Issues with gas heater, in-line chlorinator

jsa · Mar 20, 2014

After a frustrating day of logistical failures by Leslie's, I am thinking of trying to address a couple of issues myself.

Issue 1 is the natural gas heater (Laars Lite 2 LD250N) does not seem to be working. It hasn't worked for a while but that hasn't mattered since I wasn't using the pool. Now that I finally have the pool mostly cleaned up, major leaks corrected, etc., I'd like to get the heater working. Can anyone suggest any steps in troubleshooting or point me to a good guide?

Issue 2 is that on my Pentair 320 in-line chlorine feeder, the body is broken where it connects to the nipple/chlorine control valve. Because of this, I can't run the pool returns. Luckily I have a spa and water effect bubblers so I can run the water that way, but I think better circulation will help in killing any remaining algae. I don't necessarily care about the chlorine feeder. I use liquid chlorine as per the guidance here. However, I am have never worked with PVC plumbing. What would be the best solution here? Replace the body of the chlorinator? I think I can get it for about $30 shipped. Or just cut it out and replace with PVC pipe? Is that a relatively easy project?

Thanks in advance!!

RobbieH · Mar 20, 2014

Cut out the chlorinator and replace it with PVC. If you will take your chlorinator to your DIY place (Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) they can "teach" you on what you need to do. You will only need 2 couplers and a piece of pipe, and of course primer and cement.

Working with PVC is SUPER easy.

danpik · Mar 20, 2014

What is, or isn't the heater doing when you turn it on?

jsa · Mar 20, 2014

RobbieH said:
Cut out the chlorinator and replace it with PVC. If you will take your chlorinator to your DIY place (Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) they can "teach" you on what you need to do. You will only need 2 couplers and a piece of pipe, and of course primer and cement.

Working with PVC is SUPER easy.

That is great. Sounds like a plan. Thank you.

danpik said:
What is, or isn't the heater doing when you turn it on?

It doesn't seem to be doing much. I opened up the access panel yesterday and waited a couple of minutes after I turned it on either setting (pool & spa) with both dials set to max and of course the pump turned on. In addition to it not firing up, I didn't observe any glowing. Is there anything else I should be looking/listening for? I thought maybe I perceived a gentle click or two, but that could have been anything. Thanks.

danpik · Mar 21, 2014

jsa said:
It doesn't seem to be doing much. I opened up the access panel yesterday and waited a couple of minutes after I turned it on either setting (pool & spa) with both dials set to max and of course the pump turned on. In addition to it not firing up, I didn't observe any glowing. Is there anything else I should be looking/listening for? I thought maybe I perceived a gentle click or two, but that could have been anything. Thanks.

Well, three things are needed for fire. You need fuel, air and an ignition source. since you are posting messages, I will assume there is air in your area. The other two things we need to verify is fuel and power. Do you know for sure that there is gas flow to the heater? All valves open? Next we need to verify if there is power to the unit. Are all power connections good, switches on and no tripped GFCI's? A volt/OHM meter will be invaluable here to test things. Assuming that this unit did work at one time, did it stop being used because it quit working or was it working the last time you used it?

jsa · Mar 22, 2014

danpik said:
Well, three things are needed for fire. You need fuel, air and an ignition source. since you are posting messages, I will assume there is air in your area. The other two things we need to verify is fuel and power. Do you know for sure that there is gas flow to the heater? All valves open? Next we need to verify if there is power to the unit. Are all power connections good, switches on and no tripped GFCI's? A volt/OHM meter will be invaluable here to test things. Assuming that this unit did work at one time, did it stop being used because it quit working or was it working the last time you used it?

All gas valves are open as far as I can tell, and the gas control valve inside the unit is turned on. The heater seems to be switched by the same time clock as the pool pump, which is on of course. I have a volt meter but am not sure where to start with it. I've used it a few times such as when I diagnosed and repaired my dryer, and done some other continuity testing with it, but I'm not at the level where it's obvious to me where to start.

It had been working, but I was never used it regularly. It had previously stopped working, and I thought it was the gas control valve. Bought a new one but that ended up not being the problem. Somehow got it working again, but I don't remember how. But then at some point I went back to use it again and of course it had stopped working again. Not sure if that answers the last question.

Thanks again.

ps0303 · Mar 23, 2014

On the back of the front door of the heater is the wiring diagram. Use it and your volt meter to check the safeties to see if one of them is bad. Here is a link to the manual as well: https://www.parts4heating.com/v/vspfiles/images/pdfs/JandyLD.pdf Page 35 has a good diagram.

What made you think the gas valve was bad?

Boland01 · Mar 23, 2014

On my Laars heater the high and low temperature switches have had to be replaced a couple of times. The first time I called a service technician out and a $140.00 and a few minutes he replaced the switch. After that I have replaced them myself. They seem to last about three years or so. if your Laars heater is like mine they are underneath the manifold where your water enters and exits the heater. Make sure you check all your fuses too. Good luck.

jsa · Jun 29, 2014

Just wanted to say a very belated thanks Paul and Boland01 for the very helpful responses.

Paul, that manual is exactly what I was looking for. I think when I had the problem some years ago I used the steps in there to narrow it down to the gas control valve, but that was years ago and I unfortunately don't recall the specifics, but I believe the igniter was glowing. This time there seem to be electrical issues but I have more testing to do still, based on the manual.

Boland01 I'll definitely check those once I have eliminated any "upstream" issues.

Of course now the pump has failed and I need to get it fixed or replaced before I can get back to the diagnosis of the heater, but that's another story.