Leaking from Heater (revised)

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P

pbc

Well-known member
Jun 26, 2018
185
Toronto, Canada
Pool Size
15000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite (T-9)
So am about to leave for Europe the day after tomorrow for 2 weeks and went into my equipment room and noticed water in the floor.

Looks like the back of the main variable speed pump is leaking. Can anyone think of a possible cause that I can look for?

Also, if I leave for 17 days should I just turn off the equipment if I can’t get it fixed?

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Last edited:
pbc said:
Thanks will have a look. Also just noticed an IF error on my Hayward gas heater so need to look that up.
Click to expand...
A leaking seal should be addressed as soon as possible so the motor bearings aren't damaged. Many motor shops are reluctant to replace bearings in a variable-speed motor for some reason. Its not that hard.
 
Don’t notice any wetness, do you mean at the back of the pump?

Here is a video. Also, the gas heater just seems to try to turn on…then shuts itself off…then tries to turn on. I don’t see the IF error anymore after I turned off all power and turned back on.

But the gas smell is brutal so shutting it down.




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Okay, trouble shooting on the fly and not sure if it’s the pump or heater. The heater is definitely not working properly as the flame light turns green for a few seconds then goes dark and the heater tries to turn itself on again.

Maybe a leak in the heater? Is that possible?
 
If you can't see/feel water coming from the bottom of the pump, heater is next in line in the picture. There is a lot of water under it. Not sure if you can see into the combustion chamber on that heater, but you should be able to see down the sides with the door off. Any water? Is it dripping from the inlet/outlet manifold? Does it actually light or are you just seeing the indicator that it is firing? It sounds like a heater firing, but there is a lot of pump noise echoing in the video. Do you hear the gas valve "click" just before the green light goes out?
 
Heater seems to fire then goes out shortly thereafter. Maybe this video captures it better. Whatever is happening is a super slow leak so I don’t see any water coming out. Happens over several minutes.

After shutting off the heater and powering it up again I had the light next to the exclamation mark on the heater go on.

 

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So I think the door has to be shut for the heater to work properly? Can definitely hear the “whoosh” sound when the gas is ignited…then a few seconds later shuts down. Then 30-45 seconds later it tries again, same wooosh, green flame light goes on…then seconds later shuts down.

But literally can’t tell where the water is coming from. Starts to pool under the variable pump but I wonder if that’s just because the concrete is poured imperfectly there.

…and yea hear a click go off before the green light goes out. But can’t see if it is actually firing visibly.
 
pbc said:
So I think the door has to be shut for the heater to work properly? Can definitely hear the “whoosh” sound when the gas is ignited…then a few seconds later shuts down. Then 30-45 seconds later it tries again, same wooosh, green flame light goes on…then seconds later shuts down.

But literally can’t tell where the water is coming from. Starts to pool under the variable pump but I wonder if that’s just because the concrete is poured imperfectly there.

…and yea hear a click go off before the green light goes out. But can’t see if it is actually firing visibly.
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You're hearing it light. Since that is a direct-spark ignition heater, it may not be sensing flame. Dirty flame sense rod (it will have a white wire going to it). Remove it (should be on the left side of the combustion chamber), it is held usually with one screw. Clean it with a newer dollar (5,10,20,50) bill. Yes, it works like a very light abrasive and will remove a light coat of debris without damaging the coating. Replace. Give it a try.
 
1poolman1 said:
You're hearing it light. Since that is a direct-spark ignition heater, it may not be sensing flame. Dirty flame sense rod (it will have a white wire going to it). Remove it (should be on the left side of the combustion chamber), it is held usually with one screw. Clean it with a newer dollar (5,10,20,50) bill. Yes, it works like a very light abrasive and will remove a light coat of debris without damaging the coating. Replace. Give it a try.
Click to expand...
Thx will give that a go. Though that wouldn’t be the water leak issue!
 
pbc said:
Thx will give that a go. Though that wouldn’t be the water leak issue!
Click to expand...
Apparently, you have two issues, though the heater may, indeed, be leaking internally and causing the problem with ignition. Anywhere water circulates can be the source of the leak. Because the water seems to be in the area of the pump and heater, those are the most likely suspect areas unless you can follow waterflow from somewhere else.
 
If I just leave everything off for 17 days…any issues I should think about?

I could possibly just run the pump say twice a day for 30-45 min each time as well as the leak is fairly minimal over short periods. Just not sure if letting the water sit without any circulation for that long will cause issues with it.
 
Okay. So it’s not the pump, it’s the heater. Took about 15 minutes before water started forming on the bottom but I put a couple towels in between the heater and pump to isolate.

Supposedly I can just open the backside of the heater and see what’s going on if anything in there.

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Okay, removed the back plate, top plate and side plates but I guess rightfully so these heaters have internal boxes as well.

No idea how to see in where the water circulates through the heater but something inside it must be leaking (presumably a seal)?
 
So found this thread from many years ago. Wonder if I have the same faulty heat exchanger issue on my 5th season.

Hayward H250 Heater Leaking

My three year old Hayward Heater is slowly leaking from the bottom, on the side opposite the controls. If you look underneath it seems to come from right around where one of the legs meets the corner. It isn't gushing water or anything, but a steady drip making the concrete bad wet. Any...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Think it is fine to run the pump for say 30 min twice a day to circulate water in the pool for the next 17 days while I’m gone?

Or turn everything off and deal with whatever happens when I get back.
 

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