Hayward H250 ED2 Heat exchanger

[Nashvillejoe]

Hey there- and thanks in advance for your input-

i replaced the Thermistor and my heater fired right up- no leaks and it appears to be doing its job- albeit seems really an inefficient way to heat a pool- so much heat escaping out of the top!

the heat exchanger is about 10 years old- although for about 5 of those years it was never used-BUT- it looks rusted and with black soot-

i have a replacement here- which is all beautiful copper- so i am thinking, "since copper doesn't rust-perhaps this guy can be cleaned and it will look a lot better and perhaps even be a bit more efficient"

my pool guy says that the soot is because the gas service is underserving and that i should increase to a 2PSI service - so that the flame will be blue-

my question is should i just go ahead and swap in the new Heat exchanger- or is it possible to save $700 by cleaning the current one and seeing if i can get another season or two out of it- i plan on switching to a solar based system when this heater dies-

would appreciate your thoughts- thanks in advance!!!

 

[kimkats]

I think the best place to ask that is your gas company. They know all of the ins and outs of gas. Better safe than sorry!

 

[ps0303]

Actually a gas heater is the quickest way to heat a body of water.

How long have you had this unit?

Sooting can also be because of an obstruction in a burner tube. Here in FL we have mud daubers that like to build their mud homes in the burners. That causes the burners to not burn correctly thus sooting the heat exchanger. So check your burners as well as the gas orifices. Spider webs can in the orifices might cause sooting as well.

It's easy to clean the sooted heat exchanger but messy. Turn unit off, turn off gas, remove burner tray, then remove heaters top, Use a hose with a strong spray nozzle on it and spray down from the top cleaning the soot from the heater exchanger. Then spray up from the underneath the heat exchanger as well. Make sure to cover the top with a towel or you'll get wet and dirty. Then one last spray down from the top. Put it all back together.

 

[Nashvillejoe]

wow- thats a great information.

the pool and heating unit were installed in 2007- although we bought the home in 2012 and the pool/heating unit had been unused for several years- we used if for the first time in 2017. I swapped out the "Thermistor" and it fired right up- this eve i installed a heating blanket over the pool and will leave in on for a couple weeks until its time to use the pool- should conserve a whole bunch of heat

i will try your cleaning