Orange material inside of return line pvc

[jdang307]

Not sure what is going on here. On the return line, after the heater, the pvc was getting pretty beat up. It sprung a leak, so I did a repair and noticed the pvc itself was warping/collapsing. I took photos but accidentally deleted it I guess. There was peeling layers of orange something. Like layers of it. Almost like an onion peeling but from the inside.

But going a little further down the return, I took apart some 3 way and check valves, and this is what I snapped photos of. It's so weird. At first I thought maybe it was excess glue, because if I peel that stuff in some parts, it's blue. But it's also white so that leads me to believe it's PVC? Then I look at the cap of the 3 way valve and the orange stuff is crystalline. Could it be the heater melting the pvc somehow?


Here it is on the spa return (maybe it's worse because of heat?)



Same spa return, but I peeled back some of the material, and eventually just ripped a piece out. The blue says it's glue but does it solidify into a PVC looking material?


And here is the cap of the 3 way valve, and all that orange stuff is like salt (might be salt).


Right before the 3 (or is it 2?) way valve is where I inject chlorine via a Stenner. I do have to say, The injection port gets clogged up with salt very quickly. Like a month or two and it's starting to get clogged with salt crystals.

 

[sktn77a]

Could be excess cement with iron deposits on it?

 

[jdang307]

It’s way too much to be excess cement. Like 2-3 feet of thick brittle material that I can see. I’m thinking its the heater running when it shouldn’t (variable speed .. . I fixed the bypass) and maybe the inside surface of the pvc is separating? I put a bunch of the stuff inside vinegar but it didn’t turn lighter.

 

[CT-Steven]

Is it a slimy, glue-like substance? If yes I would say it might be biofilm.

 

[jdang307]

Nope. Brittle like a super thin brittle candy .

 

[CT-Steven]

Have you tested the water for hardness?
Soluble ferrous iron in water, appropriately referred to as clear-water iron turns orange when exposed to air.
From what know this is more of a staining, then build up of deposits.

Maybe @mknauss will have an idea?

 

[mknauss]

It has every appearance of metals. But San Diego is not know for iron. The pool heater should not be allowing the water to get all that warm unless some safety devices have been bypassed.
Has the pH been properly controlled on this pool? Is there a trichlor feeder installed? Is trichlor used? Sodium bisulfate use?

 

[jdang307]

Bypass was broken. But I fixed it a couple of years ago. pH is good. Calcium buildup is actually slowly dissolving away after controlling pH for a year. Only liquid chlorine no tabs.
But I do have a pool guy who keeps on eye on chems. I think he does use dry acid and not MA. Could that be it?
I was thinking of going SWCG and ditching him. Maybe I should.

but it’s only after the heater. All intakes are clean as a whistle

 

[mknauss]

Dry acid leaves sulfates in your water. Those degrade/destroy metals (heaters). Also can create calcium sulfate if at high enough levels (with elevated CH). Heat accentuates its creation.

Let's ask @JoyfulNoise for his input.

 

[JamesW]

It's probably rust.

What heater do you have?

Do you have pictures of the whole system?

Does the heater have cast iron headers?

 

[jdang307]

Sorry. It's a very old heater. Laars Teledyne Series 1 or 2 (not at home right now).
I think the bypass is not working, and this is happening a lot when the variable speed pump kicks in while the heater is still on. It's getting quite hot. I think it can all be related.