That is most definitely less than awesome news. Will the damage be obvious when I dismantle the valve? Also, how complicated is it to dismantle it and then put it back together? I'm just worried that in the unlikely case that it's alright, that I might have issues putting it back together properly. One last question...if I need to replace the valve, what am I looking at as far as cost and is it something that would require a "pool guy" to come install?

Thanks for your help Quantum.

[quantumchromodynamics]

It can be a little tricky if you've never done it before. Take notes and pictures of the valve as you disassemble it. Replace any worn or damaged parts. Replace all O-rings. Lubricate the O-rings with a silicone O-ring lube. Do not use any petroleum products on rubber.

1) Remove any two opposite bolts on the valve.

2) Put two long bolts in the empty boltholes and hand tighten.

3) Gently tap out the pin that holds the valve handle in place.

4) Remove the valve handle

5) Remove all of the other bolts except for the long bolts.

6) Now remove the two long bolts equally and the valve top will come off.

Reverse the procedure to reinstall.

The reason you need to use the long bolts is the valve contains a compressed spring that pushes the diverter down. The long bolts to allow you to decompress and recompress the spring.

The valve will cost about $95.00 for a new one, if needed. Replacing the valve requires replumbing. If you are not comfortable with this, you can get a service person to help you.

[quantumchromodynamics]

The spider gasket may have come out. If that's the case, then all you have to do is replace that.

[gamble007]

The spider gasket may have come out. If that's the case, then all you have to do is replace that.

So it looks like that's what it was...the spider gasket was all kinds of wrecked when I pulled the valve control arm off. I bought a new gasket, cleaned out the inside of the valve and set the gasket in the valve using silicone glue. I reassembled the valve and voila...no more backwash! Well, that's not completely true...there's still a trickle of water coming out of the backwash tube. When I was replacing the gasket, I did notice that there was some slight damage to one of the walls inside of the valve (like two small notches taken out of the top of a wall), so I'm going to assume that it's due to this damage that the water is still coming out. I'll try to take a picture and post it on here so you can see what I'm talking about.

So now that it's no longer constantly backwashing, it seems that I have a new problem. My pump doesn't seem to want to keep its prime. After fixing the valve, I was able to fill the basket that's supposed to be filled with water before turning on the pump and I managed to get it going without too much trouble....the next day however, when the pump started on the timer, it wasn't bringing in any water and couldn't circulate. The strange part is that when you turn the pump off, the basket refills with water pretty much up to the top and as soon as I turn on the pump again, it sucks it all away and no water is coming in. My assumption is that I have a clog somewhere between the pool and that pump, but I've checked the skimmer basket and didn't see a huge amount of leaves or anything. Something else I noticed was that the pressure gauge on the DE container is reading 0...I'm guessing that's not good. Any suggestions?