Advice on new Gas Heater Pentair, Hayward, Other?

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uwsublime

Active member
Oct 16, 2017
44
Seattle, WA
Hello all,

I purchased a house with an old pool and a lot of old equipment. I've lived here nearly 2 years and the old pool heater has finally bit the dust. I'm hoping to find something reliable to replace it with, but it seems that no matter how long I search, all of the units I've found get highly mixed reviews. Some have no issues at all while others have their units go out within a few months. Nearly universally, the customer support / warranty experience seems terrible with these manufacturers. I've found two units that fit my needs (250k+ BTU, cupronickel exchangers for better durability with a SWG): The Pentair MasterTemp and the Hayward H-Series. I am looking at the 300k BTU version of each of these, and both are priced similarly. Does anyone have any experience with either of these, good or bad? Are there other similar units I should consider? It seems the Raypak in this price/BTU range has copper heat exchangers, which I would like to avoid. Thanks in advance!

Brian
 
Raypak are the most recommended on this forum. The standard exchanger is fine. Saltwater pools do not accelerate any corrosion. The horror stories that are told about saltwater are due to uncontrolled pH. Low pH is what damages heat exchangers.
 
Don't saltwater pools generally have high PH? Whether or not the horror stories are true, I'd still prefer the cupro-nickel. Having a metal that is more resistant to corrosion by salt water seems like a good choice for a salt water pool.
 
Low pH is the concern for copper heaters. Ph below 7 will slowly dissolve copper. There is no danger to heaters with high pH. Salt water will not corrode the heater.
 
I appreciate the responses, but I really want to get some feedback from owners of these particular (or similar) heaters about the actual quality of the heaters. I didn't mean to steer this toward a debate about SWGs. I already own an SWG and I'm not trying to imply that it is going to cause any issues with the heater. Anyone have one long-term with no issues? Any experiences with the customer support? The reviews I've read are very mixed, but it's hard to judge the quality based on uniformed reviews so I was hoping some of you experts could weigh in.
 
My Pentair HTR250 was installed in early 2014. It has had saltwater flowing through it since then as the pool never closes. The water has been TFP maintained since the start. No issues.
 
I have the h400fdn. I went with the cupro-nickel for the same reason. I like the Hayward because it's easy to service. I had to replace the heat exchanger because I didn't properly drain it when I closed two years ago. All that said, if I was doing it over again, and now that I know a lot more about pool chemistry, (from hanging around here) I would go with the Raypak for all the reasons stated above. I don't expect to get ten years out of the Hayward.
 
While I have a Pentair MasterTemp 400 that has been running strong for 4 years this would be my next heater if I was buying today - Raypak - ASME Pool/Spa Heaters 206A-406A It has a lot of features that look to prevent the common failures. The specs say "Cupro-nickel is also available as an optional upgrade. "
 

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Question about the Raypak heaters: Is there a performance difference in the Lo-Nox (like 267A) vs. the regular (like 266A) models? The Lo-Nox appear to be 6" shorter in height, and of course emit less harmful gas, but I'm wondering if they take a hit in actual heating performance. Does anyone know?
 
I have the Hayward I bought from amazon and installed it myself..First year control board went out and Hayward said he " might" cover it but have to pay for a service call which was around $150..I just bought the board ( similar price) and replaced it myself..I now have a small tarp covering the panel to keep rain off it and after 3 years the replacement has worked perfect.
 
uwsublime said:
Question about the Raypak heaters: Is there a performance difference in the Lo-Nox (like 267A) vs. the regular (like 266A) models? The Lo-Nox appear to be 6" shorter in height, and of course emit less harmful gas, but I'm wondering if they take a hit in actual heating performance. Does anyone know?
Click to expand...


Different design to generate the same BTUs.
 
uwsublime said:
I'm not a TFP expert or anything, but you need to mount that SWG after the heater, with a check valve between the heater and SWG. You don't want the highly chlorinated water going back into your heater.
Click to expand...

There is no highly chlorinated water backflowing from a SWG like from an inline tab chlorinator. Check valve is not required with a SWG although some installation manuals show it.
 

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