Pool Heater - Fix or Not to Fix

[GADawgFan]

Hi....I purchased a pool heater off Craigslist from an owner who said it worked two years ago when he last used it. A trustworthy guy, I purchased it for $450 (Laars Lite 2 NG LLD 350,000 BTU). The guy is refunding me $200 to help offset some of the costs (Buyer beware - as is). A HVAC tech looked at it and said the ignition and tempature control modules need to be replaced. I checked online and appears to be about $550 in parts. The heater is estimated to be about 7-8 years old.

Would any of you sink the money into fixing a heater like this? Everything else checked out to be in good working order. If so, any suggested retailers for cheap parts?

Any thoughts or comments are welcomed.

 

[spishex]

Unfortunately there's no way of knowing how good the heat exchanger is. If you sprung for the new temp control and IID and then developed a leak, you'd be looking at another $500-1000 problem. I'd seriously consider going ahead and spending that money now to get a new, more efficient heater (I like the Pentair Mastertemp).

 

[budster]

Unfortunately there's no way of knowing how good the heat exchanger is. If you sprung for the new temp control and IID and then developed a leak, you'd be looking at another $500-1000 problem. I'd seriously consider going ahead and spending that money now to get a new, more efficient heater (I like the Pentair Mastertemp).

I'll second that...heat exchangers are very costly. The security of a new, warrantied LJ, or MasterTemp, or Raypak, or whatever, would be well worth it.

 

[GADawgFan]

Thanks for the advice. I will take it and look to buy something new. Any recommendations for a BTU size for a 16,000 gallon pool?

 

[lukepools]

do a raypak digital 406. I my area, Atlanta, you can get them for about $2900 installed. I haven't installed a master temp yet. But I have a client who has one. Seems to be pretty good. I'd stay away from Jandy and Hayward personally!

Luke Pools