Dripping leak at connection to heater. How to repair?

[Dagobah]

As the title says, I've got a leak at the connection to my heater. What is the best way to repair this?

Assuming I screw off the connection. Do I just need to wrap it in teflon tape and re-screw on the connector? Haven't had to get into one of these before, so not sure what all is under there.

 

[gtemkin]

I can see from the photo that the connections don't meet the heater straight. Did something get changed or replaced in your system (filter, pump, new pipes or fittings, etc) that would have moved and caused this misalignment? Connections have to meet straight in order to seal.

 

[Dagobah]

I replaced the booster pump and the leak started immediately after it. I assumed I had bumped the line and caused it to leak but was not aware of the straight-seal issue. However, the booster is not connected to this line.

 

[gtemkin]

I replaced the booster pump and the leak started immediately after it. I assumed I had bumped the line and caused it to leak but was not aware of the straight-seal issue. However, the booster is not connected to this line.

Did you replace it or did someone else?

Take a close look at your photo. The pipes as they come out of the union nut are going downhill. It's actually more visible on the rear pipe. They won't seal like that. Yes something has changed. Although the booster pump is not connected directly to these lines, it may be shorter than the old booster pump and may be pulling all your pipes downward. Or if someone else did the job, they may have changed some pipe that your unaware of.

Suggest you figure out why your pipes are leaning downward, get them to enter the union straight and your leak will be gone.

 

[Dagobah]

I did it. Didn't touch anything else, although I'm wondering if it got bumped harder than I realized.

 

[gtemkin]

I did it. Didn't touch anything else, although I'm wondering if it got bumped harder than I realized.

Was the booster pump replacement identical to the old one or was it a shorter height? Did it require plumbing changes?

 

[Dagobah]

No changes. Same polaris booster pump. I cut the hoses the same size as the previous.

 

[gtemkin]

One more question. Did you loosen the coupling nuts shown in the photo? If you did, then because of the misalignment, they need to be retightened while the pipes on the right are held up so everything is tightened while being held straight.

If you didn't loosen them, then I'm guessing they were never properly tightened in the first place and all it took was bumping around to disturb them and cause the leak.

 

[Dagobah]

Yea, just double checked when I went out there. Nothing touching those pipes. I can pull up on them, and they move 1/2 inch up, but takes a lot of force.

What's the best solution?

 

[gtemkin]

Just loosen the nuts all the way, check that the orings (I think these will have rubber orings between the mating faces) are in their proper location (sitting in a groove, and it helps to lubricate the orings lightly with a plumbers valve grease), then tighten the nuts while holding the pipe up so they meet each other straight as they're being tightened. Lastly let the pipes hang back down. There will be a little stress in the piping system because things aren't plumbed straight, but should be OK. You shouldn't be able to move the coupling joint halves if you've tightened it enough.

 

[duraleigh]

What's the best solution?

cut your pvc loose and remake it so the half-unions into the heater line up squarely. That'll fix it.

Some pvc can be a bit crooked (but not by much) but a screw on fitting such as you have has to be aligned almost perfectly so the two opposing flat surfaces will compress the o-ring and complete the seal.

If you do not think you can remake the connections so they are square, hire a pro.