On May 26, 11:31*pm, "Arklin K." wrote:
On Sat, 26 May 2012 19:49:09 -0700, Oren wrote:
I have no idea 'what' that red ball valve is for but it's on the outlet
side of the filter pump. I 'guess' it's a drain for the filter but the
filter space ship bubble has its own drain so I'm not sure what its
purpose is.

Given to position / orientation of the handle, perpendicular to the pipe
the valve is closed. Parallel to the direction of the pipe is an open
valve. What do you have shut off? The heater?

Ooops. I made a mistake in my description - and I appreciate your
question. You have always noticed stuff I had no clue about.

It's dark now, so I dug up the best picture I could find:
*http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/...40/8344939.jpg

The water flows into the filter pump, and out the filter pump into the
filter. At the outlet of the filter pump (but before the filter) is
another pipe, which is open ended. At the very end of that open-ended
pipe is this ball valve.

So the ball valve is on the end of an open-ended pipe which itself is
mounted to the line that goes INTO the filter. Why it's there is beyond
me.

If I open the ball valve, water flows out:
a) If the filter pump is running, water spews out fast.
b) if the filter pump is off, water flows out slower.

I have no idea WHY this ball valve exists. It's like a faucet mounted on
top of the output of my filter pump.

What possible use would the ball valve be?

If it's a drain, I have to mention that the filter itself has its own
drain (at the bottom) and the pump has a drain (at the bottom of the
basket); so why would this drain exist?

That valve is likely to help the pump to prime by reducing back
pressure. If your pump has trouble priming, you can let the water out
easily and after it primes, just close it. If it's just sticking up
in the air, that seems a bad design. However, after looking at the
photos you've posted...
Phil