2 year old heater I thought was leaking natural gas is actually leaking unsafe levels of carbon monoxide and the odor is aldehyde. The gas company had to disconnect it. The good thing is that it's outside, but it's close to the house and patio. Any ideas? I had a pool guy out he didn't know what's wrong, called 2 companies recommended by Hayward both seem totally confused on the phone. Anyone run into this problem and what ended up happening?
Hayward H250FDN leaking CO and aldehyde
- Thread starter skudz
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,268
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Aldehydes are formed by incomplete combustion. My WAG is you have an air intake restriction causing a bad gas/air combustion mix.
Where is the heater located?
Who installed the heater?
Has a professional opened up the heater and examined the burners and gas orifices?
Post pics so we can see your situation.
@swamprat69
Where is the heater located?
Who installed the heater?
Has a professional opened up the heater and examined the burners and gas orifices?
Post pics so we can see your situation.
@swamprat69
Heater located in a corner outside near the house. I had a professional company install it, the only problem is they aren't repair techs and I'm having a hard time finding an authorized tech to come take a look since it's still under warranty. I never could smell anything before firing it up this year.
Attachments
- May 23, 2015
- 24,481
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
It doesn’t make any sense why the gas company disconnected the line. Did they measure the CO and aldehyde? All gas burning furnaces will emit detectable CO levels as well as aldehydes (especially if there’s moisture present in the air) due to incomplete combustion. It’s not a cause of concern but simply a matter of getting a qualified gas technician to check your gas line pressure before the gas valve in the heater and while it is operating to ensure the pressures are within spec. On my opinion, the gas company overreacted and shouldn’t have touched the plumbing. Is there a 1/4 turn shutoff valve at the heater? There should be.
Some odors from a running heater are totally normal. As long as the flue gas is properly vented, no one is in any danger.
Some odors from a running heater are totally normal. As long as the flue gas is properly vented, no one is in any danger.
swamprat69
Well-known member
You obviously have a combustion problem. This could be due to a number of causes. The only way to find what is causing the problem is to have a qualified technician inspect and troubleshoot the heater. You might try looking for a company that uses NATE certified technicians in your area. Some companies insist that all of their technicians are NATE certified and others have only a certain percentage of their technicians that are NATE certified. This would assure you of a good level of technician competence. I would search your area with this for companies that use NATE certified technicians and then contact Hayward regarding a specific company that would be acceptable to do warranty work and what process to follow for the warranty (NATE). You may end up having to pay the company and get reimbursed from Hayward if it is under warranty. You may also end up having to pay without warranty coverage if the problem is due to dirt, spiderwebs or lack of annual service/maintainence. A lot of HVAC contractors are not readily familiar with pool heaters but have the ability to work on them if they have all of the available information ( installation and service manuals). If I can be of any other help, let me know.
