Totally A Pool Virgin. Need Help. Heater concerns

[poolvirgin]

I just got the guy to come in yesterday to start my pool heater. I was concerned with all the warnings in the manual so had them come in to do it.

I opened the pool a few weeks ago myself, seemed to have done everything ok except didn't turn the heater on, wanted someone else to do that.

My pool started off at 72 degrees yesterday (before he came to turn on the heater) and this morning was 94! That's too hot.

The heater turned off for now, and now I'm worried. Does it come back on itself or do I have to restart the pilot light?

It's a Laars LG250 and is about 10 years old, but he said is working fine.

My concern is how to turn it on and off, when and why and whether or not it will explode or not!!!

After he came yesterday it was on all day and there was a lot of heat coming from it. All I could think was "This is going to be an expensive gas bill!"

Now with it at 94 degrees this morning I'm guessing that took a lot of energy. I suppose it went off by itself once it met a certain temperature. Is this what it will do? Will it go back on by itself once it cools down.

I turned the knob down to nearly the lowest setting because I really don't want it to be so warm and I don't want to spend a lot heating it.

Over and above that, I'm just concerned with knowing how to use the heater properly - turning it on and off. I am terrified it will explode if I do something wrong.

Do I have to turn the heater off every time I turn off the pump to clean the filter.

I hope someone can help me figure this out so I have more confidence using the heater. Right now I'm steering clear of it hoping it turns on by itself when it's supposed to.

Thank you for all your help.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

Why not simply call back the guy who turned it on for you. He knows it and can probably explain to you how to set it properly over the phone.

Since none of us have seen it, we may guess at something incorrectly and give you incorrect advise.

One thing where we can help.....Yes, heating a pool to 94 degrees is pretty expensive.

 

[JasonLion]

I think this is the manual for your unit. There should be an on/off rocker switch to the left of the temperature dial.

 

[poolvirgin]

Yes that is the manual. I looked at it today. I'm paranoid about using it. There's so many warnings throughout the book.

On page 21 #4 it says - Turn knob on gas valve counterclockwise to
“PILOT” then push control knob all the way and hold down.

I have no idea what the control knob is.

The heater is off and hasn't come back on. I'm guessing either it's still too warm and hasn't gone back on.

 

[JasonLion]

You shouldn't need to do anything with the gas valve/control knob until it is time to close the pool. Once the pilot is lit, all you need to do is turn it on and and off and set the desired temperature with the temperature control knob.

The gas valve and control knob are located behind one of the panels. I'm sure there is a picture somewhere in the manual.

 

[poolvirgin]

thanks for all your input.

I've figured stuff out, got the guy to come in and start it, however the pilot went out. I'm following instructions exactly, I see the spark happening when I push the pilot igniter but the pilot just isn't coming on. Should I see the pilot light right near where the spark is? ... I don't know exactly where to look. I look in the back waiting for a pilot but it doesn't come on.

How long should I try to light the pilot before stopping and waiting the 5 minutes before the gas clears and restarting to attempt the process again? 30 seconds, a minute?

The instructions also talks about a mirror, but I can't seem to see exactly where this mirror is and the manual doesn't exactly point it out.

A little annoyed called the guy again to see, but will have to wait. The thing is, he came in and started the heater without me seeing so I didn't get a chance to see the process.

 

[poolvirgin]

Ok So I've been trying to light the pilot, but I think there is something missing after looking through the manual.

The sparker (bottom circled) is making a spark on the wall left, but I looked in the instructions at images and it looks like there's a white thing (middle circled) that broke off that is where the sparker is supposed to hit which then lights the pilot (top circled)!

The guy that came over didn't say anything about that at all. Maybe he lit it with a match, but he didn't say he did. He said everything looked good.

I'm considering going to buy those long matches and light it myself without clicking the sparker. I wonder if the guy is trying to pull one over on me. I called and the secretary said it would be $65 bucks to come back in. Very strange.

It also looks like there is a bolt missing.

 

[poolvirgin]

Well I figured it out. Obviously the spark wasn't working at all. Something fishy going on there.

I got a long lighter, went through the process and now it's lit and working. I'm so glad. What a process. It was a lot of learning but I did it. Now I know how to turn it on and off in the proper way.

Off - Turn down temperature control, then click switch off, open the front door and turn the gas control to off.

On - Turn gas control to Pilot and push down, Light pilot with lighter, wait 1 minute while holding gas control down in Pilot position. If pilot stays lit - turn gas control from Pilot to On, close door, set temperature knob to whatever, then flip switch On and Presto! HEAT!