Heater question

[kris77]

Good morning!

I've been on the fence for 3 years about getting a gas heater for my 24' round above ground pool. I think this year I'm going to do it. I've been reading about the different brands...Raypak, Hayward, Pentair. All seem to have horrible issues with support and rusting. Is there something I'm missing here? Are these are just short term heaters that will need to be replaced in 3-4 years?

I guess if I'm going to spend $1700-$2500 on a heater, I would expect it to last a bit. I was looking at the 156k BTU above ground Raypak heater or the 206k BTU inground heater options.

Are the rust issues becasue the water isnt balanced correctly? PH too high or low, etc? Or are these just cheaply made to keep the cost down and will rust on me within a few years?

 

[EmilyOTR]

I'm not any type of expert and I know nothing about heaters but I will say we've lived in our house for 6 years and we have the same heater that was here, and it's possible it's approximately 10 years old? It's a Raypak and working great.

 

[1poolman1]

Good morning!

I've been on the fence for 3 years about getting a gas heater for my 24' round above ground pool. I think this year I'm going to do it. I've been reading about the different brands...Raypak, Hayward, Pentair. All seem to have horrible issues with support and rusting. Is there something I'm missing here? Are these are just short term heaters that will need to be replaced in 3-4 years?

I guess if I'm going to spend $1700-$2500 on a heater, I would expect it to last a bit. I was looking at the 156k BTU above ground Raypak heater or the 206k BTU inground heater options.

Are the rust issues becasue the water isnt balanced correctly? PH too high or low, etc? Or are these just cheaply made to keep the cost down and will rust on me within a few years?

All heaters will rust if the cabinet is subject to constant water. Older RayPaks were very low to the ground. People would allow leaves/debris to pile under them and that would hold water. The heat from the burners would accelerate the rust process and the cabinet would rust out, and that was with a stainless steel bottom. Solution was either keep the area clean or (as all of them I installed) place 4 bricks under to get the cabinet higher. Some Haywards had the issue. Max-E-Therms/MasterTemps have a plastic case.
Some maintenance is required or no heater will last. Mine's 20+ years with no issue.