Heater Problem

[captainron19]

OK I have had nothing but problems ever since I first got my Hayward H Series Gas Heater. Last year was the first full year to have the heater and it would not turn on at all. The service rep for Hayward looked at it and trouble shot and had to order a part that of course was on back order. After it was all said and done the heater needed a new control panel board and it did not get back up and running until August (end) so we barely used the heater.

Now I opened my pool this weekend and the heater will not fire. It starts to run, the heater light comes on for a second and then it shuts down. After a repeated attempt automatically the same happens and then it shows a IF error (Ignition failure)

I checked and have a gas flow, I have adequate pressure coming from the pool pump, and the burners all look pretty clear as far as I could see and I even got me shop vac and made sure there were no spider webs in place.

A friend of mine is an electrician and he came over to look and hooked the electrical connections up to his meter and he said there is 240V of electricity going to the transformer but the wire going from the transformer to the electric pilot is barely 1 Volt of electricity. I am not sure how much should be going to the pilot

I would appreciate any feedback on what I can try next. I emailed Hayward and told them of my displeasure of nothing but problems with this heater and that I think it should be replaced by them (I wont hold my breath)

[Aquaclear-NZ]

most of the gas stuff requires 24V, and the valve is commondly earthed to the chassis
ignition and signal to the valve is sent via the elctronic assembly, not the transformer
best get a gas fitter or authorised service agent to look at it

[JNick]

Same problem with H250 purchased last year.
I think you have the same problem. Try this (Hayward temp fix). The blower cover on the right side of the blower has holes in it. Cover up half the holes with tape and see if the heater lights and stays lit. If it does you have to replace the flame sensor with the new type. According to Hayward you can operate the heater with the tape in place with no damage. This is a manufacturers defect. My new flame sensor and installation will be free of charge.

[captainron19]

Thanks for the help I did find the problem. I removed the small copper jet tubes from the gas pipe and 3 of the 5 were completely blocked by spider webs. Actually they were little cocoons with dried up bugs in em. At first when looking at them they were so dense that they looked like someone shot white caulk into the holes.

once I cleaned em out the heater fired up just fine

[Jared]

JNick, Thanks
Just like to say the trick to cover half the intake area worked for the "IF" error code failed to start on my heater as well.

[Valeyard]

I'm having the same problem, heater won't ignite. I unscrewed and opened the small access panel for the igniter and then it lights up no problem. If I screw the panel back on, won't ignite again. I don't really understand this behavior...