Intellicenter freeze protection heater bypass valve

[cactus_LV]

Now that it's getting colder I thought it would be a good idea to setup the intellicenter freeze protection circuits. So far it seemed very straight forward with the exception of my heater bypass valve. What do I need to do for the heater valve to open when freeze protection is active so that the water doesn't just sit in the heater?
There is no circuit for the the heater which means I can't enable freeze protection for it.

Many thanks for all your help!

 

[ajw22]

If you set the valve as described in the Pentair instructions the valve will be partially open and some water will always circulate through the heater.

AUTOMATIC BY-PASS VALVE KIT (P/N 462048) FOR MASTERTEMP® AND MAX-E-THERM® POOL AND SPA HEATERS

 

[cactus_LV]

@ajw22 Thank you so much for the attachment. I had not set it up that way My plumbing is a bit different than in their manual I hope the following setup also makes sense?

 

[ajw22]

No it does not make sense.

Show me pics of the actual valve in the open and closed position.

Pentair had reasons they said what they did about the valve positions in the manual.

 

[cactus_LV]

A bit hard to show there is not a lot of space behind the heater.

 

[ajw22]

It looks to me like water is flowing through the bypass loop and heater when “open”.

When “closed” all water is flowing into the heater in.

That correct?

 

[cactus_LV]

Yes correct. (That wasn't the case until today when I changed it)
I am still trying to understand how Pentair set it up in their manual (which doesn't work for me since my plumbing is different).

 

[ajw22]

With your setup water is flowing through the heater in either setting. So freeze protection of the heater is not an issue if your pump is running.

 

[cactus_LV]

Yes now that I changed it but now I am not sure if that's what Pentair had in mind for the bypass loop.

 

[ajw22]

Why don’t you position the valve at the green line when “open” so water does not run through the heater when it is bypassed?

If you do that then leave that position open a bit to the heater so 70% of the water goes through the bypass loop and 30% goes through the heater. That gives you the efficiency benefit of the bypass with some water flow through the heater.

 

[ajw22]

Yes now that I changed it but now I am not sure if that's what Pentair had in mind for the bypass loop.

It is not.

And your setup does not protect your heater if your water chemistry is off or if your heater begins leaking and you need to take it out of the water flow.

 

[cactus_LV]

Originally I had it at the green line and closed the heater completely. As soon as I open it a bit for the heater to get some water flow I also close the bypass loop a bit and I wasn't sure what the optimum setting there is.
Don't I get the efficiency benefits if both heater and bypass are open? the bypass loop should have much less resistance and therefore most water should take the bypass anyway - am I missing something?

 

[cactus_LV]

And your setup does not protect your heater if your water chemistry is off or if your heater begins leaking and you need to take it out of the water flow.

as soon as I want to protect the heater from my water chemistry I need to close the loop completely which then doesn't provide freeze protection. Sorry I am a bit confused.

 

[ajw22]

Originally I had it at the green line and closed the heater completely. As soon as I open it a bit for the heater to get some water flow I also close the bypass loop a bit and I wasn't sure what the optimum setting there is.
Don't I get the efficiency benefits if both heater and bypass are open? the bypass loop should have much less resistance and therefore most water should take the bypass anyway - am I missing something?

You should be able to see the differences in efficiency between the valve settings with your pump at a constant RPM and see how the GPM changes.

 

[cactus_LV]

That is a very good point. I will run some tests to find the optimum and report back.

 

[ajw22]

as soon as I want to protect the heater from my water chemistry I need to close the loop completely which then doesn't provide freeze protection. Sorry I am a bit confused.

Yup, so change the valve setting for the winter.

But with your setup that alone will not protect your heater since the bad water can backflow into the heater output line into your heater since you do not have a check valve there.