Heater bypass question

[carlos31820]

I've been battling copper issues in my 4 1/2 year old pool. Our pool has a natural gas heater and I suspect my copper problem may be related to the heater exchanger. My current setup flows water through the heater even when the heater is not in use.

That being said, I'm considering hiring someone to replumb my equipment in order to add valves that would completely bypass the heater in the summer time.

In the few times we actually heat the pool (spring), I could open the valves and direct the water flow thru the heater.

My question has to do with the logistics of this. I'm assuming whenever I bypass the heater, I should open up the winterizing plugs and remove all water from the heater. Otherwise, I wonder if the stale water in the heater would turn into a nasty mess.



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[OldPoolMan]

Yes, you can bypass the heater with valves. But the real issue is why are you getting copper in your pool? It is probably your heater, it is a copper exchanger. Is your ph in line? Is it low? Low ph will erode copper from your heater and stain your pool. Things like chlorine pucks in the skimmer, tab feeders, can be suspects 3" tabs have a low ph. Are these things an issue? Do you constantly monitor your ph?

 

[carlos31820]

I have been diligent about the pool chemistry as I found this site before I built the pool. I've never had algae so no copper algaecide has ever been used. I even replaced my pool ladder with a polymer ladder since my stainless steel ladder was showing some corrosion around the ladder rung bolts.

It looks like my copper came from a poorly designed Paramount valve for my in-floor cleaning system. This valve sits downstream from my chlorinator. The initial design of this valve included nickel, copper and brass parts. This valve sits downstream from the chlorinator (this valve has to be the last component as it directs the returning water flow to one of six pvc pipes). Being downstream from the salt cell means that super chlorinated water would corrode these metal components in said valve. When I replaced the valve, I noticed the metal parts were corroded and pitted.

Paramount has since redesigned the valve and it no longer has metal parts. However, I still have high levels of copper in the water. A few times a year, I do ascorbic acid treatment to remove the precipitated copper stains and since the pH is rather low for that, I'd like to bypass the heater. I also want to be able to fully bypass the heater should it develop some problem like a leak... with the bypass, I can still run my other equipment.

I figure that I don't need to run water thru the heater copper exchanger all year when I only use the heater about 1 month out of the year. This also lets me rule out copper leaching from the exchanger.




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[OldPoolMan]

Obviously, your pool sharp. Based on experience when I lived back East, I had some customers that set up their plumbing to bypass their heater. I would recommend 3 way Jandy valves, and would winterize the heater including the gas line. A cover for the heater would be optional.