I had a Hayward heater installed with my pool about 8 yrs ago. Worked great for about 4-5 years, but every year since has required about a $300 repair. It's on the fritz again with a "bd" code, which looks like it's a bad control panel, but I just had the control panel replaced last year. Thinking about biting the bullet & just getting a new one, but I'm rather averse to going with Hayward again. Any thoughts or data on heaters that work reliably? I only use it to heat the spa 5-10 times a year. I suppose that adds to the annoyance that I use the heater so little, but it seems to be have been one of the costliest items on the pool...Thanks for your time.
Heater reliability?
- Thread starter jeff160
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!!!Sorry to hear about your issues, and I know very little about how to fix them.
I will point out that the forum generally sees that Raypak is nearly always the recommended heater brand.
- May 3, 2007
- 16,828
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Which model do you have and what sort of repairs have you had in the past? I have had a Hayward heater going on my 9th year without a single repair and would not hesitate going with them again. But if the control panel was just repaired, it might still be under warranty so you might want to check on that. Heaters are expensive so I would be more inclined to repair rather than replace.
I can't remember if I was getting an error code last year, but if I remember correctly, the heater would continue to cycle on/off every 15 seconds(?) or so. The tech replaced the control board at that time. I can't remember what it was the previous year. I do remember before that problem, I had the cycling on/off repeatedly issue & I read online to try covering some of the vents. That actually took care of it for a while.
The current error code I'm getting is "bd". The heater won't come out of Standby mode or fire up at all. I tried cutting the power at the electrical panel and resetting, but the issue is exactly the same.
I agree with repair over replace as these suckers are expensive, but with repairs of $300+/yr, along with the time wasted, it's quickly going to add up to the cost of a new heater anyhow.
I'll have to look up tonight what model I have, but I think it's an H250 and like I said, it's probably about 8-9 years old.
I can tell you this, or warn you this, the newer FD Hayward heaters are bad. If you have one of the ID generation units, they aren't that great and they stopped manufacturing them for a while and stuck just with the ED2 units. Then came the FD(forced draft) units and the problems came back. Hayward ED2 units were/are the most reliable units.
Now a days if you want a reliable simple unit, the Raypak/Rheem is what you want.
Now a days if you want a reliable simple unit, the Raypak/Rheem is what you want.
- May 3, 2007
- 16,828
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
The cycling sounds like spider webs in the burner nozzles. I get that when I don't use the heater for quite a while. You can unscrew them and clear out the webs should that happen again.
As for the BD, there is a set of troubleshooting instructions in the manual:
http://www.hayward-pool.com/webapp/...o_10201_10551_14502_-1___I#HeatersGas_Heaters
As for the BD, there is a set of troubleshooting instructions in the manual:
http://www.hayward-pool.com/webapp/...o_10201_10551_14502_-1___I#HeatersGas_Heaters
Thanks for the help, but following the troubleshooting is probably more time than I've got to mess with this. I'll get the quote from the tech I suppose. I found the bill from last year and the control panel was replaced (BTW, it was $400+!). Couldn't find the other service tickets, but I think if this repair is of any consequence I may go with a new Raypak.
Side note, any market for used Hayward H250's for spare parts? Thx!
Side note, any market for used Hayward H250's for spare parts? Thx!
