Heart broken šŸ’” (heater inside is crumbling rust mess)

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LisaBgame

LisaBgame

Active member
Jun 19, 2022
39
MI
Pool Size
33000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Is there any hope?

Heater fired when pool was opened. I hire a company to open and close my pool each year cuz I lack tools and Iā€™m not mechanically inclined.

A little over a week ago it started up just fine but, heated the pool for a while then started displaying ā€œsensor errorā€. I ordered another sensor off Amazon but it hadnā€™t come yet. Then over the weekend I turned it on just for the heck of it and it ran just fine. Got the pool to 82 degrees!

The pool fix it man showed up yesterday for the call I placed a couple weeks ago and it was running when he got here. I said itā€™s been temperamental so he decided to open it up.

Well the bottom was full of crumbling rust. He said ā€youā€™ve got a big problemā€ and he said the heating grate was done for. Ty hen he just started pulling these long metal pieces out.

I asked how did this happen and he said he didnā€™t know.

Iā€™ve had the heater for 7 years. They installed it. Last year I paid $600 for a new control board (I think thatā€™s what it was called)

I only get to live in my home for 18 more months (due to divorce agreement and having to buy it or sell it). I canā€™t afford what the new payment would be with an interest rate more than double my current one.

In Michigan itā€™s hard to fully enjoy a pool during our short season without a heater.

Iā€™m so sad. Is there any hope of fixing this?image.jpgimage.jpg
 

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Based on the gas rails and areas we can see in those pics, I don't see a bright future for that heater. I don't see any details on it in your signature such as make/model, age, atc. Do you know any of that info?

Also, on the equipment pad, do you have a bypass valve at the heater so that you can divert water away from the heater as to not get any of that corroded metal in your pool?
 
LisaBgame said:
Is there any hope of fixing this?
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Not for a reasonable cost.

LisaBgame said:
Iā€™ve had the heater for 7 years. They installed it.
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This looks a lot older than 7 years.

It was installed only 7 years ago?

Or, it was already installed when you moved in?

Can you show the labels?

The rust on the gas lines points to a serious problem in the local environment like chemicals or stray current.

I would get rid of the tab feeder.

image-jpg.498843
 
Thank you for your replies

I havenā€™t used the chlorine feeder for 2 years. Just liquid chlorine and whatever else pool math tells me to put in.

Pipes were like that when I moved in 9 years ago. This heater was put in new in 2016. They never commented on the rusty gas line going in except that sometimes it was hard to turn the handle on/off when opening and closing.

My pool is prob close to 30 years old but it was completely rebuilt with new plumbing, new liner, new sand filter, new heater and new decking because there was a significant leak somewhere before.

What are my next steps? I need some guidance
 

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You can pay to fix the heater or replace it or just cut it out and redo the plumbing if you donā€™t want a heater anymore.

I suspect that something is causing accelerated corrosion, but I donā€™t know what.

You can get estimates for repairs, but I suspect that it will not be worth repairing.

Before doing any repairs or replacement, I would try to determine if there is something locally causing accelerated corrosion like a stray current.
 

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The pipe coming up from the ground is the mark between 3.5 and 3.75 inches in diameter.image.jpg

The rusted pipe coming off that is 4.25 inches

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The small pipe headed toward heater is 3.25 niches
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I used this pink measuring tape which is divided into 8ths image.jpg
 
A diameter of 1.125ā€ is a circumference of 3.534 inches.

Assuming a pipe size of 1" and a length of less than 50 feet, the line should be adequate.

Maybe check for stray currents.
 
Since the divorce agreement is forcing you out of that home, it makes absolutely no sense to replace the heater. Just cut it out and dispose of it, have the plumbing rerouted with a bypass, and cap the gas line.

Let the next owner decide if they want to pay for a new heater.

And try not to get too hung up on ā€œhow can I sell the house without a pool heaterā€. Pools rarely change the cost equation for a home and most people either want a pool (or are ambivalent) or vehemently do not want a pool regardless of what equipment is attached to it.
 
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Poolbreh said:
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Looks like the header is or was leaking.
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Yes! I noticed small droplets that were coming down the side and I notified the pool repair person about it when he came to put a new control board last year. A different guy (same company) opened my pool this year and he said he took that side piece off to tighten something to stop the dripping.

I wish I would have contacted this forum last season šŸ¤¦ā€ā™€ļøšŸ˜­
 

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