Leakage from bottom of pump assembly - Raritan PHII

[serendipitous]

Hello all,

I have rebuilt our Raritan PHII and now find that there is leakage from the bottom of the pump at the screw holes. I see that there are "detentes" in the plastic base to accommodate the screw holes in the flapper valve / seal and I have ensured that these are properly seated.

How tight should the bolts be? Are there any tricks to replacing this valve?

Thanks,

Peter

[zboss]

I had the same problem the first time. The bolts only need to be slightly tighter than needed to stop leakage, which is very little. You should not see very much squish of the flapper valve assembly.

I used a thin layer of grease (compatible with the assembly) spread on the flapper value before assembly.

[peghall]

Over-tightening screws or bolts will cause rubber gaskets to pucker, which causes 'em to leak. If you didn't rebuild the pump too long ago for the pucker to release, just backing off the bolts to just snug should solve your problem. If the pucker has "set," you'll have to replace the flapper valve.

Same thing applies to replacing the toilet discharge fitting after you've replaced the joker valve. Start by tightening barely snug, then just a quarter turn more to each bolt till it stops leaking.