Val-Pak Wear Ring V38-134

Val-Pak V38-134 is the replacement wear ring for the Pentair American Products Ultra Flow pool pump.

What a wear ring does

The wear ring is the close fitting surface the impeller turns inside. That narrow clearance is what keeps pressurized water on the discharge side instead of slipping back around the impeller to the suction side. It is designed to be the part that wears, so the housing does not.

When to change it

A worn ring shows up as lost flow rather than as a noise or a leak. The pump sounds fine, the motor runs, but the returns are weaker and the cleaner works less well than it did. Once the pump is open, the ring is easy to inspect: grooving, scoring or a visibly widened gap around the impeller means it is done.

Because it is only reachable with the pump apart, fit a new ring at the same time as a shaft seal or impeller job rather than stripping the pump twice.