New pool heater or repair?

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iamcdn

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Dec 9, 2016
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British Columbia, Canada
Hi all. I am new here and new to pool ownership. Bought a house with existing pool. Our Hayward H200 millivolt heater went down. We are told it needs a new heat exchanger. I don’t know how old the existing heater is but I suspect it is quite old. Is this the time to replace?

Thanks
 

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sktn77a said:
When you say "went down" do you mean stopped heating or started leaking?
Click to expand...

Sorry, it was heating after opening for a few days. The pool got up 80F. Then I started to hear a high pitched whistle one day, then I smelled metallic burning that same day. I turned it off. I tried it again the next day and there was no whistle but there was a burning smell intermittently but it wasn't heating. When I went to check it, the pilot had gone out. I was only able to get the pilot going once more and then it wouldn't start up anymore. I called the gas guy and he took the burners out and said it needed a new heat exchanger.
 
It may, indeed need a new heat exchanger but based on your symptoms (none of which would be causde by a heat exchanger that wasn't leaking) there's more going on here than just that. I think it's time to bit the bullet and replace it. Only problem is, you're going to have a hard time finding a new millivolt heater - most have been discontinued.
 
sktn77a said:
It may, indeed need a new heat exchanger but based on your symptoms (none of which would be causde by a heat exchanger that wasn't leaking) there's more going on here than just that. I think it's time to bit the bullet and replace it. Only problem is, you're going to have a hard time finding a new millivolt heater - most have been discontinued.
Click to expand...

Yah, I think you're right about the new heater. I have actually found a replacement online for ours. My question now is if it would be worth it to upgrade our heater to a more energy efficient digital model? I am guessing there will be additional costs to plumb in a different model heater.
What do you think?
 
If the heat exchanger is not leaking it will at least need to be exposed and cleaned by what I see of the burners. Those burners need to be cleaned as well. As others have said, the symptoms you described are not indicative of a bad heat exchanger other than it may need to be cleaned. The burning smell is most likely from all of the debris on the burners. As for the pilot not staying lit, it may be something as simple as dirty connections on the power pile, a bad power pile, or a clogged pilot orifice. I think pool heaters are the only thing more neglected than lawn mowers in my area. nobody here does anything with them until they don't work.

As for a more efficient model...most pool heaters are still in the stone ages as far as efficiency goes...around 80%. in fact, i don't recall seeing anything much higher than that on the market. Anything "digital" just means the old analogue controls are now electronic and will only last a couple years before the problems start. touch pads etc...
 
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iamcdn said:
Hi all. I am new here and new to pool ownership. Bought a house with existing pool. Our Hayward H200 millivolt heater went down. We are told it needs a new heat exchanger. I don’t know how old the existing heater is but I suspect it is quite old. Is this the time to replace?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm no expert but I had maintained a really old Hayward millivolt heater years ago. Until the heat exchanger sprung a leak which was the death sentence I replaced a bad gas valve and pilot/pipe plus other basic maintenance. While taking it apart each time the base and burner support tray became more rusted to the point where I wondered if it would even hold together. After decommissioning and plumbing around It years ago I finally broke it down this spring to recycle the scrap. I filled a trash can with the rust particles that fell out of the case. It wasn't worth fixing about 7 years ago let alone now.

The negative is that you need to run electric to any new heater you would buy, and the water/gas plumbing would need to be rearranged to fit. Others mentioned being able to buy millivolt heaters but I have not been able to find one actually for sale. They may show up on a site but are "out of stock" or "discontinued". If you can find one, more power to you. The only negative in my mind is relighting the pilot after every yearly shutdown.
 
tspenard said:
I'm no expert but I had maintained a really old Hayward millivolt heater years ago. Until the heat exchanger sprung a leak which was the death sentence I replaced a bad gas valve and pilot/pipe plus other basic maintenance. While taking it apart each time the base and burner support tray became more rusted to the point where I wondered if it would even hold together. After decommissioning and plumbing around It years ago I finally broke it down this spring to recycle the scrap. I filled a trash can with the rust particles that fell out of the case. It wasn't worth fixing about 7 years ago let alone now.

The negative is that you need to run electric to any new heater you would buy, and the water/gas plumbing would need to be rearranged to fit. Others mentioned being able to buy millivolt heaters but I have not been able to find one actually for sale. They may show up on a site but are "out of stock" or "discontinued". If you can find one, more power to you. The only negative in my mind is relighting the pilot after every yearly shutdown.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing. I will actually have to go through the check-out procedure on the sites to confirm that I can actually order it I guess.

Appreciate all the feedback everyone.
 
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