My heater started leaking. It's a 3 year old Hayward 250 FDN. Then it would no longer light. I ended up replacing the heater. I took the old one apart and took photos of my exchanger and the burners. Can anyone suggest what caused this so that I can avoid another replacement in three years time? Hopefully the picture attachments work.
What caused this in my 3 year old Hayward heater
- Thread starter jonmar
- Start date
Wow, that is a lot of calcium scale I think.
Likely due to high CH and pH levels.
Also looks like the copper was getting into the water as well (the green).
Likely due to high CH and pH levels.
Also looks like the copper was getting into the water as well (the green).
The white stuff surrounding and on the burners I thought was some fire retarding material. Is the box containing the burners normally bare? Is there a simple way to tell if its calcium? It was soft and pliable.
OK. Maybe I have no idea what I am talking about 
I guess I have never looked inside the heaters well enough to be confident.
If you put a little muriatic acid on the "white stuff" it should fizz and bubble if it is calcium.
I guess I have never looked inside the heaters well enough to be confident.If you put a little muriatic acid on the "white stuff" it should fizz and bubble if it is calcium.
jblizzle said:OK. Maybe I have no idea what I am talking about
If you put a little muriatic acid on the "white stuff" it should fizz and bubble if it is calcium.
I'll try that, but I though muriatic acid on just about anything will fizz and bubble. Hopefully someone on these forums has seen the inside of a new heater.
What it looks like to me is that water was somehow getting out of the heat exchanger and then leaving the deposits on everything as it evaporated and "burned" away. But again, hopefully someone more knowledge able will come along.
If that it true ... the build up may not be due to bad chemistry, but more due to a leak that existed for awhile ... now why it leaked is an entirely new question.
If that it true ... the build up may not be due to bad chemistry, but more due to a leak that existed for awhile ... now why it leaked is an entirely new question.
In the first picture it looks like the refractory material that makes up the fire box is failing and falling down onto the burners. This is very unusual to see happen. It is posible that the water leak, depending on how severe, could have caused that to happen. Anyway, the reason it would not light is the "junk" all over the burners was messing up the air/fuel mixture. A good cleaning would have solved that and a trip to a local radiator shop could have the hole fixed in the heat exchanger for about $50-$100
danpik said:
Do you think it is worth while taking it to a rad shop now for a potential repair and then keeping it onhand as a replacement, given I bought the identical heater to replace it?
That is ultimatly a decision you will have to make. I would at least entertain having them evaluate it and give you an estimate for repairs. I fixed one like that last year by simply soldering a new tube inside the one that was leaking.
Looks to me like you had condensation issues or a leak in the exchanger. I've seen this many times. It would be of no benefit to try and repair the old unit. You fix one pin hole and another will pop up. You'll be chasing good money after bad. Scrap it and get paid for the copper.
How are your pools chemicals?
How are your pools chemicals?
ps0303 said:
CL 12
CYA 50
PH 7.6
TA 100
CH 350
I have been pretty diligent in the three years since getting the pool. Water has never been cloudy. No algae. Always battle high PH, but add acid twice per week.
Your chlorine is at 12? High levels of chlorine over extended periods of time have been known to pit copper. Why do you keep your chlorine so high?
ps0303 said:
That is just where it was yesterday when I did the test. I had shocked earlier in the week and it is on the way down. I try to keep it around 5.
Can my calcium being 350 cause the problem?
I doubt that calcium at your levels were the problem. Your TA and PH are good too. If I'm not mistaken, heater manufacturers require calcium to be at a certain level regardless of what type pool surface you have. A plaster pool requires a CH of 250 to 350, so you're within those levels that a heater normally sees in a plaster pool.jonmar said:
