Pool heater plumbing

[bunsen]

Hi, was hoping someone could give me a few pointers. Im having a Hayward h250fdn heater put in. I have the gas guy doing the hook up and an electrician do the electrical (obviously!). so that leaves the plumbing, and i wonder about the hookup to the control panel. As you can see its a pretty simple setup, but i have a few questions about doing the plumbing was hoping someone could help me out with. Of course if anyone has any other tips for me id love to hear it.

1. The Hayward heater can be switched to have the water intake / output on the left side as opposed to the right side (comes on right side out of the box), that means if i leave the intake and output on the right side ill have to run the plumbing around the front of the heater i guess? Is it hard to switch the intake sides on this heater?

2. Does the electrician normally hook up the heater to the control panel or is that something i would do?

3. Should i put in some shut off valves in the plumbing, and add one before the skimmer as well?

4. Should i put in a check valve between the SWG and the heater? Is it ok if the SWG stays oriented horizontally or does it need to go vertically as i've seen in some photos?

Thanks!

 

[mas985]

1. It is pretty straight forward to swap the manifold and I would go to the trouble since it will make plumbing a lot easier. They have detailed instructions in the manual.

2. He should but it is pretty easy if he doesn't.

3. The only reason to put shut off valves on the suction or return is because the pump is below water level. Otherwise, they are not needed.

4. No check valve is needed and you can leave the cell horizontal.

 

[jblizzle]

4b. Just to be clear, the SWG needs to be AFTER the heater.

 

[bunsen]

thanks for the responses. yes ill be putting the SWG after the heater. i have read many places i need a check valve. Manual says i need one if i have a chlorinator, im assuming the SWG can be considered a chlorinator or not?

 

[jblizzle]

not.

Chlorinators with trichlor tablets are acidic and that can back up into the heater.
SWGs only generate when water is flowing (and do not make the water acidic).

 

[ps0303]

On this unit you have to totally remove the heat exchanger and flip it around. This means lost of disassembly and rerouting of wires. Your setup is so close that I wouldn't worry about switching it. Just run your pipes between the unit and the house. You have plenty of room to do this with the size of your equipment pad.

 

[jkayca]

I would recommend plumbing in a bypass for the heater. I.e. a way to route the water around the heater and still be able to use the filter and SWG. This can save some wear and tear on the heater by not having it constantly exposed to the pool water.

 

[ps0303]

jkayca, adding a bypass really doesn't help save on the wear and tear. In fact sometimes when a heater is bypassed for a long period of time it can actually hurt the unit. I do agree that a bypass can be beneficial but in the sense that if something happened to the heater, a leak etc, you can bypass and keep the pump running. As long as you keep your water balanced correctly a heater can last a very long time.

 

[bunsen]

thanks for the input. so you would recommend i just leave the intakes on the right side and run the piping to that side?