Another Raypak 156A Heater Failure (Leak, Corrosion) - Only 2 Years Old

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brentvw

0
Jul 29, 2018
16
MI
Hey TFP,

You may remember me, the one who posted about his Raypak 156A Heater Failure after only 3 years in service, here is the thread:
Raypak 156A Heater Corrosion - Only 3 years old

Well, I replaced it with a new unit, and here I am again, with the exact same problem, this time after only 2 years in service.

I followed Raypak's guidelines to the tee this time and lowered my FC. I ran FC high last time but higher CYA to compensate so should have been no different. I never have CC and never need to SLAM or do algae treatments, water always runs clear. Cup of acid a week to keep the PH down with my SWG. A monthly dose of oxidizing shock and a monthly dose of lanthanide (phosphorous remover) to keep the water crystal clear, none of which modify the chemistry or impact heaters that I can see.

I'm at a complete loss about a unit that has been in service for 10 months across two seasons. I did notice the check valve trickling back some water when the pump was off. Could that be causing this destruction? (See other thread for setup.) I use a 1/2 HP variable speed now vs the 1HP Hayward.

FC 3
CC 0
pH 7.6
TA 80
CH 200
CYA 60
NA 3200
 

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You're going to be asked to show test results of your water and what you're using to chlorinated your pool.
 
brentvw said:
Hey TFP,

You may remember me, the one who posted about his Raypak 156A Heater Failure after only 3 years in service, here is the thread:
Raypak 156A Heater Corrosion - Only 3 years old

Well, I replaced it with a new unit, and here I am again, with the exact same problem, this time after only 2 years in service.

I followed Raypak's guidelines to the tee this time and lowered my FC. I ran FC high last time but higher CYA to compensate so should have been no different. I never have CC and never need to SLAM or do algae treatments, water always runs clear. Cup of acid a week to keep the PH down with my SWG. A monthly dose of oxidizing shock and a monthly dose of lanthanide (phosphorous remover) to keep the water crystal clear, none of which modify the chemistry or impact heaters that I can see.

I'm at a complete loss about a unit that has been in service for 10 months across two seasons. I did notice the check valve trickling back some water when the pump was off. Could that be causing this destruction? (See other thread for setup.) I use a 1/2 HP variable speed now vs the 1HP Hayward.

FC 3
CC 0
pH 7.6
TA 80
CH 200
CYA 60
NA 3200
Click to expand...
Is the heater bonded and electrically grounded?
 
It is bonded and grounded. For water to get down there and rust out the burners, it has to be from leaking, correct? Condensation can't cause all this damage? I've read reviews about these smaller Raypak's leaking, not lasting and being throwaways. Both my pool guy and the heater company are saying to do the Pentair 125 over this model of Raypak, and that Pentair is easier to service as well.

I do want to avoid another heater failure, as this is becoming super expensive.
 
brentvw said:
It is bonded and grounded. For water to get down there and rust out the burners, it has to be from leaking, correct? Condensation can't cause all this damage? I've read reviews about these smaller Raypak's leaking, not lasting and being throwaways. Both my pool guy and the heater company are saying to do the Pentair 125 over this model of Raypak, and that Pentair is easier to service as well.

I do want to avoid another heater failure, as this is becoming super expensive.
Click to expand...
Rust is caused by moisture. Not necessarily from leaking, could be condensation, snow/rain, etc. was it drained and winterized for…winter?
 
A couple of things. Is your equipment pad close to a sprinkler head or I have found land scrapers adding lots of mulch which then cause the pad to be level if not lower then the mulch and water is always sitting close to the heater while the sprinklers working. OR I see people covering the heater over the winter trapping lots of moisture for long months which can definitely cause what you have. I'm not saying you didn't have a leak either but then you would have had a wet spot around its base all the time.
 
It was drained and winterized. No sprinkler or mulch, on a pad. I do put a winter cover over all the pool equipment to prevent snow getting in there and icing up, it is a vented cover and doesn't touch the floor. Odd that rust only builds up on that burner area, same as last heater, none of the panels or floor area are rusted, and it has that corrosive white around the burners.
 
All pool heater vendors have moved from natural draft design to forced draft with sealed burners due to the corrosion that is inevitable with open burners. Even Raypak came out with their new Avia forced draft sealed burner heater.

There was a time 10+ years ago that the Raypak heaters were favored . Heater technology has progressed.

I no longer recommend this heater model.
 
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Thank you @ajw22 that's good to know, I'm contemplating replacing with a Pentair MasterTemp 125 which is forced draft.

As it is less than 2 years old it is still under warranty, do y'all recommend I have Raypak repair or cut my losses and move on to the Pentair?
 
I would see exactly what Raypak will do for you and how much you will be out of pocket to get it running.
 
Last edited:
brentvw said:
It is bonded and grounded. For water to get down there and rust out the burners, it has to be from leaking, correct? Condensation can't cause all this damage? I've read reviews about these smaller Raypak's leaking, not lasting and being throwaways. Both my pool guy and the heater company are saying to do the Pentair 125 over this model of Raypak, and that Pentair is easier to service as well.

I do want to avoid another heater failure, as this is becoming super expensive.
Click to expand...
Yes, condensation can cause that much damage to the burner tray. For there to be that much rust outside the combustion chamber, either the heat exchanger was spraying water or there was/is another source of water getting into that cabinet, or the flame was getting outside the combustion chamber (not likely as there are no melted/burned wires).
 
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