I had a Heliocol solar pool system installed 2013. In November of 2021 during a rare rain in the CA desert I had two leaks in my garage roof. My roofer traced leaks to installation points of the now 8 yo installation. After 4 months of calling installers, distributers, technicians, etc. I finally got a Heliocol West tech to come out, repair and move solar panels so the roofer could make repairs. Forward to now, the tech and company 'customer service' do not return calls, texts, or emails. I would love to find some service person who knows the Heliocol system and get this thing up and running again.Any help, advice, suggestions, would be appreciated.
Heliocol pool solar system
- Thread starter Somnus
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,433
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
@Dirk is in CA and may have suggestions. I think he maintains his Heliocol panels on his roof himself.
- Nov 12, 2017
- 11,933
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Hey Somnus! Welcome to TFP!! Can you describe what needs to be done? Did the panels not get reinstalled after the roof repairs were done?
I installed my own. I'm relatively handy, and while my roof has a decent pitch, I wasn't uncomfortable working up there. Half of the roof extends to a patio cover, so I figured I had a 50-50 chance of either rolling onto that or plummeting to the ground! The real danger was to the roof tiles, not to me. The trick is knowing how to walk on a tile roof without breaking any of the tiles!
Are you thinking of doing this work yourself? Or did you try calling solar installers (not necessarily Heliocol specialists). Heliocol has a very simple, straight forward installation system. If I can figure it out, so could any qualified solar installer. I would start there if you're not up for it yourself.
I installed my own. I'm relatively handy, and while my roof has a decent pitch, I wasn't uncomfortable working up there. Half of the roof extends to a patio cover, so I figured I had a 50-50 chance of either rolling onto that or plummeting to the ground! The real danger was to the roof tiles, not to me. The trick is knowing how to walk on a tile roof without breaking any of the tiles!
Are you thinking of doing this work yourself? Or did you try calling solar installers (not necessarily Heliocol specialists). Heliocol has a very simple, straight forward installation system. If I can figure it out, so could any qualified solar installer. I would start there if you're not up for it yourself.
Thanks for your input, Dirk. I had a tech from HeliocolWest stop by in March to repair a leak in the system, check if automation with the SunTouch was set up correctly with my new Pentair Intelliflo, and remove some panels so a roofer could repair one or two leaks in my flat roof. It's been a month since repairs were made and HeliocolWest is no longer returning calls nor is the tech. I was left with a stack of panels and a now non-functioning actuator. Last Saturday I heard water coming off my roof - and I live in the desert(!) Long story short - my wife called a local poolbuilder with a maintenance service who seemed to know all aspects of the solar system, the SunTouch, andPentair system. We took out the actuator, replaced the valve, re-oriented the handle, which apparently had been backwards for 8 years and shut down the solar so I could get the Pentair online. Lo and behold, Amazon and Solarpool.com carry Heliocol parts for DIY- doh! Parts will be here next week and I hope to never have to deal with HeliocolWest ever again... Now thinking about adding a heat pump this fall just to complicate the system further. I see that you have the EasyTouch 8, does that integrate your solar and other systems? I see some complaints that the Suntouch programming is easy to mess up.
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- Nov 12, 2017
- 11,933
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I've heard the Suntouch is difficult to program, but I've never had one or messed with one to know for sure.
My EasyTouch runs all my systems: solar heater, gas heater, filter pump, SWG, automated acid dispenser, cleaner and lights. I have its companion ScreenLogic adaptor which allows me to control everything from computers, phones and touch pads, and I also have a wall-mounted remote control inside that mirrors the ET's interface, so I can control everything from inside the house when a computer isn't handy. It'll control a spa, as well, including spillover effects, along with other water features, even garden lights, etc, whatever you want to plug into it.
Pentair has a newer controller called the IntelliCenter, that does all that, too.
Regarding my two heaters, the ET can monitor conditions and choose which heater is going to work best. For example, it'll heat my pool with solar until the sun stops shining on the roof, then switch over to gas heat automatically. I don't have a heat pump, so I can't say for sure how it handles solar and heat pump, but I expect it might be similar.
You can run a pool without automation, but now that I have it, I wouldn't want to!
Good luck with the Heliocol repair. Holler if I can be of help. And by "help," I mean, ya know, sit at my computer and yap from afar while you do all the work!
My EasyTouch runs all my systems: solar heater, gas heater, filter pump, SWG, automated acid dispenser, cleaner and lights. I have its companion ScreenLogic adaptor which allows me to control everything from computers, phones and touch pads, and I also have a wall-mounted remote control inside that mirrors the ET's interface, so I can control everything from inside the house when a computer isn't handy. It'll control a spa, as well, including spillover effects, along with other water features, even garden lights, etc, whatever you want to plug into it.
Pentair has a newer controller called the IntelliCenter, that does all that, too.
Regarding my two heaters, the ET can monitor conditions and choose which heater is going to work best. For example, it'll heat my pool with solar until the sun stops shining on the roof, then switch over to gas heat automatically. I don't have a heat pump, so I can't say for sure how it handles solar and heat pump, but I expect it might be similar.
You can run a pool without automation, but now that I have it, I wouldn't want to!
Good luck with the Heliocol repair. Holler if I can be of help. And by "help," I mean, ya know, sit at my computer and yap from afar while you do all the work!
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Dirk, maybe you can help me. We have a Heliocol system that was installed on our shingle roof. I took it down last month and we had a metal roof installed. Now I need to install it on the new metal roof, but I‘m having a hard time learning how that should be done… my wife started a thread about it, but it hasn’t gotten much attention. Here’s a link… I appreciate any help you can give me.
www.troublefreepool.com
Solar heater Heliocol on metal roof help
Hello, My husband asked me to post this for him... Need metal roof install advice for solar pool heater. We have a Heliocol solar pool heater and we love it. We had our shingle roof replaced with metal. We took down the old system, but the local contractor refuses to install it on metal so...
www.troublefreepool.com