Time to replace the heater??? Jandy or other?

[hamw]

I have a ~30k gallon pool and a Teledyne Laars Series 2 250k BTU heater. My pool guy has said the Laars is probably running at 60% efficiency and so is just underpowered for the pool, and is old to boot. It has worked OK in the past but now seems slower than ever. The heater takes forever if at all to heat the pool now.... although it was able to get the spa from 75 to 103 in a little over an hour. I'm using the heater with a Jandy RS salt system for the last 4 years.

Is it possible to do a "tune up" on a heater, or am I experiencing end-of-life inefficiency and should just bite the bullet and move on? If it's time to move on, I guess the consensus is to get a 400k BTU heater. I had read something about cupro-nickel heat exchangers -- are those to be expected in the Jandy Legacy, Hayward or other good quality brands? Any other brands one might recommend, or brands to avoid?

Since the Jandy RS8 controller has temp sensors and the current Teledyne has no control whatsoever except what the Jandy tells it, am I correct in assuming there is no real benefit to the modern Jandy Legacy's ability to "communicate" with the RS8, or are there other advantages? What else would you do if you were replacing the heater?

Current setup is an in-ground gunite 35x23 diving pool (no board) and separate spa with waterfall, a Jandy RS8 salt system, pool/spa combo with single speed pump, Jandy cartridge filter and Polaris 280 with booster pump.

 

[ps0303]

hamw,

There really is no "tune-up" on a pool heater. It either works or it doesn't.

I can't speak on the Jandy as I have yet to work on any of the new models. Hayward is a good one but I prefer something that has a little less parts and is simple. This is why I usually 9 times out of 10 install a Rheem. It has the fewest parts on it and it's pretty simple to operate as well as repair. I install about 70 each year and get the fewest, ZERO, call backs with issues during the first year. I would go with a 400,00 BTU unit. As for the cupro-nickel heat exchangers, well they are meant for those folks that don't like to maintain their pool chemicals, at least that's how I feel. Is it worth it, as long as you aren't paying extra for them, why not go for it. Many brands it's standard, like the Hayward.

Do some research on the net and see what you find out.

 

[hamw]

Thanks for the note. I spoke w/my pool guy and he had favorable things to say about the Rheem/Raypak as well.

Just to clarify, since the heater does heat the spa but takes forever to heat the pool, is that a typical sign of end of life for a heater?