Hey gang. Well, it appears that my heat exchanger has a hole in it likely due to corrosion and I'm guessing since it's a MasterTemp 250 with copper exchanger and with an Intellichlor IC40 SWG -likely the years of running salt water through it have killed it...
On start-up this year, I noticed an odd gurgling sound and a service heater light on. The burner would not light. Upon investigation, I found the combustion chamber filled with water completely covering the coils. I could feel the water by putting my hand in the exhaust pipe. My first clue was water coming out of the air intake. Argh...
Assuming MI summer: Open late April to early May-Close end of Oct/early Nov, did this heat exchanger fail prematurely? First season was April 2015 so that's 7 seasons (6mths x 7 = 42 months). Should I have expected a longer life?
Need advice:
-Relatively handy so I don't have an issue with replacing the coils myself. I am thinking cupro-nickel instead though that pushes the price up from $800 (474059) to $1,200 (474063) for my model. Of course -assuming I can find one in stock...
Is it worth an additional $400 to go cupro-nickel if I have a SWG?
New Pool Heater.
Mastertemp 250 ~$2,500
Mastertemp 250HD ~$2650 Cupro-nickel
-only $150 difference- why buy the std one?
Does anyone know if there is a EC (ecommerce) sku for the HD model? I could not find one. If I swap out myself or buy online, it seems Pentair only offers a 60-day warranty..
I assume that with my Pentair automation panel (Screenlogic -easytouch), I have no choice but to stick with a Pentair or a Stay-Rite heater? Seems Hayward's models all come with Cupro-Nickel heat exchanges standard. Are they better built?
I am leaning towards a cupro-nickel option since I don't want to contend with this issue again - assuming that copper is a poor choice for a salt water pool.
If this is the case, it doesn't seem prudent to spend $1,200 on the heat exchanger when I can get a new heater for $2,600 with warranty and at least the rest of the system is new as well. I could always part out the old heater -the parts as far as I know are all still good (main board, manifold, power supply board, etc..)
One other thing that I was contemplating. Would I be better off with an automated valve that only sends water to the pool heater when it's on? I've seen some other manufacturers with an option to divert the water at the manifold so that water doesn't run through the coil unless it's calling for heat. Good or bad idea? Any thoughts?
On start-up this year, I noticed an odd gurgling sound and a service heater light on. The burner would not light. Upon investigation, I found the combustion chamber filled with water completely covering the coils. I could feel the water by putting my hand in the exhaust pipe. My first clue was water coming out of the air intake. Argh...
Assuming MI summer: Open late April to early May-Close end of Oct/early Nov, did this heat exchanger fail prematurely? First season was April 2015 so that's 7 seasons (6mths x 7 = 42 months). Should I have expected a longer life?
Need advice:
-Relatively handy so I don't have an issue with replacing the coils myself. I am thinking cupro-nickel instead though that pushes the price up from $800 (474059) to $1,200 (474063) for my model. Of course -assuming I can find one in stock...
Is it worth an additional $400 to go cupro-nickel if I have a SWG?
New Pool Heater.
Mastertemp 250 ~$2,500
Mastertemp 250HD ~$2650 Cupro-nickel
-only $150 difference- why buy the std one?
Does anyone know if there is a EC (ecommerce) sku for the HD model? I could not find one. If I swap out myself or buy online, it seems Pentair only offers a 60-day warranty..
I assume that with my Pentair automation panel (Screenlogic -easytouch), I have no choice but to stick with a Pentair or a Stay-Rite heater? Seems Hayward's models all come with Cupro-Nickel heat exchanges standard. Are they better built?
I am leaning towards a cupro-nickel option since I don't want to contend with this issue again - assuming that copper is a poor choice for a salt water pool.
If this is the case, it doesn't seem prudent to spend $1,200 on the heat exchanger when I can get a new heater for $2,600 with warranty and at least the rest of the system is new as well. I could always part out the old heater -the parts as far as I know are all still good (main board, manifold, power supply board, etc..)
One other thing that I was contemplating. Would I be better off with an automated valve that only sends water to the pool heater when it's on? I've seen some other manufacturers with an option to divert the water at the manifold so that water doesn't run through the coil unless it's calling for heat. Good or bad idea? Any thoughts?