TROUBLE SHOOTING GUIDE
1. The pool temperature is not increasing even though the weather is sunny?
Answer: The problem of low performance is never caused by the solar collectors themselves.
Most of the time unsatisfactory performance is due to one of the following:
a. Faulty dimensioning – in order to effectively heat your pool you will need to calculate a use of
approximately 50 % of El Niño solar collectors compared with the surface area of the pool.
b. No or poor circulation – the El Niño needs to have a circulation in the span of 2-5 litres/min
(per section), and the quality of circulation pumps provided with the various pools differs widely.
The El Niño system is tested to match the majority of circulation systems on the market today.
For more information about measuring the flow rate please consult the manual. For further infor-
mation about poor circulation, see below.
c. Unfavourable place of installation – a solar heating system is of course dependent of the
amount of solar irradiation it can absorb. For more information of how to maximize the perfor
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mance, see below.
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2. I’m not getting any circulation through my El Niño?
Answer: The problem with poor circulation might be due to:
a. A pump with an unsatisfactory capacity – the pump needs to be replaced with an external
pump that produces a flow rate of 2-5 litres/min (per section) at a pressure of 0,3 bar.
b. Folding of the hoses – make sure that none of the hoses are folded, which will prevent the
circulation.
c. The level of altitude between pump and solar collector – as pointed out, sometimes pumps
delivered with the pool are having problem lifting the water more than 50-100 cm. Increase the
circulation by placing the collector and the pump at the same level.
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3. Can I use a different pump than the one supplied with the pool?
Answer: You can use any pump that produces the right amount of flow and pressure. Please note
that you need to make sure that the pressure never exceeds 0.3 bar, otherwise you might cause
damage to the product. To check the level of pressure you can perform a pressure check of the
system.
Checking the pressure of the system
1. Assemble a 3 m long hose to the coupling on the pressure side of the by-pass device. Make
sure that all other couplings are closed.
2. Open up the by-pass valve fully, at the same time hold the hose up in the air.
3. Close the valve slowly until the water reaches the open end of the hose (this corresponds to
0.3 bar which is the maximum pressure allowed in the system). If the pump fails to reach 0.3 bar
the pump is OK if the flow rate can be achieved.
4. Recheck the flow rate at this pressure (without changing by-pass valve position). If the flow is
OK the pump can be used with the El Niño.
NB: When performing the pressure check, the by-pass device must be at the same level as the
solar collector. If not, adjust the length of the measuring hose (longer hose if the by-pass device
has a lower position and vice versa).
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