Hopefully somebody can help me. For years the Raypak was the recommended heater.
There was a time 10+ years ago when the Raypak heater was much better then Pentair/Hayward/Jandy offerings. That commentary was carried forward here while Pentair/Jandy/Hayward all improved their heater and Raypak is selling basically the same model.
There has never been a formal TFP recommendation on heaters but there was a general consensus at one time. Much has changed.
However, now that I'm in need of a replacement the Raypak info on here states that the author will no longer install these heaters due to a manufacturing issue until Raypak fixes the issue. The info was written 9 months ago and I'm not sure if anything may have changed since that time.
That is the opinion of one installer in the CA area. CA also has some of the strictest regulations that limit the selection of heaters that can be installed there.
I told my pool technician I wanted to go with with a Raypak heater before reading this forum's new stance. I have not ordered, but would like to get that rolling ASAP so any assistance with this or a different recommendation is greatly appreciated.
There is no perfect heater.
Hayward/Pentair/Jandy heaters used a forced draft design that uses a blower fan to create air flow.
Raypak heaters used a natural draft design with air coming in the bottom and naturally flowing out of the top.
Forced draft heaters have a smaller form factor and are more compact. The burners are sealed in a can and less likely to corrode. Forced draft heaters have an air blower and complex controls.
The Raypak heater is a larger footprint natural draft heater that has simple operation but since it’s burners are open at the bottom it tends to develop corrosion around the burners.
Raypak now has the Avia model heater that is a forced draft design.
There are pros and cons to each design.
Read the Wikis and you can get an idea of the problem areas in each one....
www.troublefreepool.com
www.troublefreepool.com
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