- May 9, 2013
- 5
I've been working on opening our pool for the first time, and for the most part, it went... swimmingly.
The problem I'm having is that my Teledyne Laars Lite Natural gas heater (possibly from 1982?!) will not fire up. It worked last season. The pilot lights and stays lit. I have replaced the pressure switch (old one was leaking from bottom) and the thermocouple/generator. The new generator puts out about 400 millivolts at best when the pilot is on, but the average is closer to 330. I believe I need at least 500 for the burners to ignite?
Based on everything I've read, on this sites and others, I believe I need a new gas valve. I've found one on Ebay for $220, one on Amazon for $300... retail is about $440.
My question: Should I risk throwing away $200-$300 on such an old heater, hoping it's the gas valve, or is it time to accept defeat and buy a new heater? One reason I'm hesitant to buy a new heater is that I can't find many good reviews on anything, making me leery of anything new! Also, the rest of the heater seems fine... the burner looks fairly new - I'm guessing the previous owner replaced it recently.
Thank you in advance. This site has already been very helpful, and I've tried to hold off on posting 'til I ran out of answers from searching.
The problem I'm having is that my Teledyne Laars Lite Natural gas heater (possibly from 1982?!) will not fire up. It worked last season. The pilot lights and stays lit. I have replaced the pressure switch (old one was leaking from bottom) and the thermocouple/generator. The new generator puts out about 400 millivolts at best when the pilot is on, but the average is closer to 330. I believe I need at least 500 for the burners to ignite?
Based on everything I've read, on this sites and others, I believe I need a new gas valve. I've found one on Ebay for $220, one on Amazon for $300... retail is about $440.
My question: Should I risk throwing away $200-$300 on such an old heater, hoping it's the gas valve, or is it time to accept defeat and buy a new heater? One reason I'm hesitant to buy a new heater is that I can't find many good reviews on anything, making me leery of anything new! Also, the rest of the heater seems fine... the burner looks fairly new - I'm guessing the previous owner replaced it recently.
Thank you in advance. This site has already been very helpful, and I've tried to hold off on posting 'til I ran out of answers from searching.