Equipment Pad Sloped Too Much?

[rscam]

I bought a new heater and took the opportunity to pour a new concrete pad prior to installing. (Old pad was pieced together plastic bases)

Pad is approximately 6'x3' and I accidentally sloped it too much in the 3 foot direction (total drop of 1" in the 3ft). It's pretty flat in the long dimension.

I'm worried if the equipment (specifically the heater) will be ok installed with that much slope? I took a picture to give a visual sense of the install. I took the pic when the phone indicated it was level so the pic is pretty accurate to what it looks like in person.

Do you think it'll be ok? Should I try to shim the heater to level it out before making final connections?

Id appreciate any thoughts on this.

Thanks
Ron

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

Standard slope for flat work is 1/4” per foot, being 1/4” off shouldn’t be a problem.
On a side note all the exposed plumbing needs to be painted for UV protection.

 

[flynwill]

I agree 1" over 3' is not unreasonable and will provide good drainage. Shim the feet on your heater to get the heater itself level. You may want to shim the pump feet as well, but that's less likely to be noticed.

 

[1poolman1]

I bought a new heater and took the opportunity to pour a new concrete pad prior to installing. (Old pad was pieced together plastic bases)

Pad is approximately 6'x3' and I accidentally sloped it too much in the 3 foot direction (total drop of 1" in the 3ft). It's pretty flat in the long dimension.

I'm worried if the equipment (specifically the heater) will be ok installed with that much slope? I took a picture to give a visual sense of the install. I took the pic when the phone indicated it was level so the pic is pretty accurate to what it looks like in person.

Do you think it'll be ok? Should I try to shim the heater to level it out before making final connections?

Id appreciate any thoughts on this.

Thanks
Ron

Have seen many older pads that have had tree roots raise a side to a greater slope than that. Not pretty, but the water doesn't care, it will just go through the system. A 1" paver on the low side of the heater wouldn't hurt, though the heat and flame will still go straight up through the exchanger.

 

[rscam]

Thanks for the responses. I have a follow up. The heater has 2 rails that it sits on theoretically bearing the weight of the heater evenly along the entire length of both rails. If I shim up the ends of the rails, it will now only be supported by the ends of each rail. I'm thinking the bottom might end up sagging over time, potentially causing more problems than if I just let it stay firmly supported on both rails as designed? I do agree that the heater will probably be fine installed at an angle, just being picky at this point I guess cause it just doesn't look "right". I'll pay more attention to my slope next time . I included a pic for reference with the rails circled

 

[1poolman1]

Thanks for the responses. I have a follow up. The heater has 2 rails that it sits on theoretically bearing the weight of the heater evenly along the entire length of both rails. If I shim up the ends of the rails, it will now only be supported by the ends of each rail. I'm thinking the bottom might end up sagging over time, potentially causing more problems than if I just let it stay firmly supported on both rails as designed? I do agree that the heater will probably be fine installed at an angle, just being picky at this point I guess cause it just doesn't look "right". I'll pay more attention to my slope next time . I included a pic for reference with the rails circled

If you haven't already installed the plumbing, gas line especially, I would get 4 - $2.00 paving stones and place them under the rails anyway. I always do when installing a RayPak. Gets the bottom up higher so that you can clear any debris that will collect under the heater. There really isn't much chance of anything sagging as there is very little weight on the actual bottom of the heater. If the slant really bothers you, put two stacked on one side (4 total) and only two on the other.

As has been noted on this forum, RayPaks had a tendency to rust at the bottom. The rails were even shorter on early models, debris and water would collect under them, never be cleared out, and the bottom would rust from the outside, and that bottom is stainless steel. Of the many, many that I have installed over the years doing using pavers none have had a rust issue unless the heat exchanger was damaged from bad chemical balance and leaking internally.

 

[rscam]

If you haven't already installed the plumbing, gas line especially, I would get 4 - $2.00 paving stones and place them under the rails anyway. I always do when installing a RayPak. Gets the bottom up higher so that you can clear any debris that will collect under the heater. There really isn't much chance of anything sagging as there is very little weight on the actual bottom of the heater. If the slant really bothers you, put two stacked on one side (4 total) and only two on the other.

As has been noted on this forum, RayPaks had a tendency to rust at the bottom. The rails were even shorter on early models, debris and water would collect under them, never be cleared out, and the bottom would rust from the outside, and that bottom is stainless steel. Of the many, many that I have installed over the years doing using pavers none have had a rust issue unless the heat exchanger was damaged from bad chemical balance and leaking internally.

Poolman, do you use 1" pavers for this, or thicker?

 

[1poolman1]

Poolman, do you use 1" pavers for this, or thicker?

One inch usually works. Did put one on bricks once. The pad was at the bottom of a sloped yard and debris was constantly washing onto it. Needed more room to clear it from below the heater.