New Heater Recommendation Please

[rdamato]

Hello

I live in Northern Nj and my original 400k BTU NG Raypak has gone kaput after 13 seasons. During that time, it has not been trouble free and considering that, I would prefer a different brand. My pool specs are as follows:

Approx: 30K Gallons
SWG for chlorination
Above average sun exposure

I will only be using the heater to warm up the pool on weekends. With that, I have a couple of questions:

1) Do I need a 400K heater or will a 333K (Less Expensive) Suffice?
2) Is a Cupro-Nickel exchanger necessary with a SWG?
3) Can someone make a recommendation for the unit and an online source?
4) Realistically, can a HEAT PUMP work effectively in NJ?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Ron Damato
Ramsey, NJ

 

[BoDarville]

I would replace it with another 400K BTU heater. If you are going with a gas heater, you want the largest one your current gas setup will support. It takes a certain number of BTU's to heat a pool from the current temperature to a target temperature. Therefore, you will use the same number of BTU's to reach that temperature regardless of whether the heater is 400K BTUs or less than that. The larger one will simply do the job faster.

FWIW, I have a 400K BTU Teledyne Laars heater that is about 25 years old and still runs well.

 

[skimmerswimmer]

I just replaced a 14 year old Raypak 335k RP2100 millivolt heater for my 33k gallon pool. I put in...another Raypak, same model. After doing a lot of research and reading many many reviews, it seems that Raypak is one of the best you can get. I purchased mine online from Inyo pools for like $1600 and had a neighbor (who is also a contractor) help me install it along with a new filter, pump and multiport valve. I had an intermittent starting issue with the unit after it was installed and after swapping out the pressure/flow stich (replacement sent free of charge from Raypak), I had an authorized Raypak tech one out to find some leftover synthetic packing material stuck and half melted in the pilot assembly. They replace it instead of cleaned it and it's been perfect ever since. They seem to stand by their product and it is very well made. I have a cover for mine, and you can always pull out the burner tray and store it inside or in the shed for the winter if you want to keep the unit working like new for longer. Not sure about the nickel/salt gen thing...no experience with those. I have read about a few issues with the Raypaks using the electronic ignition and some bad pc boards, which is why stayed with the millivolt model.

 

[ps0303]

Tell me what issues you had with your old Raypak heater that you wouldn't want another one? They are a better rated unit compared to the rest of them.

 

[rdamato]

The ignition system had to be replaced and the burner unit fell apart after 3 years. Many times, the unit wouldn't ignite. It was always a crapshoot.

 

[ps0303]

If the burner tray fell apart that soon then it sounds like you had condensation issues. Do you have a manual bypass on the piping by the heater?