Adding a temporary heater bypass while I repair heater

[ajgraham]

Hi everyone,
Had my Max-e-therm 400 heater inspected and I’ve had some wiring chewed through. Everything else looks ok, including circuit boards, no sign of water ingress so my plan is to detach the heater and work on it in the garage over a few days. I’m planning on plumbing a temporary U-bend to connect to the existing unions so I can still run my pool minus the heater. Issue I have is that I can’t find the male threaded side of the union (to mimic the heater side of the connection), I might just be using the wrong terminology but if anyone knows where I can source them I’d appreciate it.

The other question I have is about the heater gas line. Does it look like the line has a sediment trap on it?

Thanks for any assistance.

 

[1poolman1]

Gas line has no trap. While they are always recommended, propane is very clean and there is seldom an issue. You don't need to remove the heater from the plumbing to repair the heater. Those are not unions, but Sta-Rite connectors. They are used for pumps, heaters, filters. Yes, you can remove the heater from the plumbing, if you wish, there are many pools without heaters. Since you have that Flo-Vis, you might see an increase in flow. The heater is not particularly heavy, about 130#, but is awkward to be moving around. Easier to work on in place, especially with all the room it looks like you have.