Mold in heat pump pipe?

[mmcgovern]

I am looking forward to beginning my second pool season and I plan on spending a lot less on chemicals on it now that I've found this forum!

Over the course of the summer I got some (now I know was bad) advice.....I had someone tell me that if I'm not going to use my heat pump, I should close off the valves to it and not let water run through it as that could break the heat pump. The plumbing does have shut off valves to isolate the heat pump from the rest of the system, so I closed the valves to the heat pump.

Last fall I had a company come in and close our pool. When they were putting anti-freeze in the pipes they said the pipes for the heat pump smelled awful. I assume I have some mold growing in them from the standing water. They went ahead and winterized the pool and it's still closed and won't be opened for another 3-4 weeks.

I left this issue to deal with when I open the pool. Would anyone agree that the smell is, indeed, mold from having stagnant water? And, if so, what is the easiest fix? Try to kill the mold with bleach (or something else....) when I open or replace the pipe before I open?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Matt

 

[JasonLion]

If it is mold, just raise the FC level to the high end of normal (after opening) with the heat pump in the loop for a couple of days and you should be fine.

 

[mmcgovern]

I like that answer. Finally an easy fix to something! Thanks!

 

[mmcgovern]

So why are the valves there? All I can come up with is to repair or replace the heat pump. Is there any other reason to have them? I can shut off the water upstream and downstream. It seems a bit overkill since everything is above the water level and just drains back to the pool when the pump is off.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Yeah, they're most likely there in case you need to isolate the heater for some reason, like to repair a leak.

 

[JasonLion]

Those valves are very handy when you are doing a no drain acid wash and don't want the acidic water getting into the heater.