Gas pool and spa heaters are expensive pieces of equipment, and extreme care should be taken when installing them. Gas pool and spa heaters should only be fitted by persons Licensed, Qualified, Trained, and Experienced with them. They should not be fitted by anyone unfamiliar or untrained.
It is illegal and dangerous for Pool & Spa Technicians to install or carry out any work on a gas heater.
The most common cause of issues with gas pool and spa heaters are incorrect installations, followed by water chemistry issues.
Incorrect installations, and not following the manufacturer's requirements, as well as AS / NZS 5601 regulations (and others) can damage the heater, equipment, and can be harmful or fatal.
Correct Flow & Pressure setup are absolutely critical on a gas pool heater installations.
Some modern heaters require the use of a Combustion analyser to set the combustion rate within manufacturer's tolerance. Low or High gas pressure causes many problems, from damaging the heat exchanger, burners, or sooting issues.
Incorrect gas settings can also cause high CO levels, which are harmful or fatal.
Good gasfitters should have a range of tools, calculations, and regulations they must adhere to when installing a gas heater.
Gas Meters & Piping must be sized correctly to the gas heater and appliances. Many domestic gas meters are too small for pool heaters and will need to be upgraded. This often doesn't cost anything and is done by your gas company.
AS / NZS 5601 and other regulations must be met, in addition to the manufacturer's specifications. Poor clearances can cause incorrect combustion, increase the risk of fire, and can damage the heater. Incorrect clearances can also cause harmful or fatal Carbon Monoxide levels.
It is extremely important to have the water side and plumbing of the heater done properly. Failure to correctly install a gas heater can damage equipment or cause injury.
Chemical dosing systems, including chlorinators must have a working check valve between them and the heater. It is not uncommon for chemical dosing systems to cause major damage to the heat exchanger.
Poor water flow can cause tripping high-limits, or melting pipes. Check filters are clean and use a flow meter to ensure the heater is getting it's required flow of water at all times.
Switching off a heater without it cooling down can cause collapsed or melted pipes. In these cases, check the installation is 100% correct, and let the pump run on after switching off the heater. This is commonly called a "Cool-down" period.
Most control systems such as the Aqualink, Connect 10, Halo, Aquatek, and others have this built in. There are also standalone run-on timers available.
Chemical corrosion is probably the leading cause of heater failures. This is typically caused by low pH and poor water chemistry. It's seen most where bromine tables or stabilised chlorine is used. High combined chlorine can also accelerate corrosion dramatically.
Chemical corrosion is quite obvious to the trained eye. You can find many more photos of chemical damage here.
We often see gas heaters installed to incorrect clearances. These are listed in AS/NZ 5601 and there are strict rules that must be adhered to.
Clearance issues occur when heaters are installed by unqualified persons such as "pool techs." These can lead to anything from poor combustion to fires.
Damaged heat exchangers are generally due to poor combustion and gas pressure, but can also be destroyed by poor water chemistry. Gas heaters should be serviced regularly, and never fitted by an unqualified and inexperienced persons.
Sooting, scaling, melting, and corrosion are all forms of heat exchanger problems.
Non-existent or pool flueing of gas pool heaters can result in anything from poor combustion, to illness, to death.
People are hospitalised and have even died due to pool heater combustion gases such as Carbon Monoxide. Our own Glenn was rushed to hospital due to a poorly fitted flue. Exhaust gases are no joke.
Melted pipes are an obvious sign of a problem with your equipment and installation. Incorrect piping, plumbing, or equipment timers can cause this. It can be as simple as lack of flow switch, thin pipe, or not giving the heater enough time to cool down.
Melting of pipes are almost always an installation issue where residual heat is unable to escape from the plumbing.
Other parts such as burners, igniters, pilot assemblies, flame sensors, fluing and more can be damaged to poor combustion or lack of servicing.
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