I have a Teledyne Laars Mark V pool heater that has stopped working.
Here is more info:
Moved into the house about 1 year ago.
The last time we used the heater was about 4 months ago, it worked fine and fired up.
Gas to heater has been turned off over the summer.
Tried today to fire it up and use spa, but did not turn on.
Pilot light will light up and stays lit.
I tried flicking ON switch several times, but did not work.
Normally, when I flick the ON switch I hear the gas valve open and fire up pretty quickly.
In the past, when I flick the ON switch, sometimes it did not fire, but I turned off, wait a few seconds, and flick on, then it fires.
So it may have been an existing problem.
I am looking for advice on what to try to isolate the problem.
Is there way to override the control circuitry to force it on?
I read a previous post where the poster did this, but not sure exactly how this control unit works.
There are 4 wires going to the gas control. I do not know how this works, but is it like this:
2 wires go to thermocouple. Does this get heated by pilot, and presents a voltage to gas valve when hot, so must be hot for gas valve to work? Can I override by using some battery?
2 wires go to the thermostat temperature control (has dial from low to high) box. This box has a switch. Also, it seems to have some thermocouple that is in line with the water. I am guessing the dial from low to high is just a rheostat. Could something be wrong in this control box? What is easiest way to test?
Could the gas valve be bad? How to I confirm?
I would like to determine the problem and replace or fix the part.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Michael
Here is more info:
Moved into the house about 1 year ago.
The last time we used the heater was about 4 months ago, it worked fine and fired up.
Gas to heater has been turned off over the summer.
Tried today to fire it up and use spa, but did not turn on.
Pilot light will light up and stays lit.
I tried flicking ON switch several times, but did not work.
Normally, when I flick the ON switch I hear the gas valve open and fire up pretty quickly.
In the past, when I flick the ON switch, sometimes it did not fire, but I turned off, wait a few seconds, and flick on, then it fires.
So it may have been an existing problem.
I am looking for advice on what to try to isolate the problem.
Is there way to override the control circuitry to force it on?
I read a previous post where the poster did this, but not sure exactly how this control unit works.
There are 4 wires going to the gas control. I do not know how this works, but is it like this:
2 wires go to thermocouple. Does this get heated by pilot, and presents a voltage to gas valve when hot, so must be hot for gas valve to work? Can I override by using some battery?
2 wires go to the thermostat temperature control (has dial from low to high) box. This box has a switch. Also, it seems to have some thermocouple that is in line with the water. I am guessing the dial from low to high is just a rheostat. Could something be wrong in this control box? What is easiest way to test?
Could the gas valve be bad? How to I confirm?
I would like to determine the problem and replace or fix the part.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Michael