Cracked Pool Pump Basket? Why the Pentair 355667 Is Worth Replacing Right Away
The pump basket is the cheapest part in your equipment pad and the one people ignore the longest. It sits under the clear lid, it fills with leaves, and nobody thinks about it until something else breaks. A cracked basket is a $23 problem that turns into a $700 problem if you let it ride.
If your pump is loud, losing flow, or you keep pulling debris out of the impeller, the Pentair 355667 basket is one of the first things to check.
What does a pool pump basket actually do?
It catches leaves, twigs, bugs, and grit before they reach the impeller. That is the whole job. The impeller has narrow passages inside it, and anything bigger than a pencil eraser can wedge in there and choke your flow.
The basket also holds water volume in the strainer pot, which helps the pump prime. A basket that is broken or missing lets debris straight through and messes with how the pot fills.
How do you know your pump basket is bad?
Look for cracks in the plastic, a warped rim, or a chunk missing from the bottom. If the basket does not sit flat and square in the pot, it is done. Here are the symptoms people usually notice first:
- The pump is louder than it used to be, especially a rattling or grinding sound
- Weak return jets even though the filter pressure looks normal
- Debris showing up inside the pump housing or coming back into the pool
- The pump keeps losing prime or takes forever to catch
- Visible cracks along the basket wall or a lip that has broken off
Old baskets get brittle. Sun, heat, chlorine, and a few winters of freezing water make the plastic stiff, and then one hard tug on a stuck basket splits it. That is the most common way a Pentair 355667 basket dies.
Why a cracked basket wrecks more than the basket
Once there is a hole, everything the basket was supposed to stop goes straight to the impeller. A pebble or an acorn in the impeller can crack a vane or jam the shaft. On a variable speed pump, a jammed impeller means the drive works harder than it should, and drives are the expensive part.
A broken basket also lets the pump run drier than it should during priming. Running dry is what cooks a mechanical seal, and once the seal goes you get water leaking between the pump and the motor. So a $23 basket protects a wet end, a seal, and sometimes a drive. That math is not close.
How to replace a Pentair 355667 pump basket
This is a ten minute job with no tools in most cases. Take your time on the lid o-ring and you will not have a leak afterward.
- Shut the pump off at the breaker. Do not just use the timer or the keypad.
- Close the suction and return valves so water does not drain back at you.
- Twist off the strainer lid. If it is stuck, push down and turn instead of pulling up.
- Lift the old basket straight out. Rock it gently if it is snug, do not lever it against the pot wall.
- Scoop out any debris sitting in the bottom of the pot.
- Drop the new Pentair 355667 basket in and seat it flat. It should sit square with no wobble.
- Wipe the lid o-ring, add a little silicone lubricant, and hand tighten the lid. No wrench.
- Open your valves, turn the breaker back on, and watch it prime.
If it does not prime in a couple of minutes, crack the air relief on the filter to bleed the air out.
Will the Pentair 355667 fit my pump?
The 355667 is the large size basket used in Pentair strainer pots that take the tall basket, not the short one. Pentair uses more than one basket size across its pump line, so measure before you order.
Pull your old basket, measure the outside diameter at the top and the overall height, and compare. If the numbers are close but your old basket looks different in shape, send us the pump model number off the motor label and we will confirm it. Guessing on basket size is the most common return we see, and it is easy to avoid.
Repair or replace the whole strainer pot?
If only the basket is cracked, replace the basket. That is it. Buy the strainer pot assembly only when the housing itself is cracked, the threads are stripped, or the lid will not seal no matter what o-ring you put on it.
A basket is a wear part. Plan on replacing it every few seasons, sooner if your pool sits under trees. Keeping a spare Pentair 355667 on the shelf is not a bad idea either, because the day yours breaks is usually the day you have a hundred leaves in the pool.
One habit that makes baskets last
Empty it before it packs solid. A basket stuffed full of wet leaves gets pulled hard by suction, and that pressure is what cracks the plastic over time. Once a week during swim season, twice a week in the fall, and your Pentair 355667 basket will last a lot longer than the one you forgot about.
Not sure this is the right part for your problem? Reach out and we will help you figure out exactly what you need before you spend money on the wrong thing.