Spa come with house.

[AusMan]

Hi, my first post.

I purchased a house and it has an existing spa.

It appears that the pump and heater side of it is somewhat home made.
The pump looks like a pool type pump but it does function rather well.
The heater is an electric and separate gas system. It is plumbed in series on what I can describe as a by pass line.
The gas system looks like a house hot water service (Bosch 16B).

My issue is that the heating side works very poorly, the electric heater works but I suspect it is not effective on its own.
The gas unit is electric start using it's own battery pack. I have replaced the batteries and it does spark when the pump is turned on, but the gas does not light. I wonder if the unit is not suitable for the function or if the unit is faulty.
I apologise for my description if it is confusing, maybe pics can help.

Any help would be great.

Thanks.

 

[AZPoolBuilder]

Congrats on the new house! Pics would definitely help! Many types of heaters, as well as many types of spas. Is this inground or portable?
Post some pics of the spa, as well as anything you can show of the spa equipment,heater, and gas/electric hookup. Gas heaters are very quick heating units, whereas electric heat is more efficient, but can take 10x as long. Generally if you have spark (or can hear it), there could be issues with gas supply to burners, valve (to open gas supply), circuitry, etc.

 

[AusMan]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

It is an in ground, under cover (in an enclosed deck).
I believe at some stage a proper unit was installed as there are control buttons fitted next to the spa.

I have diagnosed the fault to be the ignition control unit of the gas water heater. Pretty simple, no voltage is being supplied to one of the solenoids on the diaphragm. I will have to track down a new module. When battery voltage is applied direct to the solenoids, the unit will fire up and continue to operate. I will use the electric heater unit until I can source a module.

We are experiencing some very hot days here is Australia so the heater is not exactly required right now.

 

[AusMan]

Just an update, I did away with the old heating unit (gas and electric) when the pump snuffed it recently.
As I had to have the system open to replace the pump, we decided to purchase a real heater suitable for pool/spa use.
We settled on a Raypak 2100. Good price and well and truly good enough for our little spa.
Thanks again.