Few days of below freezing temp. What to do?

[HeyEng]

Question about my heater. At this point what’s done is done and won’t know until everything melts and thaws.

while I removed my plugs a hair late. The water started freezing so fast in the pump and heater not much drained out.
But I also read somewhere to turn off gas to the heater. I turned of the main supply but didn’t know there was an on/off/pilot inside the heater.

what’s the steps/precautions for making sure the heater doesn’t blow up when I go back to start seeing if it still works? Will I need to relight the pilot? Call a professional?

im fairly handy with my pool but a heater and natural gas aren’t my forte

The manual is probably available on line and will give you the steps required for restarting it. *IF* you have any doubt as to what you are doing, call a plumber. It will cost a little $, but better than blowing yourself up!

 

[ajw22]

what’s the steps/precautions for making sure the heater doesn’t blow up when I go back to start seeing if it still works? Will I need to relight the pilot? Call a professional?

Your profile does not say what model heater you have.

Unless you have a real pool old heater all modern pool heaters don't use a pilot and have automatic ignition and flame sensing with an automatic gas valve that closes if the heater does not sense the flame within a few seconds of ignition.

You should be able to turn on the gas and turn on the heater. If the heater does not ignite the first time give it a few tries. It can take a few starts to purge air that got in the gas line.

 

[Bketchum5]

Your profile does not say what model heater you have.

Unless you have a real pool old heater all modern pool heaters don't use a pilot and have automatic ignition and flame sensing with an automatic gas valve that closes if the heater does not sense the flame within a few seconds of ignition.

You should be able to turn on the gas and turn on the heater. If the heater does not ignite the first time give it a few tries. It can take a few starts to purge air that got in the gas line.

Yeah. Sorry. It’s a pentair. I know that. Not sure of the model. 250K BTU I believe.

 

[Julie8000]

In Houston area. when our power went out on Monday we decided to shut off the breakers, to drain the pumps, and filter etc and the noodle treatment, cover the pipes. didnt do the heater as didn’t see the way to do it We haven’t used in years. Power came back 13 hours later but we figured no way to know if more outages etc so will wait to get going again. Now we know no rush until weather warms up as any damage has been done.
Here is my question as not too versed as to reverse the process to start things back up

is there a sequence of steps to follow with the different pieces of equipment In order

thanks for all help. After back up will then work on getting my chemistry back in order. Your steps on that in the summer have made the chemistry fun and so easy to keep everything in balance.

 

[Hachu]

So is the plan once u decide to drain equipment, throw the breaker, leave drain plugs out, and wrap up equipment with towels and leave it? Or are some people putting plugs back in and re-starting everything when you get power?

Sorry, I misunderstood what you said..I didn't get much sleep that morning.

I will have a pool professional come out once temperature goes up. I'm leaving drain plugs off until then.

 

[MCF50]

Our power went out at 1:30am....I was at equipment pad at 3am and drained pumps, filter, and heater. Left drain caps off. Opened pump out valves. Took less than 5 minutes. Threw the breaker and turned off gas to heater. Put a thick water resistant blanket over the pumps. Power just came back on at 6pm. No hurry to start up pool. I will wait until at least Friday afternoon to start things up again and check chemistry and adjust as necessary.

 

[Newdude]

is there a sequence of steps to follow with the different pieces of equipment In order

Not really so long as everything gets plugged/sealed. Left to right would be my choice because why not? Fill the pump basket with water before closing it. Lube all the o-rings while you are at it.

 

[Hachu]

This statement goes for all who reads this,

If you do take photos of items like removing drain plugs, placing noodles into your skimmer, or whatever you’ve had to do during this “trial by fire” please…..send them to me. There’s no doubt in my mind we’ll be able to use them in the near future.

I placed a milk jug in the skimmer here. It has helped.

 

[gocubs418]

Well, my equipment managed to survive almost better than myself. My utility company throttled me 36 mins on, 36 off. Maximum time off was 1hr 40mins.

House was ice cold, but silver lining was seeing the fountain, bubbler, and waterfall still running with water.

Time will tell if anything really did screw up.

 

[mknauss]

im fairly handy with my pool but a heater and natural gas aren’t my forte

What heater do you have? Please add that to your signature.
If you are uncomfortable working on it, just leave the gas off and call a professional to reset it up.

 

[gocubs418]

Water level got very low today, had to run a tube out of the house sink to fill it up a little bit until the melt this weekend.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Hey Cubs - Is your pump off, and how low is "very low"?

Why I'm asking: If your equipment pad is below the level of the pool, and your pump is turned off, water could be draining to your equipment and out onto your grass. If that is the case, I would just let it be, assuming it still has 50-75% of the water volume to keep enough weight to prevent it from popping out of the ground.

 

[gocubs418]

Hey Cubs - Is your pump off, and how low is "very low"?

Why I'm asking: If your equipment pad is below the level of the pool, and your pump is turned off, water could be draining to your equipment and out onto your grass. If that is the case, I would just let it be, assuming it still has 50-75% of the water volume to keep enough weight to prevent it from popping out of the ground.

The pad is not below the level of the pool.

The water level was approaching below the skimmers, started hearing gurgling. I was able to add about 1-1.5" of water above the skimmer today though. That should hold me until the warm up.

 

[JJ_Tex]

The pad is not below the level of the pool.

The water level was approaching below the skimmers, started hearing gurgling. I was able to add about 1-1.5" of water above the skimmer today though. That should hold me until the warm up.

Got it. Yes, as long as your pump is running keep full at normal levels.

 

[Hachu]

Oh my ok I guess at 2am Monday at below freezing weather, power was off , while panicking to shut everything off and drained....I didn't drain my Polaris booster pump I just saw one pipe that burst. Is my Polaris booster pump ruined now? What about underground pipes?

 

[gocubs418]

Wow. It needed more water tonight. I can't believe how fast the water evaporated. Hopefully I don't have a bust in the water line somewhere.

Granted I only had it an inch or 2 above the skimmer line to hold me off.

Good news is the faucet is thawed and I can pump water fast

 

[gocubs418]

Cracked pipe!

My pool guy told me to shut her down. Hopefully she can withstand the cold for a few hours. Low is 24.

Do I need to pull the plugs?

 

[ajw22]

Yes, pull all drain plugs in pumps, filter, and heater as long as your equipment is above water level. It may save something.

 

[gocubs418]

Yes, pull all drain plugs in pumps, filter, and heater as long as your equipment is above water level. It may save something.

What about booster pump, swg?

 

[ajw22]

What about booster pump, swg?

Part 7 is drain plug for PB4 pump.

Depends the way your SWG is mounted. Usually it will not hold water. You can loosen the unions.