Next in line are multiple valves directing water flow to the pool or spa jets or the waterfall/fountain fixture. This protects the heater from concentrated chemicals flowing back into the exchanger when the pump is off. This backflow safety is most commonly a one-way spring-loaded valve that closes when water flow stops. Water then flows through a backflow safety before entering the high chemical chlorinator. Next, the water passes through the heater's heat exchanger and out. Usually, there is a water bypass valve right at the heater's intake that would allow water flow to go around the heater (if not in use) instead of through it. When needed, you can leave the filter out and replace the lid temporarily for testing purposes.Īfter the filter, water goes into the pool heater or solar heat. If clogged, the filter can be removed by turning off the pump, unscrewing the lid, and lifting out the filter. This is a large cartridge that has a filter inside. Water exits the pump into the pool's filter. You can easily clean this screen trap by turning off the pump and removing the clear sight lid. Water enters the pump at the clear sight glass, where a large screen trap is positioned to catch any chucks entering the pump. The pool, spa, or skimmer can each be individually shut off from the pump's intake. Multiple valves are used right before the pump to isolate different sections of the intake if needed. Drains are at the bottom of the pool skimmers are at the surface. The pump pulls in from the pool/spa drains and skimmers. Knowing how to diagnose and fix a water flow issue is a must for pool heater techs. In my experience, about 1/3 of pool heater service calls are actually due to water flow issues. However, in a gas heater, the exchanger can begin to cavitate and make a loud banging noise. In a heat pump, when the flow is low, the system will run high head pressure. Heaters have high-limit switches for temperature, pressure, and refrigerant (if a heat pump) that will open and shut off the heater in a low-flow scenario. However, just because the water has “pressure,” that doesn't necessarily mean there is an adequate flow to remove heat from the exchanger. Heaters are equipped with a water pressure switch that opens on low pressure (i.e., pump off or flow restriction). This heat gets passed off into the water through the heat exchanger inside the pool heater. Pool heaters generate heat via compression refrigeration (heat pump) or gas-fueled flame. If you would like to brush up on the basics of pool heaters before diving into troubleshooting tactics, you can check out HVAC School's other articles on pool heat pumps linked above. In this article, I'm going to cover the pool circuit basics and common water flow issues that screw up our heaters. When you first start servicing pool heaters, the water flow circuit can feel a bit intimidating. This tech tip by Bert is about pool heater troubleshooting, but we have two other articles on the basics if you'd like to start there: Pool Heat Pumps, The Basics and Introduction to Pool Heat Pumps. We find that it's a worthwhile line of work, and it may be something that other residential HVAC companies may want to consider doing. As you may already know, we work on pool heaters at Kalos as a way of opening ourselves up to some extra business during the winter.
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