New Hayward H400 propane - smells like burning fuel @ ignition

[Garvin123]

Heater is brand new. Just fired it up but shut it down the second it smelled like "jet fuel" exhaust. Manometer reading shows the correct pressure for gas. GPM water flow from the pool is good.

Not sure if this is normal for a new heater on startup and if I should just let it run or not.

Any advice is appreciated.

G

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome Garvin,

It sounds like it's the "new" burning off. Albeit a different brand I noticed that about mine.

 

[ps0303]

Oils from the manufacturing process more than likely.

 

[Loudonno]

If its a propane heater it is probably the smell of burning money.

 

[Garvin123]

So I let it run for about 2 hours. The smell was there the entire time. Just smelled somewhat like diesel fuel exhaust but there was no smoke. It basically added 1 degree every 30 mins. I looked in the heater's "sight glass" and the flames were blue and around the right height.

My old Hayward H200 didn't ever smell like this. It's bad enough to make me want to operate it only when no one is around. I can't imagine having this going when there are swimmers present.

So something seems wrong. Not sure where to go from here.

Any help is appreciated.

G

 

[Saturn94]

Have you contacted Hayward?

 

[JamesW]

They do have a noticeable smell when new. It should go away within a day or two. However, it wouldn't hurt to ask the manufacturer.

 

[Hayward Pool]

The smell is common and will go away with time.

 

[BoDarville]

As others have stated, the smell is likely caused by oils from the manufacturing process - it's quite common. I would give it at least 10 hours of runtime. The smell will eventually go away.

I looked in the heater's "sight glass" and the flames were blue and around the right height.

Sounds like your heater is set up properly and is burning at the proper air-fuel ratios.

 

[Richard320]

You ought to get a whiff of a new catalytic converter burning off. They spray 'em with shellac or something so they stay pretty in storage. Probably the same thing you're getting.