Bungee plugs and teflon tape
Bungee plugs and teflon tape
Hi - I'm a new in-ground fiberglass pool owner and also new to the forum. Our pool has an automatic pool cover and so it needs to have the water level maintained at all times. Because of this, when closing the pool I opted to go with bungee plugs and a skimlock, which don't require lowering the water level. The bungee plugs are threaded and have an o-ring, but I opted to use 2 or 3 wraps of teflon tape on the threads to make sure I got a good seal. However, this prevents screwing the plugs all the way in so the o-ring seats. I got them screwed in almost all the way, but was afraid of overtightening. Still, I screwed them pretty tight. I got them finger tight but since I was working underwater I couldn't get them very tight by hand. Tried a strap wrench but it kept slipping off because the plugs were too small to get a grip on. Ended up using a pipe wrench to very carefully and slowly get another turn or two but stopped short of seating them against the o-ring. Like I say, they are pretty tight, though, with the teflon tape around the threads. I'm not concerned about them leaking, everything looks great. It's just that I'm waking up in the middle of the night wondering if I might have overtightened them. As the temperatures drop over the next few months and plastic fittings become more brittle, is there a danger of cracking the fitting? Should I be losing sleep over this? I almost want to just remove them, re-install, and blow the lines again, just for peace of mind.
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- Pool Industry Leader
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- My Pool: 10k inground fibreglass, Telescopic Cover, Hayward Powerline pump, Quality filter with glass media, 27kw output heat pump, K-2006C test kit
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Re: Bungee plugs and teflon tape
If you are sealing with an "O" ring then there is no need to PTFE (Teflon) tape on the threads
I would be concerned with over tightening the threads as they could jump the thread or possibly crack the fitting
An "O" ring seal should only be hand tight and just nipped up with a wrench
I would be concerned with over tightening the threads as they could jump the thread or possibly crack the fitting
An "O" ring seal should only be hand tight and just nipped up with a wrench
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- Pool Industry Leader
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- Joined: Thu 29 Apr, 2021 00:43
- My Pool: 12000 gallons vinyl liner,
Re: Bungee plugs and teflon tape
Seconded, no need for ptfe tape let the O ring do its job.
I may not give you the answer you want to hear, but I will give an honest opinion of your situation as you decribe it.
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