Raypak vs. Pentair Heater

[srockrae]

I have a SWG 30k gal pool and replacing a Pentair Minimax 400 BTU heater. I am between the two following heaters:

1) Pentair MasterTemp HD Low NOx Pool Heater - Electronic Ignition - Cupro Nickel - Natural Gas - 400,000 BTU HD - 460805

2) Raypak Digital Natural Gas Pool Heater 360K BTU | Electronic Ignition | Cupro Nickel Heat Exchanger | P-R406A-EN-X #50 014941 P-M406A-EN-X #51 014969

Any advice on how to choose. The Pentair is about $150 more.

Also, I assume I can have any ole licensed plumber install in order to get the warranty. Is that the case? The pool guys tend to charge an arm and a leg and are super busy right now.

Thanks

 

[avspin]

Those were the exact same two models I was deciding between a couple years ago replacing my minimax 400. You will get a group of people suggesting either. I decided to go with Pentair as I already have used their stuff and familiar with them in dealing with issues.
As far as installation I decided to install it myself and forget the warranty. Reason is the price. What I saved was substantial and if I need to repair or replace I would do it myself. There is not much that goes wrong that you can't fix yourself.
Since my pool only runs about 5 months a year it should last a while and have less wear than if it ran year-round. The last one was 16 years.

 

[RDspaguy]

My personal preference is raypack, but that may just be because I have working on them the longest.
Pentair is a good company, and they make a good product. It will also communicate with a pentair control, which sounds neater than it is.
Raypack is a Rheem company, who also makes Ruud. Heaters and AC are their business. They don't do hundreds of other products. Just that. And I have seen them cover a heat exchanger damaged by a customers complete lack of understanding about his new swg, he just had to cover labor and shipping.
For warranty I believe you need an authorized service center. More likely to find a plumber or HVAC guy certified for Rheem than for Pentair.
As for DIY, you are gambling that you didn't get a lemon. It happens once in a while.

 

[stephen59_]

Raypak 337A Low Nox Cupro-nickelInput
Hi there, I have a Raypak 337A heater, its about 5 years old, the pool is a salt water 16x32'. I'm in Ottawa, ON, so I'm just getting the pool up and running. The heater has been very dependable, had to replace ignition wire, but that's about it, very fast. Usually get 3 - 5 degrees per hour, our season is limited, so I intentionally oversized the heater slightly for the pool for that reason.

 

[srockrae]

I went with Raypac installed myself and love it!

 

[ajw22]

Pentair MasterTemp is an induced draft design with a blower. It is a more compact cube shape then the Raypak. The blower can be noisy.

The Raypak is a natural draft unit with a more traditional vertical design with a bit less complexity.

Look at if footprint, shape, location of exhaust, and noise make a difference to you.

 

[ps0303]

As much as I love the Raypak/Rheem units, I have come to like the Jandy JXI's more do to their compact size. Since I work alone and install pool heaters, smaller size is much easier to move around than the heavy Raypak/Rheem units. Yes the Jandy JXI is very similar tot he Mastertemp and the Max-E-Therm units.