What is this Valve supposed to do?

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moore887

moore887

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Aug 14, 2018
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I thought it was to by pass the heater. When I turn it in any direction 90 degrees it doesn't seem to do anything. The heat pump still shows the water temperature. If I turn my pump off or run it below 900 RPM, the heater shows NO FLOW. If I turn the valve almost 180 degrees, the heater shows no flow, the pumps sounds louder and it looks like there is no water flowing across the salt cell. I took the photo from different angles.
 

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It appears to be your heater by-pass valve. If you turn it counter clockwise, it SHOULD prevent the return flow from going through the heater (from what I can tell from the photos) and forcing the water up directly to your Jandy TruClear and then out to the pool. UNLESS that checkvalve is not installed properly or is not working correctly. A heater by-pass is a good thing. You don't want your water having to go through your heater unless of course, you want to heat your water. ;) .
r.
 
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I agree it is your heater bypass.

If you turn the handle 90 degrees clockwise it blocks all flow out of your filter. Don;t ever do that!
If you turn the handle 90 degrees counter clockwise you bypass the heater.
If you turn the handle 180 degrees you have both the heater and the bypass open and will cause turbulent water flow where the two meet.

Are you sure the check valve is working properly? The bypass relies on the check valve stopping the water from flowing back into the heater output. The check valve is open with normal heater water flow and closed when in bypass.
 
OK. I need to go out and look at the check valve. that didn't move at all no matter what I did. I am familiar with how they are supposed to work as I replaced my neighbors one on his system a few weeks ago. IF my one is faulty would it be a good idea to fit a flow meter in it's place?

I was asking a CPO instructor last week about bypassing the heater during the summer when it's not being used. He says he leaves his one open, however with my ongoing battle of rising PH, it may be a good idea to bypass it so as not to leave scale on the heater elements.
 
My heater is by-passed anytime my heater is NOT on and operating. Sure, you can install a FloVis in that valve housing if you care to. I have one in my plumbing but not a necessity by any means.
r.
 
The idea behind putting in the floVis was to be able to work out how slow I could run my pump to get one full turnover a day. However, I was recently told that one turnover filters 45% of the water, 2 turnovers filter 60% of the water and so on. It's not that much more expensive than the check valve. However, I did an experiment out there to see how fast I had to run my VS pump before the No Flow warning turned off on the pump (1,750 RPM).

I took apart the check valve and the bypass valve. The operation of each of them look good and it makes perfect sense to me how they are to operate. However, when I have the handle in a position where I think the heater should be bypassed the heater still shows the pool temp. Only turning off the pump shows no flow. I'm absolutely stumped!
 

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Dave,
I don't get it. If this (the diverter)...
97636

is pointing toward the intake side of the heater inlet plumbing AND the check valve is installed correctly (as you show in your photo), how in the world can water get into the heater?
UNLESS you have a tee somewhere else. Can you take a photo of the plumbing "zoomed out" some more, so all plumbing is shown?

In the first photo shown up in Post #1, the way you have the valve diverter positioned, your heater IS NOT bypassed (if in fact the intake (IN) to the heater is on the left). It would need to be pointing 90 degrees to the left.

BTW, if you installed a FloVis in the checkvalve that is shown, then that would not do you any good when the heater is bypassed. It will (should not) register any water flow if the heater IS bypassed.

r.
 
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The heater does not use a flow switch, it uses a pressure switch.

If the valve is closed when the pump is on, you will trap pressure in the heater and it will still show “Flow” even if there is no flow.

Even if you close the valve with the pump off, the pressure can still get in the heater if there is even a tiny leak at the valve or check valve.

That’s why you have to turn the heater OFF whenever you bypass it or it can run with no flow and damage the heater.
 
Does the heat pump operate if the diverter valve is turned that should bypass the water around it?
 

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I attached a few more photos, but I think what James is saying now makes perfect sense. The CPO instructor made reference to natural gas heaters that boiled water after the pumps (and heater) had shut off. When I was reading the manual to my neighbor's Hayward aqua pure automated controller there is a heater delay function which keeps the pump running for several minutes after the heater shuts off to prevent the heater from boiling off whatever residual water is in the heater. I wonder why the valve is there in the first place, if water can trickle through. Thanks for helping me out guys. I probably got saved from doing damage there!
976429764397644
 
You can use the bypass, you just have to make sure that the heat pump is off. You can't count on the pressure switch.

It looks like one of the screws didn't go in completely. When reinstalling a self tapping screw, it's important to get the screw back into the original threads. To get the screw to line up correctly, rotate the screw slowly counterclockwise until you feel it drop into the thread and then go clockwise to tighten.
 
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