Added solar and now no flow to heater..help.

[scottforbes]

Hi
i recently had a solar guy install solar heating to my pool and after he left i ended up not being able to turn on my heater and i have very weak flow into the pool inlets..i suspect the plumbing is screwed up but i don't know what is wrong..could the valves not be working properly...any help would be greatly appreciated as my grand children keep asking papa when the pool will be ready..thanks.

 

[mas985]

Are the valves currently set as they are in the picture (exactly)?

What is the current filter pressure?

Just a note that for the current setup, there will not be any flow to the heater when solar is engaged.

 

[scottforbes]

Are the valves currently set as they are in the picture (exactly)?

What is the current filter pressure?

Just a note that for the current setup, there will not be any flow to the heater when solar is engaged.

current filter pressure is approx. 20psi
the valves with the blue handles are turned "on" so they are parallel with the pipes,otherwise all is the same.
the heater is giving me a no flow error indicating no water is flowing into the heater.
the return jets a trickling warm water.
thanks

 

[mas985]

Did the filter pressure change from before you had solar?

What is the pump speed at 20 PSI?

Also check the heater inlet and outlet to make sure they are connected properly. I can't tell from the photo.

 

[scottforbes]

the flow right now is from the filter out to a 3 way actuator that controls the solar system when the handle points toward you (opposite from what is shown in pict) then the solar system is on..the heater is supposed to be able to heat when the 3 way is closed as in the picture. pump is running at 2450.

 

[mas985]

I under stand the flow but can't see the heater ports to see if the installer installed that backwards.

Also, you didn't answer the first question. Was was the filter pressure before solar was installed?

Is the RPM 2450 or 3450? 3450 is full speed. Just making sure because 2450 at 20 PSI would be pretty high head loss.

Also, what pump is that? The Intelliflo or the SuperFlo?

 

[jblizzle]

the flow right now is from the filter out to a 3 way actuator that controls the solar system when the handle points toward you (opposite from what is shown in pict) then the solar system is on..the heater is supposed to be able to heat when the 3 way is closed as in the picture. pump is running at 2450.

How big is the solar setup?
Just a note that for solar, if the actuator rotates 180 degrees then you may not be sending enough flow to the solar.

 

[scottforbes]

ok sorry about that..the heater was installed a year ago and worked fine ..the actuator is on the water "flow in" to the heater (second grey pipe of the four) and the third grey pipe is coming from the heater and going to the pool outlet ..the first white pipe is going out to the solar and the forth white pipe is coming from the solar.
the filter pressure before the solar was approx. the same as it is now. yes the rpm is running at 2450 it is the second fastest speed on the intelliflow pump.(4 speeds) program to 8 speeds i believe. sta rite system 3 filter..master temp 3000 btu heater..also i believe the actuator rotates 180 degrees only for the solar during the day.

 

[mas985]

20 PSI at 2450 RPM is pretty much dead head for that pump so it is no wonder you are not getting any flow rate. At this point, you just need to figure out why. The plumbing looks correct. Normally they put a check valve in between the filter and the solar valve but I do not see it.

But it is puzzling that you would have the same pressure as before. Are you positive about that?

When you engage solar, does the pressure drop?

 

[scottforbes]

first of all ...thanks for your help..everyone i have asked so far has just stared at me..the pool guys seem to know pools but not solar and the solar guys know solar and not pools...
so here i am...everyone seems to think that i should have the heater hooked up after i send the water to the solar and that the actuator valve is in the wrong place..and yes i do not have a check valve going out to the solar system from the filter..no i am not positive about the pressure but i believe the pressure seems to be higher now as the waqter shoots out of the relieve valve on the top of the sta-rite about 20 ft. when i turn the system on..which it never did before.

 

[mas985]

When you engage solar, does the pressure drop?

 

[scottforbes]

no it does not seem to move

 

[mas985]

Ok, so it isn't the heater.

You have a couple of options at this point.

1) Force the issue with the solar installers and make them fix the problem.

2) Find and fix the problem yourself.

If you are game, there are a few things you can do to narrow down the problem. The first would be to disconnect the heater line inlet and run the pump and see if you get a lot of flow with much lower pressure. If so, then the issue is after the heater. If not then issue is before the heater and that section of pipe can be removed with the unions on the heater, filter and solar.

BTW, I forgot to ask if you have backwashed/cleaned the filter recently? That should be done first.

 

[scottforbes]

ok..can you suggest a better layout for the plumbing? would it be better to have the water run straight to the solar and then once back from the solar have it directed into the heater...or just work back from the heater inlet.

 

[mas985]

The way it is setup now is fine because you usually never use solar and the heater at the same time. The only issue I see is that there is not a check valve after the filter.


But what about this:

BTW, I forgot to ask if you have backwashed/cleaned the filter recently? That should be done first.

High filter pressure can be related to a clogged filter.

 

[scottforbes]

i just got new filters but have not put them in...is it better to have low pressure in the filter or high pressure? I will put a check valve from filter tomorrow and let you know if success...thanks for your help.

 

[mas985]

I wouldn't put the check valve in until you know what the issue is with your current setup. The check valve will just make it worse at this point to figure things out.

Also, are you sure you need to replace the cartridges and not just clean them?

The pressure in a filter is just diagnostic. Low or high can be good or bad depending on the situation. For you, it is bad because it is so high, it is slowing the flow of the filter.

 

[scottforbes]

ok so how would i increase the flow from the filter then? decrease the pressure in the filter...

 

[mas985]

You need to first figure out what is causing the blockage. It could be the filter or could be something. But if you eliminate the filter, by cleaning or replacing the cartridges, you can move on to the next thing (plumbing). This is a process of elimination to find where the issue might be.

BTW, does your filter pressure go to zero when the pump shuts off?

 

[scottforbes]

thanks ..i will let you know what i find...seems like i will be on a hide and seek adventure this weekend...
thanks for your help