Gas smell from Jandy JXI exhaust

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kyleshea

Member
May 20, 2024
22
Michigan, US
Hello all! A little backstory; earlier in the year I had an electrical situation that ended up frying multiple parts on my Jandy XJI heater. I replaced the power distribution board, power transformer, Fenwal ignition control, and the blower motor. The heater worked like a champ all season and seemed to effectively and efficiently heat the and maintain the pool temp. ONE PROBLEM: I could generally smell gas coming exclusively from the heater's exhaust. There is no odor near any other parts, connections, etc. I do not remember this smell before changing the parts mentioned above, but I'm positively they're installed correctly and that there are zero leaks or other mechanical issues. The blower motor does connect directly to the gas system so it's a likely suspect, however again there is no leak or odor from anywhere except the heater exaust and of course only when the heater is actively running. I can't say whether the smell is "raw gas" or "burnt gas", but it has more of a foul odor so I'd put that on the raw gas side, huh?

I've seen several threads regarding simply cleaning spiderwebs and other debris from the burners, but am I crazy that this doesn't seem serviceable on the Jandy JXIs? With all the panels off this thing I can't for the life of me determine where these burners might be?! Any help here would be most appreciated!
 
The burners are in the sealed burner can.

A rich mixture with too much gas and too little air can leave unburned gas out the exhaust.

Heater_Jandy_JXI_cutaway.png
 
kyleshea said:
Thanks! So - it sounds like there is no way to access the burners; does that also mean there's no way to control the gas/air mix?
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The gas/air mix is determined by the blower fan and he gas pressures. The only thing that is adjustable are the gas pressures.

Check the blower fan intake for any obstructions.

Check the static and dynamic gas pressures using a manometer.
 
Great info so quickly, thanks all! So the only relevant component that would have changed since the power incident (and when I did NOT notice the gas smell) was the blower/fan. I did replace this item with a used part that came off the same model that had another issue not related to the blower. It bench tested OK in that it powers up and runs smoothly, and the unit runs normally with it installed; but perhaps it's somehow just pushing a little less air then the original causing the rich mixture.
 
No view port.

Sorry I take this back. I was looking at some of my pics from when I repaired the heater and I believe the below shows a sight glass.

1727200712484.png
 
Last edited:
kyleshea said:
Hello all! A little backstory; earlier in the year I had an electrical situation that ended up frying multiple parts on my Jandy XJI heater. I replaced the power distribution board, power transformer, Fenwal ignition control, and the blower motor. The heater worked like a champ all season and seemed to effectively and efficiently heat the and maintain the pool temp. ONE PROBLEM: I could generally smell gas coming exclusively from the heater's exhaust. There is no odor near any other parts, connections, etc. I do not remember this smell before changing the parts mentioned above, but I'm positively they're installed correctly and that there are zero leaks or other mechanical issues. The blower motor does connect directly to the gas system so it's a likely suspect, however again there is no leak or odor from anywhere except the heater exaust and of course only when the heater is actively running. I can't say whether the smell is "raw gas" or "burnt gas", but it has more of a foul odor so I'd put that on the raw gas side, huh?

I've seen several threads regarding simply cleaning spiderwebs and other debris from the burners, but am I crazy that this doesn't seem serviceable on the Jandy JXIs? With all the panels off this thing I can't for the life of me determine where these burners might be?! Any help here would be most appreciated!
Click to expand...
Its not unusual on a Jandy JXi, a Pentair MasterTemp, a StaRite Max-E-Therm heater to smell gas just before the burner lights. The blower literally blows the gas mixture so fast that some will escape before it is lit. The odorant that is put into gas is very strong, but the amount of un-burned gas that escapes is very small.
 

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1poolman1 said:
Its not unusual on a Jandy JXi, a Pentair MasterTemp, a StaRite Max-E-Therm heater to smell gas just before the burner lights. The blower literally blows the gas mixture so fast that some will escape before it is lit. The odorant that is put into gas is very strong, but the amount of un-burned gas that escapes is very small.
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Thanks poolman. This odor is sustained and present in the exhaust only even hours after start up.
 
kyleshea said:
Yep, EXCLUSIVELY when it's actively heating. When active heating = constant smell of gas from exhaust, all else = no smell from anywhere.
Click to expand...

This would indicate that gas is leaking outside of the combustion chamber. I would check all gas connections. Especially the line to the combustion chamber.

The black pipe in the below pic.

1727200494971.png
 
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