Bugman1400 Posted May 27, 2012 Report Share Posted May 27, 2012 I usually pride myself on being a heater guy but, I had an ut-oh yesterday. I had the heater running fine and in the process of heating the pool when I found out that my HVAC unit to my house quit blowing air. Turns out the squirrel fan fell off the motor shaft but, in the process of shutting off the power to my HVAC unit to fix the fan, I shut off the power to the pool pump instead. It took me about 10-15 seconds to realize my mistake and I quickly turned it back on again. I then noticed that the exhaust grill on the LAARS LT was heavily warped and there was water leaking out of the bottom. I assume that I've cracked or done something to the heat exchanger tubes. The burner assembly seems to still work fine. Any suggestions as to the extent of the damage and cost? Mucho thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoolGuyNJ Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Well, burners don't leak water, heat exchangers and headers do. The lack of a cool down may have warped something. How old is the heater? Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugman1400 Posted May 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 I believe the heater is from the 2006 to 2008 time frame (I bought it used). Could I have a tube split or do you think that maybe the seal to the header is now distorted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 WOW 15 seconds? LT's don't give you any time! I doubt if you cracked the headers, or even a tube. More likely the leak is coming from where the flange bolts to the header You won't know for sure till you take it apart. But that's my guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugman1400 Posted June 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2012 I went to repair the leak today and discovered that the heater healed itself. I'm not sure I understand but, with the pool pump ON and the heater OFF there are no leaks anymore. Perhaps, it will start leaking when the heater is ON but, for now, I'll leave it alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted June 3, 2012 Report Share Posted June 3, 2012 Yep, monitor that thing the next time you heat the spa (100+). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugman1400 Posted June 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 The saga continues........... I fired up the heater the other day the first time since I thought it "healed itself". The heater started up and I heard the gas valve click and then heard the whoosh of the typical flame. A few seconds later, the heater started to pop and dance around and sounded really scary. I turned the heater off and then tried it again after a few minutes........same thing. Since I knew there was something drastically wrong, I decided to take apart the heat exchanger. What I saw was....... the By-pass assembly between the HOT and COLD sides was shreaded. The spring and cup was in pieces. This explains why I was getting curved pieces of metal in my pool that I couldn't figure out where they were coming from. So, my best guess is that the water that was coming in from the filter in the COLD side was going right back out the HOT side without passing through the heat exchanger. So, the tubes were very hot from the flame and would get a splash of water every so often and flash to steam causing a severe hammer effect and the subsequent popping and dancing I observed. I am not sure if any of the tubes are ruptured. Some of them are bent but, they seem to be built fairly stout. In order to test the integrity of the tubes, I decided to remove the heat exchanger and stand it up on its end. I kept one header attached. I then filled up the tubes to the top with water and will wait to see if any of the water leaks out. If it doesn't, I plan to reuse the tubes. Also, I noticed a broken piece on the header/manifold that holds the By-pass assembly. Hopefully, I won't have to buy a whole new heater. Any place that sells this part the cheapest? Or anybody have a spare R0326900 ZZOD5658 Front Header, w/ Hardware / Gaskets that will fit the LAARS LT400? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Post a picture of the broken header. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugman1400 Posted June 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 I don't need the whole header but, there is a piece missing off the part that holds the By-pass valve. What do you think? And the tubes...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 Post a picture of the broken header. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugman1400 Posted June 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 I think when I posted initially, I thought the bottom of the Bypass valve was part of the header. However, I see from some of the part stores that the replacement comes with the part that screws into the black header. So, I think the header itself is okay. Although, I plan to replace both gaskets. Your thoughts on the bent tubes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 I still think 15 seconds is not long enough to do that. Perhaps this(the bent tubes) has been a work in progress? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoolGuyNJ Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 The bent tubes, IMHO, indicate the pressure switch may have been stuck. That kind of a bend tells me not enough water went through the exchanger when the heater was firing and warped the tubes. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugman1400 Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 The bent tubes, IMHO, indicate the pressure switch may have been stuck. That kind of a bend tells me not enough water went through the exchanger when the heater was firing and warped the tubes. Scott That is what I thought. Is it okay to use warped tubes? I tried to test the tubes by standing them on one end with one header on the bottom and filling up the tubes with water and waiting a while to see if the water leaked out. The water did leak out of half the tubes on the right. However, I think the gasket between the tubes and the bottom header is leaking. I have ordered two new gaskets and will try the test again. I supposed if I have a small leak, I can just use some silver solder and fill a pin hole or two. Your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoolGuyNJ Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 I would expect the solder to go liquid when heated. Tubes are brazed. I also expect that the warped tubes were what caused the leak. I doubt a new gasket will stop that. Relatively cheat fix if it works though. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugman1400 Posted June 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Silver solder (5-10%) has a really high melting point. A simple butane (blue tank) torch will not melt it but, MAPP gas (yellow tank) will. Since the burner flame is not directly on the tubes I wouldn't expect the silver to melt. However, I may have bigger problems. Upon closer inspection of the headers, they appear to have suffered some heat damage. I'm open to suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Clown Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Since this is your own and not a customer, right? If its yours, turn it into an experiment(while you are saving up for a new one). I would start with high temp gasket sealer. It may or may not be stout enough to fill in the deficits. Run, and if it leaks note where the leaks are, mark the area, then when its apart, you know where to add more sealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugman1400 Posted June 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 That actually sounds like a good idea. My idea was to double up on some of the OEM gaskets. I guess I can also use a straight edge and figure out how much void space I'll have to fill. I'll let you know how it turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugman1400 Posted July 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Well, the high temp gasket sealer seemed to do the trick. After getting the 'run around' for a header gasket from the PoolCenter.com, I had to buy the gasket from Parts4heating. I put everything back together and ran the heater for a while with no leaks..........AND, the heater cranked up the first try! This is a story with a happy ending...........thanks PClown! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoolGuyNJ Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 WTG Bugman! PC, great idea! Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.