Raypack 407A - Doesn't fire

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iceflow

0
Jul 25, 2010
201
CFH displays and what sounds like the spark generator is cycling. But never fires the gas. Any obvious checks on these models I should make before I call the Pool man? The gas supply is on and I relit the pilot but no joy.

Thanks
 
I have the same heater. If you haven't done it in awhile, take the front panel off and hit the innards with an air compressor, leaf blower, etc. If you search around the forum a bit, you'll find out that minuscule pieces of whatever can certainly keep a burner from firing.

Take the top panel off as well, clean out all the leaves, etc. that have collected as well.
 
I also have a Raypack 300K btu. Sometimes it doesn't fire up right away depending on the overall gas demand in the house. I have a 1 1/2" line to the heater but it is about 125' away from the house. I also clean mine out often. I think this heater works great, much better than the Sta-Rite Max-E-Therm that I had for 7 years. The Sta-rite was noisy, the keypad wore out way too early, and finally it just died.
 
Well folks, no joy. I tried sucking and blowing the debris away (in the nicest possible way), hit all the switches etc with wd-40 but nothing. What I get is:

1. CFH display then SPK
2. Some relay / contactor sound.
3. Continuous 'scratching' sound from somewhere around the pilot area.
It will stay in this state ad infiniteum. No error displays on the LCD.

I can't light the pilot manually as it says not to and I actually cannot see any pilot light lit. There is a very small hole next to the pilot / thermocouple assy and I'm wondering whether I should see a flame through there?

Also, what I have written in 1 -3 is the same when I tried it with the gas supply OFF. I just thought I would try that to see if I got any errors or different displays.

Who knows someone in Katy, Texas who knows how to troubleshoot these heaters? I must say, it seems like Crud. It's less than 2 years old and has hardly been used. I know they have to stand out in the weather, but so do cars.
 
You won't see a pilot. You've got a millivolt, meaning the clicking sound you're hearing is the ignitor trying to fire the burners.

Try this next. You've got the valve on your supply 'on'.....how about the regulator valve? Have you turned the black knob to 'on'?

Dumb question, but would hate for you to spend the loot if you didn't need to...
 
With Raypak heaters, you can see the pilot, whether it is a IID or a millivolt.
It sounds like you have an IID, not a millivolt. You should be able to hear one definite click of a relay when the pilot valve opens. If you are hearing a flutter(several clicks in succession) from the board, it may be that. Or, if its a flutter from the gas valve itself, could be that. Double check all your wiring connections first.

Your first post states that you were able to light the pilot,
iceflow said:
The gas supply is on and I relit the pilot but no joy.
Click to expand...
then this last post says you never did.
iceflow said:
I can't light the pilot manually as it says not to and I actually cannot see any pilot light lit.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you could not light, yes?
 
Thanks folks for taking the time to respond. What I believe I have is a Honeywell VR8304 Electronic Ignition Gas valve.
I do have the black knob turned to on and have tried a number of times turning it off and on. I have no idea whether a pilot lights as I can't see anywhere where you could see a pilot. Apart from a tiny hole to the left of the pilot gas tube and I'm not sure that is a pilot sight window anyway. It doesn't look like there is a flame in there. The repetitive scratching sound is coming from somewhere in the gas valve / pilot tube area. A few seconds before the scratching starts, there is a relay click that I assume is the trigger to open the gas flow.
 
Re: Raypack 407A - Doesn't fire ITS FIXED!!

OK folks, I've fixed her. I was able to remove the pilot / thermocouple assy without pulling the burners. I'll go through what I did in the event it will help other novice types. Make sure all gas is off at the main gas lever and turn off the pilot switch. Drop all power at the circuit breakers. On this model the pilot assy will come out without any disassembly of the burner tray. You can download the service manual from Raypak web site. Remove the pilot gas line at the pilot / thermocouple assy end. Remove two Philips head screws that hold the p/t assy to the main burner tray. One of the screws will have an earth lead attached. Remove the assy and get a vacuum nozzle into the gap made by the removal of the pilot / thermocouple assy and vacuum / blow the base of the heater. Clean the thermocouple tip with a wire brush / wire wool. Clean the pilot tube with WD 40. It is also possible to get a wire into the pilot tube at the end opposite the pilot gas line and clean that out. The end of the pilot tube that connects with the pilot tube gas line has a very tiny hole in it. You will not be able to clean this with any wire. You should be able to see daylight through the hole, but it is tiny. Make sure it is clear. Re-assemble and ...good luck! Do a soapy water bubble check on the pilot connections after re-assembly. make sure the earth lead got re-attched and the wire is not pointed down into the exhaust line of fire of the burners.
 

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Blech. I've got the same problem! I even followed my own advice above, and still didn't fire up. Infinite clicking from the pilot. I thought my problem was a result of the giant mouse nest laying on the burners, but after I emptied the contents of my air compressor, still no luck.

Iceflow, I'll be taking YOUR advice now. And thanks a ton for doing the research for this.....hoping this will solve the problem.

Poolclown - thanks for correcting me on the pilot issue above.
 
For those who experience this in the future, Raypak says this symptom is unfortunately common. I followed the advice of Iceflow, and didn't solve my problem....but boy, I shined that pilot assembly up nice!

Raypak says that the pilot assembly is basically a consumable and replaceable item, 2nd place behind the PC Boards.

Oh well.
 
gkruske said:
For those who experience this in the future, Raypak says this symptom is unfortunately common. I followed the advice of Iceflow, and didn't solve my problem....but boy, I shined that pilot assembly up nice!

Raypak says that the pilot assembly is basically a consumable and replaceable item, 2nd place behind the PC Boards.

Oh well.
Click to expand...
OK, sorry to hear that, can you post what your final fix is? So I / we can add it to the list of possibles for the next time.

Thanks
 
Replaced the pilot assembly itself. I've been told that the spark generator is nothing more than a fancy spark plug. And sensitive like a spark plug, too. If the wire or the porcelain becomes compromised with a knick/crack, etc., it won't produce the spark needed to fire the burners.

Having a secondary issue though, which I may just let sit for awhile. 24 hours prior to replacing the assembly, heater was firing/heating just fine, which really hacked me off since I had just ordered a non-returnable item. Morning of replacement, it didn't fire. Fired up just fine after replacement, and ran all day as needed.

36 hours later, went out to heat up the hot tub. Heater fired, ran for 10-15 minutes, then cycled off, and went back into 'SPK' mode, and did that for a good 4-5 minutes. Burners fired at that point. Ran for another 10-15 minutes, and repeated.

So, something intermittent and systematic is happening here. Not sure what it is, but as mentioned, I'll let this issue sit, and maybe it will iron itself out. Hard to say.
 
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