Older Hayward H250

[cher1229]

Hello, I really hope someone can help me!

I have an older Hayward H Series gas pool heater, Model # 36C68. When we turn it on it lights and goes for a few seconds, then it starts clicking and the lights flicker on and off, then it goes off, starts back up again, goes off and keeps doing it. I have 75-100 people showing up in a little over a week for my daughters graduation party and other than kicking my husband in the butt for not getting on this a month ago, I'm not sure where to start. We've had our local pool guy out, (nice guy, but pretty much an idiot), he's not sure if he can still get parts for the heater (funny, I've found tons, just not sure which one to try and replace first), but he will sell us a BRAND NEW HEATER for the low price of $2200. Anyway, I'm pretty handy and will try to do this myself (then rub it in husbands face.) HELP!

Thank you for any help!
Cherie

 

[spishex]

When you say it's clicking, can you tell if the noise is coming from the heat exchanger or from the gas valve itself? It sounds like you either have low water flow (would overheat and cause a clicking noise or perhaps cause the pressure switch to chatter. Is your heater bypass closed?) or a loose connection somewhere. Fusible links are particularly susceptible to going flaky like that.

If you're sure the water flow is good through the heater you'll need to take a continuity tester to the safety circuit (high limits, pressure switch, fusible link, etc.) and see which component is opening.

 

[waste]

Hi Cherie - welcome to TFP!!

If you can find the owner's manual for the unit, it should have a trouble shooting guide which would help you. While Spishex is correct in that you can use a continuity tester to identify which of the switches is bad (as long as the pool is running properly and the heater is attempting to fire), the old school method is to 'jump' each switch with a short piece of wire, the part you 'jump' that allows the heater to fire is the one that needs to be replaced. (The manual has the 'ladder diagram' to tell you the order in which to test/ jump the switches) As Tim said, it could be as simple as a loose wire - I'm thinking that between the 2 of us, we can help you solve this problem

 

[waste]

Hi again, I just wanted to mention something I ran into today -- if the gas is propane, make sure that the tank(s) has enough gas in it (for some reason, if the gas gets below 20 on the gauge, heaters will get balky )