Heater trouble

[Bargus]

Hello,

I have a Raypak RP2100 heater. It's old (18 years!!) so maybe its time has come. But before I jump to that, here's the deal:

I opened my pool 2 weeks ago. The heater started up fine, no issues. I ran it for maybe 30-60 minutes, just to make sure it was running fine. For the next week, I didn't turn on the heater (pool was filtering, balancing chems, I knew we weren't going to be swimming just yet).

One week after opening, I turned on the heater. Started up fine again. I went about my outdoor chores and checked back maybe 15 minutes later, and...the heater was off with an "ILO" code. Some Googling told me this means "ignition lock out." I followed a couple easy suggestions (turned off the circuit breaker for a bit, checked gas knobs, etc.). When I turned on the heater again, it went through its normal routine: CFH-SPK.....nothing! I cleaned out the pilot light and gas vents and checked the control board for any obvious loose wires or damage, and tried again. Now, it's stuck on CFH ("check for heat") and I hear a clicking sound coming from behind where the control board is. Normally, the click comes from down near the pilot light, but I'm not hearing that at all.

I'm thinking this could be a control board issue, but I don't want to buy one on eBay for $200 and have that not be the issue. I'm not super handy. I have a little experience with using a volt meter to check parts, but I get lost easy. Pool repair companies in my area are mo' backed-up with pool opening season, but I am on a couple wait lists. Anyone have any thoughts?

Thank you!

 

[ajw22]

Is your heater NG or propane?

@swamprat69

 

[1poolman1]

CFH = call for heat. You either have a larger "spark plug wire" size ignition cable or a small blue one. The original RP2100 did not have the ignition cable attached to the board but to a Honeywell S8600 IID (intermittent ignition device) . There were replacement boards from the factory that changed it to the new style, you may have that. It sounds like it is disconnected from the circuit board or IID. DO NOT touch the wire while it is sparking, you won't like it.

 

[Bargus]

@ajw22 natural gas. Line hasn’t changed, nor gas service to the house, etc.

@1poolman1 thanks for the info! I have the white wire. Is it as simple as making sure the wire is connected to the circuit board real well? Any tips or tricks? Thanks again!

 

[1poolman1]

@ajw22 natural gas. Line hasn’t changed, nor gas service to the house, etc.

@1poolman1 thanks for the info! I have the white wire. Is it as simple as making sure the wire is connected to the circuit board real well? Any tips or tricks? Thanks again!

A picture of where you are going to attach would be good. I forgot that some of them, a very few were white.

 

[Bargus]

@1poolman1 thanks again for your time with this. I’ll attach a few pictures.

This morning I checked all the circuit board connections and wires (visually, not with a multimeter) and all the wire connections down at the box where the gas line comes in (the gas valve??). Turned in the heater and it went CFH to SPK. I heard the “click” of the spark where it usually is (down near the pilot). But then it gave me the ILO code again
Any other ideas? Thank you so much for your help!

 

[1poolman1]

ILO-ignition lock out is an error code more common to a heater that operates on propane. You don't say what fuel you are using. A natural-gas heater will continue trying to light. Propane ones stop because there is a possibility of propane pooling in the bottom of a heater and then exploding.
Your main gas valve is so corroded that it probably isn't opening even the pilot circuit and should not be used anyway. The heater is sensing no pilot and shutting down.
Every heater school that I attended taught that a corroded heater like yours, and especially one with a valve in that condition, that should be taken out of service. A valve that has been exposed to that much water can fail in the "open" (on) position and the heater keep running with the pump off, very dangerous. On the far left you can see where flame has been getting outside the combustion area. Not sure why or why the fusible link directly above didn't pop.
A competent repair person should first pull the burner tray and examine the condition of the tray, burners (they literally burn themselves up), firebox-insulation, and the bottom of the heater below the burner assembly (it looks pretty bad).
At the very least the gas valve MUST be replaced if the rest is serviceable. Your heater has lived a long life for a pool heater. Its really time to replace it. The safest heater is one that doesn't light. If it does light, it has to be safe.

 

[Bargus]

@1poolman1 ah, shoot! I was worried it had run out of time. Thank you so much for the help! I’ll wait on the repairman, and brace myself for the cost of a new heater. At least it’s all plumbed and wired. Thanks again!