O-Ring seals that stretch and fail

[SantiSuk]

I have just ordered my third pool pump filter (inspection lid) O-ring seal in one year from Fluidra Thailand (Astral Pool distributor).

The O-rings seem to stretch and eventually fail to make a seal. The one that came on installation lasted 18 months + but now it seems the replacements last only 6 months. I do not over-tighten the lid - tightened only so far that it is easy to open with a sideways knock of the fist. I open the seal probably once a week on average and have always greased the ring with Vaseline maybe once every couple of months. Is Vaseline maybe my mistake?

The O-ring replacements are not exactly breaking the bank*, but when I commented about their lack of staying power to the girl taking the order she invited me to write in and she would take it up with her manager. It occurs to me that someone is sourcing cheap substitutes, in which case I want it outed! I will take it up with the Spanish corporate if I don't get answers.

*Though yesterday's price was 813 baht, compared with 630 only 6 months ago - could be that they are imported in US$ from the US of course, which would account for half the 30% increase.

I'm sticking to facts, not opinion and given Thai law I suggest any respondents do the same

[TheCruncher]

Yes Vaseline may be a mistake, since you shouldn't use petroleum jellies on rubber seals.

Better to use PTFE grease, but actually the seal would need no grease at all.

Hayward even has it mentioned in it;s maintenance manual, not to use grease on the seal.

[sappersrest]

If they have stretched you can actually cut them and rejoin them using a good super glue, the trick is cutting them completely square, done it many times to get out of trouble.

quote from Astral manual

1. Clean the cover, cover O-ring, and sealing surface of the pump pot. Grease the O-ring with Teflon or silicone

   grease. NEVER USE PETROLEUM BASED GREASE AS THEY DEGRADE THE O-RINGS.

Always thought vasaline was ok if it's good enough for babies skin and all that.

Edited October 2, 2015 by sappersrest

[SantiSuk]

Thanks - I'll back off the complaint and see what a Vaseline-less ring does for me.

Talking about pool equipment here (in case anyone wanders onto this thread by accident!)

[sappersrest]

Very painful

[fdimike]

You should never use vaseline on rings. The proper lubricant is silicone grease (not silicone spray). It's difficult to find in Thailand but js usually available from any dive shop or Ebay. You will normally be given silicone sealant if you ask for it in a normal shop. I use it on all the o rings in my pool equipment to include my 2 Hayward DE filters. It's also good for coating exposed metal to prevent rust as silicone grease is waterproof.

[fdimike]

You should never use vaseline on O rings. The proper lubricant is silicone grease (not silicone spray). It's difficult to find in Thailand but js usually available from any dive shop or Ebay. You will normally be given silicone sealant if you ask for it in a normal shop. I use it on all the o rings in my pool equipment to include my 2 Hayward DE filters. It's also good for coating exposed metal to prevent rust as silicone grease is waterproof.

[Chaichara]

Vaseline, a petroleum based jelly, should never be used on rubber O-rings or gaskets of any kind in any technical or industrial applications. It swells the rubber, which becomes sticky, porous, and loses its elasticity.

For O-rings in pool applications it generally suffices to moisten the rubber with clean water, of if lubrication is necessary, use siulcone lubricant sold specifically for use with rubber gaskets. Difficult to find in Thailand. Small 5 gr tubes or sachets often cost Baht 400.00 or more. Can sometimes be found in stores specialising in scuba equipment or underwater photography.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Chaichara

[SantiSuk]

My 5 year old thanks you for the cut and shut advice Sapperset. She has a working pool back for the weekend*. Had thought of doing it myself, but concluded it probably would not work - wrong again! Replacement seal should turn up Tuesday. I'll pick up some silicone when I'm next back in the UK (dive shops are many hundreds of km away from me - nearest beach is 550km)

* guess i could have risked it given it's only been down 48 hours, but I soaked some chlorine powder in a bucket of water and distributed that broadly before reading your tip to at least fend off any tendency to algae, but then thought there might still be pools of concentration near the surface - better to be safe .....

[h90]

That topic is a bit old.....But I can't stop myself to comment.

SantiSuk is right...cheap replacement.

For that, with chlorine inside you should have EPDM or Viton Orings. EPDM are hard to get and Viton is expensive, so they most probably use NBR Orings which will get brittle (or shrink or swell, never tried it). They are easily available and super cheap.

You can simply buy these Orings in UK or Bangkok.....at some hydraulic seal company. Can't cost much. There are 3-4 good ones in Bangkok. If you can't find them, contact me, I know them all

[SantiSuk]

Coincidentally, I have just spent a month trying to get O-Rings out of the Thai Astral Pool rep to replace the ones between my sand filter and the multiport valve - sand replacement. They referred me to 'their dealer' in Bangkok in the absence of stock with them. I to'd and fro'd with him by e-mail for 10 days before he said he only had 1.5" ones (surely a 1.5" is small fish pond size - mine are 2.5"). So back to Astral and another 10 days of trying to get a response to my "so what now?" question. Yesterday I finally got a price - not that expensive at 100ThB each.

But the final kicker was a personal note appended to the order advice e-mail saying that really I should be using their dealer for orders of less than 5!

So - just in the interests of a potentially more speedy resolution in future I would appreciate your contact details h90. You can PM me if you don't want to post more widely if you think ThaiV policy does not allow a more public posting.