I have a leak under the panel which can't be seen from top, is the only way to fix this, to flip panel over? Thanks
Fafco Solar pool Heater
- Thread starter boston62
- Start date
Or lay under it so you can see it? Sorry I really don't know but here is a bump to get this in front of more eyes.
You need to be able to determine which line is leaking and plug it at the header and footer. Kits with small knife and rubber plugs are available.
- Nov 12, 2017
- 11,910
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Here's a really fuzzy video on the subject:
above_ground - FAFCO, Inc.
Depends on where the leak is. Your panels look similar to mine. They can leak in any of three places:
1. somewhere in the middle of a tube
2. where the tube connects to the header
3. where one panel joins another
The video only shows how to fix #1. Fafco would have to be consulted about #2. I know how to do that on mine, but I hesitate to advise you about that method, never having seen a Fafco panel before. It's probably similar. I'm assuming you know it's leaking because you're seeing water on the roof below the panel. Can you take an educated guess that the source of the water could not be coming from the panel connections, and is in fact coming from one of the tubes?
If you have a #1 or #2, you can fix those from above, without flipping the panel over, but the problem is you have to be able to determine which tube is leaking, and I don't see how that can be easily done without the panels under pressure.
So you might call Fafco and see if they can offer you any suggestions. I might be tempted to reach up as close to the middle of each tube as possible and GENTLY pull them up, away from the other tubes, or spread the adjoining tubes away, or even twist the tube enough to reveal where the hole is, and see if I could identify which tube is leaking that way. You're looking for where the roof first is getting wet, or one of the tubes spraying or dripping. Start at the wet spot below the panel and work your way up and then left and right from there. If that reveals which tube, then you follow along with the video (which references some sort of printed instructions) and repair the tube (you actually just bypass it). Looks like they provide a repair kit, so you'll want to have one of those on hand if they didn't leave you one from the install. If not, order one from Fafco. The printed instructions would come with that, I assume.
If you can't find the leak that way, or if it appears to be at or very near the header, where you can examine from above, you're going to have to get eyes on it somehow. Do you think it possible to GENTLY lift the header without compromising the joints? At least enough to get line-of-site to a mirror you can get under there? One of these:
Amazon.com: TEKTON 7604 Telescopic Inspection Mirror: Home Improvement
To see if you can find the source like that?
The trick is to get under either each individual tube, or the whole panel, enough to find the leak, WITHOUT inadvertently pulling a tube out of the header and/or breaking any of the connections between panels. The older the system, the more likely, I'd say. If you're not very confident you can do so, then hire a solar company to do the repair (I probably should have opened with that!). They'll have tricks, and they'll be liable for any ensuing damage. And they'll be risking their neck up on the roof instead of you!
Good luck.
above_ground - FAFCO, Inc.
Depends on where the leak is. Your panels look similar to mine. They can leak in any of three places:
1. somewhere in the middle of a tube
2. where the tube connects to the header
3. where one panel joins another
The video only shows how to fix #1. Fafco would have to be consulted about #2. I know how to do that on mine, but I hesitate to advise you about that method, never having seen a Fafco panel before. It's probably similar. I'm assuming you know it's leaking because you're seeing water on the roof below the panel. Can you take an educated guess that the source of the water could not be coming from the panel connections, and is in fact coming from one of the tubes?
If you have a #1 or #2, you can fix those from above, without flipping the panel over, but the problem is you have to be able to determine which tube is leaking, and I don't see how that can be easily done without the panels under pressure.
So you might call Fafco and see if they can offer you any suggestions. I might be tempted to reach up as close to the middle of each tube as possible and GENTLY pull them up, away from the other tubes, or spread the adjoining tubes away, or even twist the tube enough to reveal where the hole is, and see if I could identify which tube is leaking that way. You're looking for where the roof first is getting wet, or one of the tubes spraying or dripping. Start at the wet spot below the panel and work your way up and then left and right from there. If that reveals which tube, then you follow along with the video (which references some sort of printed instructions) and repair the tube (you actually just bypass it). Looks like they provide a repair kit, so you'll want to have one of those on hand if they didn't leave you one from the install. If not, order one from Fafco. The printed instructions would come with that, I assume.
If you can't find the leak that way, or if it appears to be at or very near the header, where you can examine from above, you're going to have to get eyes on it somehow. Do you think it possible to GENTLY lift the header without compromising the joints? At least enough to get line-of-site to a mirror you can get under there? One of these:
Amazon.com: TEKTON 7604 Telescopic Inspection Mirror: Home Improvement
To see if you can find the source like that?
The trick is to get under either each individual tube, or the whole panel, enough to find the leak, WITHOUT inadvertently pulling a tube out of the header and/or breaking any of the connections between panels. The older the system, the more likely, I'd say. If you're not very confident you can do so, then hire a solar company to do the repair (I probably should have opened with that!). They'll have tricks, and they'll be liable for any ensuing damage. And they'll be risking their neck up on the roof instead of you!
Good luck.
I think I'll flip it over this panel has no plugs in it, so worth repairing it, not to hard to do. I put them up there. I have plugged other panels, but on the top of panel. Thanks everyone, when ever I see water coming down, I check for chlorine in it...then I know its pool water...
