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Author Topic: In ground pool heated with Central Boiler 5036... Hot water doesn't keep flowing  (Read 22674 times)

Timkerry

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The pool heat exchanger is located under the wood burner....... The pool heat exchanger is connected to the wood burner through cooper piping.   The PVC is hooked up to the pool heat exchanger and the pool system. This is all we have...... We do not have an aqua stat or any of the other things you show in your pic.

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Scott7m

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Hey thanks for the pics...  Yea there is more to making this work than what you have, having it set up like that will always be problems, and there is no way to really control it, where as the system I showed works via thermostat to give you the temp you want. 

There are many plumbers and electricians out there that do excellent work, but hydronic heating is a lot different than plumbing in general
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Timkerry

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True regarding contractors..... We have what we have, and need to make it work to our advantage.  Cost well over $500 and no heated pool.   We are thinking to control the water flow through the pool heat plate exchanger With the T valve we have.  Possibly lower the owb temp to 120 vs our normal winter 175.   Your set up looks ideal! Wished we would have seen that 7 years ago when we installed it :/ the dealer who sold us everything is no longer a dealer.  He took on other ventures........   
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Scott7m

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You can't operate an owb at temps that low, it would rust out within one summer.

When heating pools water temps should be no less than 180 and often times folks run 190-195

Moisture escaping the wood during the burning process would be clinging to those cold boiler walls and pooling in the ashes.   Cb has standards now that there return water temps can come back no less than 150, to avoid damaging the stove due to cold water temps, that doesn't mean you can set your stove at 150 and be fine, it means that after going through the heat exchangers it's still over 150 when it reaches the stove
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RSI

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You should have a bypass to allow some of the boiler water to go past the plate. It might work to just restrict the valve on the return side but the water will be cold returning to the boiler.

You should adjust it till the boiler runs almost constant without idling much but the temperature never drops much.

Keep it set high like Scott said. It will take a long time to heat the pool. You shouldn't expect it to be able to raise the temperature much over 1 degree per hour and it might not even be able to do that.
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yoderheating

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 I completely agree with RSI, pool heating is a slow process. Get everything set right and throw the wood to it for a few days.
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willieG

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your pool holds 17,000 gallons of water  (about 140,000 pounds)  so you need 140,000 btu to raise your pool 1 degree (not counting the normal heat loss of your pool) from what i can find on the net your model of stove is rated (depending on a few things) for 250,000 (so likley you are near its maximum output)

by your photos it looks as though you may have 3/4 or 1 inch lines from your OWB to the plate exchanger,,,3/4 lines would maybe move  9 gpm  and if they are 1 inch perhaps 14 gallons (really pushing it)  and your pool lines look like they may be 1 1/4 (if so they could be pushing 21 gpm)

most pools are designed with a pump that will change the pool water 1 time in a 24 hour period that would be about 12 gpm (then again some pool salesmen like to sell you a bigger pump to help keep the pool cleaner and gives more suction to the vacume)

lets say you are pumping pool water at 12 gpm and OWB at 9 gpm...you will cool the water so fast you wont see an increase in the pool water temp (although it is there) and you are likely cooling the return water to a dangerous level

i would suggest you slow the pool water  gpm to something low enough that the delta  of your furnace water (in and out temps) is no more than 20 degrees. this will allow  you to see some difference in the water temps of the in and out of the pool water. it will take longer to heat your pool but it will be better for your stove. also you may consider an aquastat to control the pool temp.

another thing to consider is a pool cover, i have read on the net they can save you up to 25 percent of a heating bill (wood in your case)
« Last Edit: March 18, 2013, 08:45:21 PM by willieG »
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RSI

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Lowering the pool water flow rate is not a good idea if you go too low. It could get over the maximum rating of the PVC pipe. As long as you are only giving the heat exchanger enough boiler flow to lose the required heat, the water in the PVC will stay cooler.

Also, if there is no thermostatic valve on the boiler, I would put the pump on the boiler on a thermostat so it shuts of when the temperature drops below 150 degrees. The only time you would want to let the pool pull the boiler down lower than this is if you are shutting down the boiler for a while.
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willieG

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pvc is rated for 120 degrees (and that may be under pressure as well?)  you may be right
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muffin

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Odd they used a plat exchanger as they are flow restrictive.  I think a tube in shell is the preferred method.  What type of pool do you have, chlorine or salt?  If it is salt, you are going to have problems down the road.  The PVC can also be a problem.  My system malfunctioned and flowed boiler water when the pool was off.  The PCV fittings started leaking pretty bad.  I am surprised they ran the pool to the boiler.  That seems strange as the pool is the high speed water and should stay short loop.  The boiler water can go as far as you want with little care.  You do need some sort of control as everyone is saying.  Otherwise the boiler will not be able to keep up or you will boil the water in the pool.  A simple aquastat controlling the pump (boiler side) will do the trick.  It you want something a little cooler, check out digital thermometers on ebay.  They run about $20 and are very good.  I use two, one to activate the pool heater system and one to override it if the boiler temp is too low and disable the whole pool heating system.  They also run off the pool pump, so it cannot heat if the pump isn't running.
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fireboss

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It took a lot less then 500$ to heat my pool I have a 10 plate ex and a thermostatic valve ,07 taco pump and 20 feet of 1" un insulated pex I keep my pool between 85 and 90 all summer until oct
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Sussex county new jersey                                                                   cb 6048 instald may 2010, heating 3000 sq and 15,000 gal pool,sure track dump trailer,35ton splitter,029,ms200,homlite xl

Scott7m

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It took a lot less then 500$ to heat my pool I have a 10 plate ex and a thermostatic valve ,07 taco pump and 20 feet of 1" un insulated pex I keep my pool between 85 and 90 all summer until oct

How does your pool pump work properly going through something as restrictive as a 10 plate???
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Timkerry

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Actually it was like $598 for the add ons for the pool to be heated.  Not to mention the 10k for the owb!
But who is counting all the $$$$?  I just want a warm pool.... Seems like soo many different answers :/ which is best?? And the pool is chlorine not salt water.
Whatever is the least complicated to get this going in the right direction is best. Hubs works 75+ hrs a week and I need to get it done or hire it done.  Thanks!
Ps if someone can spell it out cut and dry what I need done to tell a CONTRACTOR not a thermo contractor but a JOE CONTRACTOR what to do would be amazing!!!! Put it in simple terms so the contractor don't screw it up (again) ???
Thank you so much!!!
The Mrs.
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yoderheating

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Scott, I've heated a number of smaller pools using something as small as a 3/4 10 plate I just don't run it through the pvc pool line. The way I do it is to drop a little submersible pump ($60) on a 1 inch line into the pool that simply loops through the 10 plate. The 10 plate doesn't pull enough to worry too much about return temps. On a pool of 10,000 gals or less you can heat it for fairly cheep, the only thing is you have a small pump in the pool and 2 lines running over the edge into it. Most people just jerk it out when they are using the pool and drop it back in when they are done. Works like a charm. I think I charged about $400 on the last job for parts and labor.
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Scott7m

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Scott, I've heated a number of smaller pools using something as small as a 3/4 10 plate I just don't run it through the pvc pool line. The way I do it is to drop a little submersible pump ($60) on a 1 inch line into the pool that simply loops through the 10 plate. The 10 plate doesn't pull enough to worry too much about return temps. On a pool of 10,000 gals or less you can heat it for fairly cheep, the only thing is you have a small pump in the pool and 2 lines running over the edge into it. Most people just jerk it out when they are using the pool and drop it back in when they are done. Works like a charm. I think I charged about $400 on the last job for parts and labor.

Yea there are many ways, your way def has some benefits for sure
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