Wood furnace to heat my pool

[peterhusha]

Trying to connect Wood furnace (thermo-control 400) to my old propane water heater (used as a water storage).
What am I doing wrong (please see attached drawing)? it doesn't work.
Thank you.

 

[breplum]

airlock either in the high loop but more likely at the pump.
When we install pumps we add isolation valves and brass tees with hose bibbs to allow for bleeding and servicing.

 

[MicEd69]

Like breplum said, your circulating loop may not be working. Your pump is having to lift water up the dip tube which it doesn't like to do. Once the loop is pumping, it may work fine, but the best approach would be to pipe the pump suction to the old water heater drain so that it is always flooded.

But what part isn't working? How large is your heat exchanger? What is the design of your heat exchanger? What are the flow rates of your pool water through the heat exchanger and the circulating loop? What temperature is your circulating loop running? How large is your pool? All these factors enter into why your pool isn't heating up.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Why’s the diptube on the hot side ?

I didn’t study the drawing much but the diptube of traditional water heaters are on the cold side.

 

[MicEd69]

Why’s the diptube on the hot side ?

I didn’t study the drawing much but the diptube of traditional water heaters are on the cold side.

The OP is just using the tank as a hot water holding tank. Instead of using the drain connection, he's using the dip tube as the pump suction, so he doesn't short circuit the tank.

 

[peterhusha]

airlock either in the high loop but more likely at the pump.
When we install pumps we add isolation valves and brass tees with hose bibbs to allow for bleeding and servicing.

fixed the airlock issue. all good now.
thanks everybody!