Replacement of a 075192 pilot tube on a Pentair Mini Max 300 Plus pool heater

[DTS7]

Hello,
I own a 22 year old Pentair Mini max 300 Plus pool heater. It recently stopped working and I'm in the trouble shooting phase. A recent suggestion was to inspect the pilot ignitor so I disassembled the pilot tube and ignitor from the main burner can and gas valve. Things began to fall apart due to heat/corrosion related age. I ordered a new pilot tube, #075192, and an ignitor, #471204, and now I'm wondering about its installation. The pilot tube did not come with compression fitting or ferrules. In my mind, it would appear that the tube would need a set of fittings and ferrules, at each end, along with those tube ends to be properly flared before reinstalling to both the gas valve and the main burner can mounting bracket. Can anyone comment on this repair? Thank you.

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Let's see what @1poolman1 or @swamprat69 suggest.

 

[JamesW]

Time to take the heater out of service.

It has served its time.

 

[swamprat69]

The brass fittings that go on either end have the ferrules attached at the end of the fitting. The 1/4" aluminum pilot tubing is inserted until it bottoms out in the fitting hole. As the fitting/ferrule is tightened, the ferrule breaks away from the fitting and seals around the tubing as the fitting is tightened further. The pilot tubing should be cut to length with a tubing cutters so that the end is smooth and square. The brass fitting itself should not be overtightened as this can deform the flats on the brass fitting. Any of these parts should be available at a hardware or big box home improvement store. The pilot tubing is not "flared" ! Any newly installed or disconnected gas fittings need to be leak checked after they are connected/reconnected. What you see as heat/corrosion deterioration due just to age may have been caused by other possible problems that may need to be addressed for safety reasons ( integrity of the combustion chamber/ flue path or blockages of the gas, gas/air mixture, burners or flue gas paths ). Many older heaters ( home heating/pool ) are fairly simple systems that can be repaired as long as there are no safety concerns and the parts needed are available and not obsolete or prohibitively expensive.

 

[1poolman1]

Hello,
I own a 22 year old Pentair Mini max 300 Plus pool heater. It recently stopped working and I'm in the trouble shooting phase. A recent suggestion was to inspect the pilot ignitor so I disassembled the pilot tube and ignitor from the main burner can and gas valve. Things began to fall apart due to heat/corrosion related age. I ordered a new pilot tube, #075192, and an ignitor, #471204, and now I'm wondering about its installation. The pilot tube did not come with compression fitting or ferrules. In my mind, it would appear that the tube would need a set of fittings and ferrules, at each end, along with those tube ends to be properly flared before reinstalling to both the gas valve and the main burner can mounting bracket. Can anyone comment on this repair? Thank you.

If those parts of the heater are corroded, likely the main gas valve is also. If so that would need to be replaced as well. As a service tech, we have been taught that a corroded gas valve is either replaced or walk away from, regardless of whether that was the initial call or not. Too much liability and danger to the customer. A corroded gas valve can fail "open" even with the pump off. Three-hundred thousand BTU of heat is more than most people can even imagine, 2000 degrees in the fire box. You don't want that in an un-controlled heater.

As I have told many customers, a heater that is not functioning/lighting will not harm you. One that is must be working correctly or the amount of damage can be very severe.

At 22 years, its time for new.