Maybe heater settled? Major leaking from pipe connections

[BlueWRXPride]

I went to open up the pool today, and I'm having some major leaking from the pipes in/out of the heater. I'm guessing something settled and now the connections aren't lining up just right. There's really not much wiggle room on either side. For the pipes to the pool there's very little pipe above ground. For the pipes into the heater they're pushed up against the openings cut in the side of the heater. The junction has o-rings, but they don't protrude much so there's not much compression available to fill the gap. What would the easiest fix for this be?

 

[Bperry]

I went to open up the pool today, and I'm having some major leaking from the pipes in/out of the heater. I'm guessing something settled and now the connections aren't lining up just right. There's really not much wiggle room on either side. For the pipes to the pool there's very little pipe above ground. For the pipes into the heater they're pushed up against the openings cut in the side of the heater. The junction has o-rings, but they don't protrude much so there's not much compression available to fill the gap. What would the easiest fix for this be?

You can try pool lube but with that much water it sounds like they aren’t tight enough or the o-ring got dislodged.

 

[BlueWRXPride]

The o-ring is there, you can see it in the 2nd picture, it just doesn't have enough girth to fill the gap...

 

[Bperry]

The o-ring is there, you can see it in the 2nd picture, it just doesn't have enough girth to fill the gap...

If theres a gap you need to tighten the nut or shift some equipment around. No gaps allowed

 

[BlueWRXPride]

I don't think it's a simple matter of shifting the equipment, it looks like there's a slight angle so I'd need to raise the front of the heater just a hair. I feel like the right solution would be some plumbing adjustments so that there's a little more give somewhere in the piping so it doesn't need such exact alignment.

 

[Bperry]

I don't think it's a simple matter of shifting the equipment, it looks like there's a slight angle so I'd need to raise the front of the heater just a hair. I feel like the right solution would be some plumbing adjustments so that there's a little more give somewhere in the piping so it doesn't need such exact alignment.

They were connected and working in the past? Stuff may just have shifted over winter.

 

[BlueWRXPride]

Yeah I had a hard time last year when I opened the pool too, but was able to make it work. No such luck this year. I ended up getting a replacement o-ring for the top connection which was the same diameter but a larger gauge. I also repositioned it slightly so the lower pipe lined up better. That got it down to a slow drip which is good enough for now. I bought some flexible pool pipe which I'll soon use to provide just a little bit of give to make it easier.

 

[Newdude]

The pic you posted seems like a lefty/righty problem and not a uppy/downy one.



The heater will rotate a little if you need it too, or use composite shims to raise it a little.

 

[BlueWRXPride]

The top one was lefty/righty, the bottom one was uppy/downy. That's why I was having a hard time getting them both to be happy at the same time. Seems like shims would be a quick fix, would having plumbing with some wiggle room be a more robust fix?

 

[Newdude]

would having plumbing with some wiggle room be a more robust fix?

The thing about rigid PVC is........

I mean. With a longer section it bends a little, but it's putting stress at the other end to save this end.

 

[wireform]

With a helper it's not a big deal to line and snug up. Push wherever it helps to get the two side parallel to each other one at a time and call it done. There's usually enough "give" somewhere to make it happen.

 

[BlueWRXPride]

The thing about rigid PVC is........

I mean. With a longer section it bends a little, but it's putting stress at the other end to save this end.

I meant I'd get the wiggle room by using some flex PVC.