Help with first pool heater start of the season

[stillios]

UPDATE: I think everything is working properly. The condensation/steam output has reduced considerably, and the water is getting warmer. I just wasn't prepared for the amount of steam produced when heating the cold water for the first time!

I opened the pool myself for the first time this year (with TFP help) on Saturday. Now I want to use the heater. It's a Hayward gas heater. It fired up and it sounded good. A little while later it looks like there is smoke pouring off the equipment, so I run outside to check it out, and it is just steam. But it is a LOT of steam, more steam than I have ever seen come from this thing. I don't recall ever seeing much steam, if any, before, even when heating on cold nights. And hot air is blowing hard out of the top vent. It seems like it is attempting to heat the outdoors, not the water. The water coming out of the returns was not warm. Is there some winterization I need to undo to get this to work properly?

It's also possible that the steam is normal and I'm just extra worried because we are doing it ourselves this year! I'm going to go back out and see if the pipe carrying water out of the heater warms up.

 

[ajw22]

How is your pool and heater running?

 

[1poolman1]

UPDATE: I think everything is working properly. The condensation/steam output has reduced considerably, and the water is getting warmer. I just wasn't prepared for the amount of steam produced when heating the cold water for the first time!

I opened the pool myself for the first time this year (with TFP help) on Saturday. Now I want to use the heater. It's a Hayward gas heater. It fired up and it sounded good. A little while later it looks like there is smoke pouring off the equipment, so I run outside to check it out, and it is just steam. But it is a LOT of steam, more steam than I have ever seen come from this thing. I don't recall ever seeing much steam, if any, before, even when heating on cold nights. And hot air is blowing hard out of the top vent. It seems like it is attempting to heat the outdoors, not the water. The water coming out of the returns was not warm. Is there some winterization I need to undo to get this to work properly?

It's also possible that the steam is normal and I'm just extra worried because we are doing it ourselves this year! I'm going to go back out and see if the pipe carrying water out of the heater warms up.

You won't feel very warm water coming from the returns, usually only about 6-10 degrees warmer than the surrounding pool water, which is hard to feel.
The maximum coming in is usually about 15 degrees and that is in a spa that is approaching the higher temperatures for a spa.
Be sure to open the cabinet and see if there is water below the burners (or seeping out if the combustion chamber is sealed). Listen for the "sizzle" of cold water hitting a hot surface.. If you see or hear that, there is a leak in the heat exchanger. Hopefully not.

 

[fsworld]

You won't feel very warm water coming from the returns, usually only about 6-10 degrees warmer than the surrounding pool water, which is hard to feel.
The maximum coming in is usually about 15 degrees and that is in a spa that is approaching the higher temperatures for a spa.
Be sure to open the cabinet and see if there is water below the burners (or seeping out if the combustion chamber is sealed). Listen for the "sizzle" of cold water hitting a hot surface.. If you see or hear that, there is a leak in the heat exchanger. Hopefully not.

Just curious as to where you are coming up with this info? We have a Jandy gas heater and the water is noticeably warmer coming out. Even when the water temp is in the low 50’s the water coming out is almost too hot to be comfortable.

 

[1poolman1]

Just curious as to where you are coming up with this info? We have a Jandy gas heater and the water is noticeably warmer coming out. Even when the water temp is in the low 50’s the water coming out is almost too hot to be comfortable.

The water returning from heater into the pool should never be so hot as to be uncomfortable until the water in the vessel (pool or spa) is up around 100+ degrees. At that point, a 15 degree rise would be 115+ and that is hot in a pool/spa. The numbers given are averages of many heaters.
Not all the water going into a heater goes through the heat exchanger, there is a bypass that allows the very hot water from the exchanger to be tempered with the rest so as to not be uncomfortable or injure someone.
That's also the purpose of the two high-limit switches, to turn the heater off in the case of too hot water exiting the manifold. One trips at 135 (hot) and the other at 150 (very hot). If your water is approaching those temperatures (uncomfortable) you may need to clean a filter, clear a clog, increase the speed of a VSP.

 

[fsworld]

Thanks. It’s always been like that since it was new but I will look into it. Do you think it’s possible the pool company didn’t remove or set up something correctly during the install.

I will try to get some temp measurements but there’s no question that it’s well over a 15 degree increase.

 

[1poolman1]

Thanks. It’s always been like that since it was new but I will look into it. Do you think it’s possible the pool company didn’t remove or set up something correctly during the install.

I will try to get some temp measurements but there’s no question that it’s well over a 15 degree increase.

You may have the exception to the rule, it does happen. Or a high-limit switch that is bad, very hard to tell from 3000 miles. Heaters come set up for use out of the box, no need to make adjustments except in very rare cases.
The installer would not need to touch any of those safety items. A heater install is basically plumb in the gas line, plumb in the water lines, wire to a power source (and install to automation if there).