Broken Gas Pool Heater - Anyone Buy These Things?

[SR56]

I have an old gas heater that I'm going to replace with a heat pump. Is there any scrap value in these things or do people buy them to refurbish? I'm in the Orlando area.

If not, I'll set it on the curb and it'll be gone within the hour. LOL

 

[mknauss]

Copper heat exchanger ===

 

[Newdude]

It's worth it to the scrap guy and nobody else. You need a truckload to make it worth your time, and I won't even take the truckload anymore. There's a scrapyard right down the road and I got $65 for a full load of chain link fence. I also got a flat from the mess around the junk pile. I put some air in the tire to make it to the tire shop and the $150 TPMS valvestem broke. It was $25 for the patch and I lost $110.

Everything goes to the curb now and the junk guys snatch it up in a day or two.

 

[SR56]

I live on a pretty regularly traveled road. It was gone 6 minutes after I put it on the curb.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

One man's trash is another man's treasure ... it's amazing what people will haul away.

One positive aspect of living close to the southern border is that there is a HUGE market for used appliances on the Mexico side. Even if you think it's junk and no one would want it, it will be gone in a heart beat. Folks take all sorts of appliances, get them working and then, given the lack of ... 'ahem' *cough* *cough* regulations .... they will take the stuff across the border and sell it for a very pretty peso or two ... and if you advertise a 'garage sale' you will find a line of beat up old trucks waiting at your gate to come and see what treasures these gringos are throwing away ...

 

[SR56]

One man's trash is another man's treasure ... it's amazing what people will haul away.

It's amazing the expensive stuff people will throw out when it could be a pretty cheap part to fix it. That heater had a lot of parts rusting out inside so it was toast. It was inop when we moved in almost 7 years ago. Being in real estate, I'd say about 80% of pool/spa setups that have heaters are broken that I've seen.