Raypak heater reviews

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T

tstex

Silver Supporter
Aug 28, 2012
2,189
Houston, TX
Hello to all,

received a pool ad that took me to an Amazon site that had the raypak 400K BTU unit, along w reviews. The reviews were not very good, but attributed the issues to "off" pool chemistries in a few instances. I agree that FC's in the 6+ range could have issues on copper, but wanted to know what everyone else thought?

Wanted to have a plan when my heater goes out as well as the main-filter pump...Thanks for your input..tstex

https://www.amazon.com/Raypak-Natural-Millivolt-Pool-Heater/product-reviews/B002MEPTQW/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews
 
Tx.

I believe that improper pH, usually too low, is the main cause for heater failure... I don't believe that FC has anything to do with heater failures...

I also take on-line reviews with very large grain of salt... I never base my buying decisions on them.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
thanks Jim

At what pH [low side] and for how long would you say typically can cause some issues on heat exchanger? And yes, all reviews should be taken into consideration. But, if you see many of the same kind of issues, and the reviews are 2-3 yrs old, you can many times see a trend.

thanks again

PS - is there a way to edit the subject after it's been submitted ???
 
Ok, the main causes of failure are low pH or excessive flow.

Chlorine from tabs getting in the heater can also ruin a heater fast. Typically, it comes from a close tab feeder or tabs in the skimmer.
 
JamesW said:
Ok, the main causes of failure are low pH or excessive flow.

Chlorine from tabs getting in the heater can also ruin a heater fast. Typically, it comes from a close tab feeder or tabs in the skimmer.
Click to expand...


James,

Do you believe that the problem from tablets is from the chlorine, or is it because the tablets are so acidic? Or maybe a combination of both?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Tab problems happen when the tabs sit with no water flow in a skimmer or feeder. The water becomes very acidic and highly chlorinated, which is a super corrosive mix.

When the pump is off, the chlorine from the feeder can migrate through the system and damage anything it touches.

For tabs in the skimmer, the concentrated mix washes through the system when the pump turns back on.

If tabs are being used, I recommend that the pump be run continuously.
 
I've had a raypak heater for a while, maybe 10 years?
No leaks (knock on wood) so far. Not sure if something has changes, was surprised to see that many people complaining about them.

I did have a problem with the control panel, basically the display stopped working after maybe 2-3 years. It was going to be hundreds of dollars to replace, and since it sits out in the sun I wasn't sure how long a new one would last, so I converted it to remote control, and it has been fine.

I should note that my pool is covered. Had a safety cover for many years, now I have a solar since the kids are old, so I don't really use the heater much, mostly to heat the water in the spring to get the temp up. In the summer, don't use heater at all, so maybe that's why I haven't had problems?

Randy
 
I replaced a Raypak heater a few years ago (was about 13 years old) with another one of the same model. Each year, I experienced intermittent operation with the new heater. Sometimes wiggling wires allowed it to turn on, disconnecting/reconnecting terminal clamps on some of the switches/connectors, etc. Sometimes the pilot assembly output voltage was borderline. After replacing the flow switch, pilot assembly and various wires and still experiencing intermittent operation, I jumped out the analog thermostat and it has been rock solid ever since. Just a flakey thermostat that I don't even use. I turn on the heater when needed and turn it off when the pool reaches the desired temperature. Who needs a thermostat anyway???
 

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I saw the negative amazon reviews when I was looking to replace a very old heater just over a year ago.

It also reminded me that a number of items bought on amazon I had zero issues with and that most
negative reviews came from folks not following proper instructions / operational aspects.

I have read so many good reviews on this forum from owners and a service tech (thanks Paul) of reliability and if something does go wrong, quite low repair
costs on the Raypak brand that I had no choice but to go Raypak.

I stand by my decision and continue to recommend them.
 
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borjis said:
I saw the negative amazon reviews when I was looking to replace a very old heater just over a year ago.

It also reminded me that a number of items bought on amazon I had zero issues with and that most
negative reviews came from folks not following proper instructions / operational aspects.

I have read so many good reviews on this forum from owners and a service tech (thanks Paul) of reliability and if something does go wrong, quite low repair
costs on the Raypak brand that I had no choice but to go Raypak.

I stand by my decision and continue to recommend them.
Click to expand...

Good Feedback Borjis - thanks...I esp agree w the users on the board here that give the Raypak the best rating of all ng heaters.

Finally, I believe that reviews should somehow be normalized. I think most would tend to agree that if something breaks, everyone wants to speak their mind, esp if they got burned. conversely, when something goes right, no one really complements it. therefore, I believe manufacturers/resellers/etc should provide incentives for true and unbiased reviews. GIGO...

Also, I always read the most critical reviews and for sure qualify them. I strike out user abuse, improper usage, I don't like the color, etc...but if I see a pattern of controller failures, repetitive electronic failures, then I find it hard to believe it's all the buyers/users fault.
 
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Good Call.

To add to that it also helped that I have a 12 year old furnace as well as 12 year old A/C unit, both are Rheem.
Both have provided consistent performance with no break down at all in those 12 years.

Rheem owns Raypak and I'm pretty sure their heaters are the same, just badged differently.
Great company that makes reliable products.
 
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borjis - just noticed you're from the NW Pacific..I would suspect your heat and humidity intensities are not near as strenuous as SE/SC Texas. Furnaces also last a lot longer here bc we don't use them except in Dec-Feb max.. I too like Rheem water heaters...have 2 NG at primary home and 1 propane in country...

One precautionary note; once you start bragging on the reliability of something, you know what happens next !!! :hammer:
 
The one service tech's (referred to above) commentary posts over the years in favor of Raypak, along with users here have cemented that as a good choice if no other conditions require another brand.
 
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Well I install hundreds of Raypak/Rheem heaters every year plus I know two installers south of me and they also install hundreds of these units a year. While I might get one or two that cause issues for some reason, but for the most part the are failure free and thus the reason I install lots of them.

They did have issues with their displays back in 2014 but it was caught and fixed pronto. Compared to another manufacturer that still will not recognize they have an issue with their heat exchangers, Raypak fixes their issues.

Rheem is a specialty branded heater for one particular distributor. Maybe in other areas it's sold by someone else but not here in FL. All the other distributors around me sell the Raypak badge units.

My main business is gas pool heaters and has been for just over 10 years. I've been installing the Raypak/Rheem brand the entire time.
 
As a follow up, my raypak RP2100 335btu low nox heater is not working. Note that except for the control panel problems noted in my previous post, which I got around by using remote control, the heater has been working since 2002 with almost no maintenance.

So I can't complain about a 16 year old heater failing.
It seems like its not getting power, based on some quick troubleshooting I did, so I plan to start looking further at it, to see if I can get it fired up again. It doesn't start, and I don't see voltage on the remote control lines like I expect.

Randy
 
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