Hello. I have read many postings about this but am still not sure about this. We just finish building the pool last Friday. We have a Hayward Heatpro with Titanium Heat Exchanger. When I went to the pool supply store to get my water tested and told them about my setup he said i needed a zinc anode. The one he sold me (which has not been installed yet) he said to drill a small hole on the intake of the heatpump and clamp it on it ... sort of like a flowmeter... this one looks like a flowmeter. It puts the zinc in the flow of the water. There is also a connection to the bonding of the pool. Do I really need this or is it a bunch of you know what. The heat pump cost 3200 installed, and the zinc anode 109. he said it is a small price to pay to slow down corrosion.

I would agree with him... only if the science is true? I spoke to the pool installer, he said the only other metal touching the pool other than the heatpump is the aluminum coping (no constant water touch there) and the stainless steel ladders. He said he would be happy to come by tomorrow to install it for me for free if I really wanted it. But do I need it?

One more thing... I am using a SWG

Anodes work, no question, provided the proper metallugy is chosen and installation is correct.. How well they work in pool heaters is beyond my experience. I would consult the Mfr before I made this mod to a $3200 heater. I also question the need with a Titanium exchanger. I may be wrong, but I hope to learn from this post. Very interesting...

Yeah everything I read suggests i don't need one on this forum... so I need some confirmation

If you had a copper heat exchanger, then I could understand the possible need for a zinc anode in a saltwater pool, but with either a cupro-nickel or titanium heat exchanger there should be no need for this (see this post for some warranty statement examples). Also, their approach for protection has you add zinc ions to the water whereas that really isn't necessary. You can instead bury a zinc anode in moist soil and electrically connect it to the bonding wire. They are assuming that any zinc corrosion outside of the water will build up ions stopping the protection, but in moist soil the ions will typically diffuse away and the amount of protection needed is usually small anyway. The idea is to put a negative voltage on the bonding wire to slow down metal corrosion sacrificing the zinc instead.

So in other wards don't worry about it? He was saying to me that the ladders (Stainless Steel) an screws for the ladder would corrode in time without it. i couldn't find one to bury in the ground either.

If that one has a lug for a bonding wire you can just lug it up and bury it. Of course, that's if you can't or don't want to return it.

I returned it,,, it was 110 bucks! I finally found it online same one for 66... still abit steep I think.

All you need is a chunk of zinc. You shouldn't need to pay more than $ 5.00 (five dollars)
http://www.rotometals.com/product-p/1.5 ... ANODES.htm

Does the bonding wire from the zinc anode need to be copper like the binding around the pool?

Yes the conductor needs to be copper.

While the main pipe of a heat exchanger on a heat pump is titanium, the line from the compressor is copper. Bad chemistry can eat it. The anode is a good idea.

Scott

I spoke to Hayward tech support and asked if there were any copper components he said no. He said when they came out with this new design, they had salt corrosion in mind.... so was he making it up?

If they change from copper to titanium just before the R134 line enters the water channel, this is a good thing. I would be surprised if he was less than truthful. Not all HP are build like that. Before the water channel though, I can almost guarantee its copper due to it's better conductivity, thermally speaking.

Scott

PoolGuyNJ - Is there any way to check this? Do i take the union out of the water intake and look in it? This is a heatpro hp21104t. I have not been able to find a zinc anode that has a copper bonding wire on it that is not crazy expensive. The Pool Tool makes and inline one, those cost about 70 bucks... for a block of zinc and plastic casing with copper bonding wire? I think the copper cost more that the zinc.

Zinc anodes for pools typically come with attached to a threaded fitting, either 1.5 or 2". Pop a T in line and thread it in. Attach to the bond wire with your own wire.

Scott

You are describing the inline one. Does it have to be inline?

All you need is a piece of zinc and some bare solid copper bond wire (available by the foot at any hardware store). Attach the bond wire to the zinc and then to the bond wire using bonding lugs. You could even drill a hole through the zinc and use a bolt to secure the copper wire to the zinc.

Note: Never cut the pool bonding wire.

It doesn't have to be, but it's an "easy" way to ensure that the zinc metal doesn't get a buildup of zinc ions around it reducing it's protective voltage. However, the price of doing that is introducing zinc ions into the pool and zinc can stain though it requires well above 1 ppm zinc before that becomes a problem. If you bury the zinc anode in moist soil, you will get most of the same protection assuming the corrosion rate is fairly slow (which it should be). This also assumes that the ground doesn't have significant positive stray voltage.