Several Leaks Around Filter System

[klwlls11]

Hi everyone. I am new to pools and new to this forum. So any help will be greatly appreciated. I would like to start off with the fact that my pool is only 9 months old. I bought my pool and had it professionally installed last August. I am not sure what model filter system I have but I do know it is a Hayward. When I went to open my pool this year I filled the pool with water and began running the pump and filter. Now I have a leak around the multi position valve right where the nut and bolt is. It is also leaking around the fitting where the waste comes out when you backwash. The third leak is coming from the two way ball valve. On top of all of this I also noticed that I have several small cracks on the front plate of my skimmer (inside the pool). I closed my pool just like I was told to do, so can anyone give me an explanation of how and why this happened but most importantly what I need to do to fix it. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[aylad]

Hi, klwlls11, and welcome to the forum!!

The spider gasket in the multiport valve is a pretty easy fix, Pooldoc has left a tutorial with pics here http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?10989-Photo-resurrection-2006-multiport-gasket-install. I go through a gasket per season, on average and it only takes a few minutes to replace it.

When you say there's a leak around the fitting where the waste comes out, do you mean all the time, or just when backwashing? If it's all the time, you might find that the leak stops when you replace the multiport gasket. If you mean when it's under pressure, then I'm sure one of the equipment gurus around here will chime in soon with a fix for that, as well as for the leak around the two way ball valve.

What part of the country do you live in? I know there were some massively cold (and long) spells in lots of the country this winter, and I'm sure that could have contributed to the skimmer plate cracks, but again, the equipment experts around here will have much more useful information than I could give you.

Welcome again!

Janet

[klwlls11]

It looks like I have the Hayward 714 series which from what I'm reading you cannot replace the spider gasket on this model.

[PoolDoc]

A leak from under the screws in the multiport, and from the backwash port, and from a ball valve does not sound like a spider gasket problem: it sounds like your filter piping froze with water present, and cracked a bunch of things.

Is this the valve you have?
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_tsiNUir13FM/TcSVswQ_-sI/AAAAAAAAAFU/Ergc2mkq_ho/s800/SP714TIso.jpg

If so, I don't quite understand your phrase "right where the nut and bolt is" -- there are 6 or 8 stainless machine screws with nuts that hold the handle plate down. Is that what you mean?

I don't know that any of this is related to your skimmer cracks, but freezing problems could definitely fit the description you gave in the first post.

Ben