Hayward Heater - repairing the heat exchanger

[Jake_2012]

Hi All,
Just curious... has anyone attempted a repair (trickling water) on a Hayward heat exchanger? If so, how did you do it and what did you use?

Thanks in advance!

[PoolDoc]

has anyone attempted a repair (trickling water) on a Hayward heat exchanger?

It's unlikely.

You could repair it with silver solder if the hole is not too close to the headers. But hardly any pool guys know how to work with that stuff, and presumably any that do, have sense enough not to try. Because I'm a plumber, I could, but I wouldn't be willing to do so, because the odds are that if it has a hole in one spot, it nearly has a hole in several other spots. If I did it for you, I'd end up charging you a couple hundred to get access and stuff, but then would have to worry it would fail a week later, and you'd want your money back 'because I didn't fix the leak'.

So, the only guys who'd try such a repair are either homeowners with skills, or idiots.

You'd be better off with a new heater, or at least, a new header. BUT, learn your pool chemistry first. 90% of the header leaks I've seen were caused by mismanaged pool chemistry.

[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.