Had a pool party and it was cloudy, drizzle, and cool. I let the heater run all day and the pool was a nice 90 degrees for the kids. I forgot that the pump kicks off at 8pm on the timer and the kids noticed the return jets stopped. The heater did trip off from the pressure switch. When I turned the pump back on, one of the kids screamed as hot water shot out of the returns (she was OK) and three joints on my plumbing starting leaking. Both o-ringed fittings coming off the heater were spraying and the PVC fitting going to my SWG blew out! I had to shut everything down and re-glue the PVC. The o-ring fittings are warped and won't seal. I had to use RTV silicone to glue the orings just to get the pump running again. At least it's leak free, but I need new fittings.
Heater took out my plumbing- lesson learned.
- Thread starter zimm
- Start date
And there friends is the reason to have a timer with the firemans switch hooked up. Depending on the pressure switch in the heater can cause problems.
Sorry to hear about your problem, but glad no one was hurt and that a few connections is all that got damaged.
Sorry to hear about your problem, but glad no one was hurt and that a few connections is all that got damaged.
Bama Rambler said:
Can I do a fireman's switch on an ancient millivolt system? Even if I did, it would still cause the problem of super heated water going into the plumbing. In the future, when I run the heater, I'll remove the "off" do-hickey on the pool timer so it says on constantly.
That heater should have a way to hook up a firemans switch.
The firemans switch on the timer shuts the heater down a set amount of time prior to the pump stopping so unless the power goes out it will shut down early enough that the water will be cool coming from it.
The firemans switch on the timer shuts the heater down a set amount of time prior to the pump stopping so unless the power goes out it will shut down early enough that the water will be cool coming from it.
The heater burners shouldn't fire unless the filter pump is running. Sounds like your pressure switch is out of adjustment. Also, the filter pump should run for, at least, 15 minutes after the heater is shut off.
These details are in the manual. I found a copy on line here:
https://www.parts4heating.com/v/vspfiles/images/pdfs/ESGSeries2.pdf
Good luck!
These details are in the manual. I found a copy on line here:
https://www.parts4heating.com/v/vspfiles/images/pdfs/ESGSeries2.pdf
Good luck!
I see, that helps. I'm not going to hook it up though, the thermostat on the heater doesn't work. It's either on or off. I'll continue to use it sparingly, but will make sure the pump will not turn off while the heater is running ever again. Lesson learned. When the heater finally dies, I can't wait to get a new high efficiency one that works with the pool timer.
At least try to set up the heater and pump to both shut off on the timer. Not the best way but at least the heater won't keep running. With the heat/pump off, there will be a shot of water in the piping that will be "warm" but, it should not be any hotter than what comes out the return.
Fireman switches aren't very common any more. Electric units are hooked into the pool timer on the same leg as the pump. So when the timer shuts the pump off, the heater shuts off too.
PS - your post here is confusing. My heater manual and caution note on the unit also says to run the pump 15-20 min. after turning off the heater. What do you mean that most newer systems turn off both the pump and heater at the same time?? I mean heck - Isn't the point that his water got so hot because the water wasn't circulating when the pump AND heater shut off - so the water got hot enough to melt his joints because it was sitting in the heater and so when he turned the pump back on the superheated water expelled?
No my heater turned off with the pump. There's a water pressure I side that shuts it down. But turning the pump back on a few mins later while the heater was still hot killed the fittings.
Every heater I've encountered or installed myself, the electric to the heater was tied to the timer switch so when it shuts the pump down, the heater shuts off. I have not seen one that melted the unions unless the heater continued to fire after the pump shut off. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but I have not seen it personally. BTW, sometimes a pressure switch could fail or not go into an open state right away for some reason thus allowing the heater to continue to fire.