Jandy LRZ - Check IGN Control Fault + Fault Fuselink / Field

[frisbieproductions]

Hi! I saw this thread with what I think is a similar issue, but wanted to see if anyone has any other thoughts.

I've got an LRZ (2013), and recently it had a Check IGN Control Fault appear, so I had my regular pool guy come out to try and resolve. He changed the IGN board I believe and the fuse, and checked the volts. It worked for a bit, he left. Over the weekend, it came back up, so he came back out with another fuse. Changed it so now both fuses were changed, voltage there, left. It happened again while I had it on after he left. I noticed that it basically went wrong when it got up to 88 degrees (supposedly) in my Screenlogic app, which was about it being on for 10 minutes.

The pool guy noticed that my PG&E gas meter isn't sending enough gas to the heater (250), as the heater itself is intended for 400K BTU . He pointed it out because he thinks that soot has built up due to this, which would require an intensive and costly cleaning. His advice here is to just buy a new heater.

Is that really my only solution? Does anyone else have any other suggestions? So far, this has been a costly attempted repair, which of course puts me in the could-woulda-shoulda mindset of maybe I should've just replaced instead...but hoping there's still some good news here on what I can do!

I will reach out to PGE about changing the meter to allow more gas, but I'm really even thinking about whether or not I can invest in an electric pool heater (I think my pool is 30K gallons), but he said that no such electric heater exists (haven't done the research really, just was an idea since we have solar).

Thanks in advance (and sorry if I got some of the terms/lingo wrong here!!)!!

 

[1poolman1]

Hi! I saw this thread with what I think is a similar issue, but wanted to see if anyone has any other thoughts.

I've got an LRZ (2013), and recently it had a Check IGN Control Fault appear, so I had my regular pool guy come out to try and resolve. He changed the IGN board I believe and the fuse, and checked the volts. It worked for a bit, he left. Over the weekend, it came back up, so he came back out with another fuse. Changed it so now both fuses were changed, voltage there, left. It happened again while I had it on after he left. I noticed that it basically went wrong when it got up to 88 degrees (supposedly) in my Screenlogic app.

The pool guy noticed that my PG&E gas meter isn't sending enough gas to the heater (250), as the heater itself is intended for 400K BTU . He pointed it out because he thinks that soot has built up due to this, which would require an intensive and costly cleaning. His advice here is to just buy a new heater.

Is that really my only solution? Does anyone else have any other suggestions? So far, this has been a costly attempted repair, which of course puts me in the could-woulda-shoulda mindset of maybe I should've just replaced instead...but hoping there's still some good news here on what I can do!

I will reach out to PGE about changing the meter to allow more gas, but I'm really even thinking about whether or not I can invest in an electric pool heater (I think my pool is 30K gallons), but he said that no such electric heater exists (haven't done the research really, just was an idea since we have solar).

Thanks in advance (and sorry if I got some of the terms/lingo wrong here!!)!!

Is it the fusible link that is going out? If so, it could be soot. You can take the small top off the heater and see right into the top of the heat exchanger. If it is clogged, get a small broom you don't mind throwing away and use as you vacuum the heat exchanger. DO NOT use a wire brush as it can damage the copper fins. You may have to remove the entire heater top, but, if you're a DIY guy, its not that difficult. Just be sure to put ALL the screws back in.
As expensive as PG&E gas is you still probably want to go with a fossil-fuel heater as opposed to a heat-pump and pay for PG&E electricity.

Yes, you absolutely need a larger meter, and the amazing thing is that PG&E will swap it for free. The installer should have/may have told someone to do that as he can't, only the owner of the account can. Of all the brands I've dealt with, Jandy and the old Purex/Pentair MiniMax seemed to have had the worst problems with low gas pressure from a meter that is too small.

A 400K heater = fast heat under all conditions. A heat-pump will take far longer to heat your water as they are much smaller and dependent on air temp and humidity. Also, you would likely need to bring more power to the equipment pad. That can get costly.

 

[frisbieproductions]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. I believe so, yes. I know the pool guy replaced two fuses, one in the front and one in the top on the right side. When he took the top off, I saw the coils, but didn't notice anything clogged, but willing to try.

If I'm not able to see any soot that I can clean myself, what's the next thing I can do to try and save this heater, at least for one more season?

Will call PG&E asap, but the pool guy told me that this point it wouldn't help, as the heater might be dangerous to use due to the soot buildup. Unfortunately, my father is the one who had the heater installed and he's not around to find out exactly why he didn't get the meter swapped out back then.

Needing extra power - you're right about that, and I'm maxed out over there at the moment. That's a great point, thank you.