Hayward Heater - repairing the heat exchanger

[Jake_2012]

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, that's why I said "attempted", It sure doesn't look easy with all the fins and stuff. I'm a pretty good DIY'er with knowledge of plumbing, electrical, framing and trim work (I worked for a contractor for years)... Anyway, I rerouted the filter systems pvc piping to bypass the heater. I'll probably take the heat exchanger out of the unit this weekend and inspect it.

The pool is 10 years old and it's the original heater, so I may just get a new heater maybe with a non-corrosive heat exchanger if they make one. I thought I'd ask the experts here since sometimes you guys may say some miracle stuff like "stop-leak" would work. It would have saved me some work and the $1000 for the new heat exchanger.

You mentioned pool chemistry, what chemical would be out-of-whack to cause this? My chlorine and ph are usually right on. At 10 years old, could it have been old age or do you think it was the chemistry?

Thanks again,

Jake

[PoolDoc]

If you maintain your pool, copper pipes and heat exchangers will last indefinitely.

The most common reason they don't is low pH + extreme high chlorine from skimmer tabs + long pump-off timer cycles. You can also kill exchangers by calcium build up. The 1st problem results in inside-out failure (and high copper levels in the pool); the 2nd results in outside-in failures, and black copper oxide flaking (plus fin damage) from overheating. Using a salt system can also cause damage to a pure copper xchanger.

Getting a new heater with a cupro-nickel exchanger will allow you to use a salt system, but will not make you immune to damage from low pH or calcium build-up.

[LisaM]

I replaced my Hayward H250 exchanger for $700 this year. Found the part online and it was a simple piece to replace. It was leaking in several places. It was a lot cheaper than replacing the entire heater.