Hi folks,
Looking at my equipment it seems to me my pool pad has settled and is sitting pretty non level, and as the pad sunk in it stressed the pipes and pulled the heating exchange apart until it was leaking a ton. Heating exchanger is 800 with front manifold another 600 from what I could find online, and a new unit is running 2600. So seems the best thing to do is replace the unit? My guess is the unit is around 6-7 years old and it was looking pretty good and working with out issues until the leak this summer. I have a call out to see about hydro jacking my pad back to level and just plumbed around the heater for now to keep the pump in operation. We tend to use the heater in the spring and fall but not right now.
Questions for the team here:
1. Is Raypak still a favorite brand of the team here? I took a look at some others and found similar issues with heat exchangers leaking and no warranty coverage so I am scratching my head over Raypak, Lochinvar, Hayward, or Mastertemp...
2. Reading up on warranties from all the vendors it seems that installing it yourself voids the warranty, but the warranties are notoriously hard to collect on and actually cost you more than they save, so is a pro installer worth it? I am pretty comfortable working on equipment plumbing and electrical, and the pool guys I have gotten bids from so far have not given me "I have a clue" vibes...
Thanks for the feedback everyone!
I am still daydreaming about switching from bromine to SWCG but other equipment keeps breaking on me and jumping in front of that project. Last summer it was the pool cover... arg!
Looking at my equipment it seems to me my pool pad has settled and is sitting pretty non level, and as the pad sunk in it stressed the pipes and pulled the heating exchange apart until it was leaking a ton. Heating exchanger is 800 with front manifold another 600 from what I could find online, and a new unit is running 2600. So seems the best thing to do is replace the unit? My guess is the unit is around 6-7 years old and it was looking pretty good and working with out issues until the leak this summer. I have a call out to see about hydro jacking my pad back to level and just plumbed around the heater for now to keep the pump in operation. We tend to use the heater in the spring and fall but not right now.
Questions for the team here:
1. Is Raypak still a favorite brand of the team here? I took a look at some others and found similar issues with heat exchangers leaking and no warranty coverage so I am scratching my head over Raypak, Lochinvar, Hayward, or Mastertemp...
2. Reading up on warranties from all the vendors it seems that installing it yourself voids the warranty, but the warranties are notoriously hard to collect on and actually cost you more than they save, so is a pro installer worth it? I am pretty comfortable working on equipment plumbing and electrical, and the pool guys I have gotten bids from so far have not given me "I have a clue" vibes...
Thanks for the feedback everyone!
I am still daydreaming about switching from bromine to SWCG but other equipment keeps breaking on me and jumping in front of that project. Last summer it was the pool cover... arg!