putting in pool heater question

[tenax]

so, this may seem like a bit of a weird question, but i like to get a move on things..i am heading out on holidays tomorrow out of town, but i received my new heater, have my swg and stuff to get my plumbing done..i'm thinking i'd like to get a jump before gas guy and electrician come in and get the new heater in place, swg in line and the plumbing to go with it. the stuff is in a pool shed with clear space in front of the heater (3 ft to work in) and space on either side (say 1 ft clearance on the left side between heater and wall) and all kinds of clearance aside from pipes on the right..

questions are:

a) would you wait until the gas and electrical guys are there before putting the new heater in place and plumbing it up. (i should note that he will need to remove the burner pipe to change the orifices to high altitude)

b) i would want a closed system to that my pool can still run on and off while i'm away..i don't want to muck with concerns about a new swg install while i'm away..but i'm thinking that there wouldn't be a problem running water through the heater and swg..they just both would be inactive.

thoughts?

thanks!

[tenax]

anyone? sorry if i'm a bit impatient bumping so soon, but i need to start this within the hour if i'm going to do it tonight.

[sevver]

I would leave the units free to move for the guys coming to work on them personally. But if you can plumb it and can see room for them to work like humans without doing the Twister routine then go for it. It just sucks to have to reach around, and under and through a bunch of pipes while trying to tighten screws and stuff like that. All I woul d recommend is to be courteous.

[tenax]

thanks sevver..the small amount of pipes i have , filter and pump are all to the right of the heater with wide open space in front. only pipe on left side is the natural gas. it's not a setup that requires threading through pipes or leaning over them to get the job done. electrical is all to the side and waist to face level high so completely out of the way. my pool shed is big and tall so i think things will be ok..good answer and i didn't think there would be any issue if the gadgets weren't running..thanks again.

[waste]

Go ahead and plumb them in (your water chems are good, right? ). The heater needs to be in place to hook up the gas line - the high altitude oriface should be easily accesible anyway. The electricians also need to have the box for the SWCG mounted, unless they're doing it, so that they can run the wires to it. Trust me, these folks are used to having to do a little 'contortionist act' to get the job done (If you want to be nice to them, leave a cooler full of ice, bottled water, Gatorade and a few beers for them)

[tenax]

hmmm...beer and clamato..yum my chemicals are good..no worries there at all. actually, it turns out i need a few more 2 inch adaptors then i have so i'm going to put the heater in place and just temporarily plumb without putting the swg in...then all i'll need to do is a few cuts of pipe and plumb that sucker in when i get the adaptors..and i won't have a furnace sitting in my garage

ps- you likely have not heard of clamato (made by motts) if you can get it, try it with beer..great on a hot day!

meanwhile, apparently, i need to get a jandy approved draft hood kit (indoors) didn't think they would send the heater without the adaptor plate and then i could just use any drafthood kit from plumbing and heating people locally..i guessed wrong it seems..arggghhhhh they get you coming and going and don't throw in any extras

[tenax]

and yeah, i've got the pool pilot box nicely mounted and the dummy wires removed..verified it's on 230 volt as i want..etc. i was surprised how big and heavy that sucker was..naive me..i thought it would be like the size of a timer box

[tenax]

man..i'm going to have to post pics..went to move the old pool heater out and there was about a 5 inch deep square of rust and dime to loonie size flakes i literally used my snow shovel to scoop it out..amazing how much it had rusted out..when i tipped up the heater,the burner fell out in pieces..any wonder it was belching 2 foot flames out the front when it fired up? i'm amazed it still worked..what a workhorse though.a lars teledyne going back to 1983 anyway..i've had house furnaces that didn't last nearly that long

while i was doing the plumbing i decided it was a good opportunity to make my "dummy pipe" that will go in place of the chlorine generator flow pipe when i start up in the spring and until the pool is reasonably clean to fire up the generator..just figure less wear and tear (yes, even though i could do the golf ball or plastic wrap trick)

[waste]

I am familiar with clamato (shudder), my friends used to call it 'breakfast beer' (again, SHUDDER) Sounds like your project is progressing - please keep us posted.

[tenax]

well,i've hit a hitch as my favorite plumbing heating electrical contractor just isn't getting back to me with a final quote so we can move forward with the job. i suspect that they simply have too many big money jobs on their plate so my small job is not worth it to them..or maybe they don't want to muck with pool heaters and stuff as they don't do that stuff normally. (i live in alberta..trying to find a contract is a thrill ride, i tell you with the economy the way it is..there is a downside) so, i'm going to talk to the pool store and see if they can get someone they work with to do the job and accelerate the process! i also assumed a draft kit came with my new heater for indoor installation..no dice so by the time i get that from the jandy factory, who knows..i may be on the verge of winter shutdown..sigh..all i can do is do as i do