Replacing the heater again, please give me your thoughts on the best brand

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Jenmachen

Silver Supporter
Jul 10, 2017
71
West Monroe, LA
Original heater with first home owner lasted 16 years. My first heater I installed after I bought my house lasted 7 years. It was a pentair mastertemp 250. Lots of small repairs that I could do myself, but finally something major went out and I replaced it with another exactly the same. That first heater was "pool stored" for a few years, until I discovered this TFP cult 😂. Second heater lasted 3-1/2 years. Current heater is barely 3 years old and I'm about to replace it. Has Pentair quality really gone that far downhill? Is there a better brand? Any thoughts will help. thanks!
 
mknauss said:
What went wrong?
Honestly I would recommend a Pentair Mastertemp ---
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I do not remember why I replaced it the last time. This time it is the air blower I think he said. I use american home shield, so at least I only pay my deductible. I do all sorts of small repairs myself. But I can replace it with a different brand under the warranty. It's a wonder that AHS doesn't force me to try a different brand with another replacement looming. It's definitely possible it would be more cost effective to simply replace the blower, but the insurance just goes by whatever the serviceman recommends.
 
Replace it with another MasterTemp.

Heaters are a commodity and you know your way around the MasterTemps.

Most techs do not know how to diagnose problems. They try a few things and if it does not works they throw up their hands and say you need a new heater. Especially when AHS is buying it.

Air blowers rarely fail unless there is an installation problem causing corrosive condensation or rodents nest in it.

Show us pictures if your heater and equipment room. Especially the outside exhaust.

Pentair MasterTemp Heaters - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
No rodents for sure, it runs every day. And I do agree that there is some value in knowing my way around the mastertemp. If a part is less than my $125 deductible, I work on it myself. And my pool is totally TFP maintained so it is not a water chemistry issue.
 

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Oh I did just think about this. My pool runs at the high end of normal for FC due to constant creeping upwards CC's. I am sure this is due to it being indoors. Even though it has a great air handling system that runs 24/7. Do you think that may be shortening the life of the heater?
 
Jenmachen said:
Oh I did just think about this. My pool runs at the high end of normal for FC due to constant creeping upwards CC's. I am sure this is due to it being indoors. Even though it has a great air handling system that runs 24/7. Do you think that may be shortening the life of the heater?
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No.

Post a complete set of your test results.

Do you have a UV system to rid the CCs?

UV Systems - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
ajw22 said:
Your heater is outdoors, which is good.

Your gas line does not look like it follows Pentair’s Installation Manual.

Read Heater Maintenance - Further Reading

Show me a better picture of the gas line into the heater.
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Agreed. Its connected with an indoor range flex line. Also looks like the gas line goes all the way to the right and loops back left.

Its probably not contributing to these problems but it surely isn't ideal.

If the plumber did that, then I would have the whole gas system looked into all the way back to the meter and regulator.
 
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ajw22 said:
No.

Post a complete set of your test results.

Do you have a UV system to rid the CCs?

UV Systems - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
I do not have UV system, but have done a lot of research on TFP and I think about adding one every year....just never pulled the trigger. Seems like a big expense that might eventually pay for itself if it meant I can use less bleach, but since I can maintain my CC's with a higher than average FC, it seems a bit overkill.

this mornings numbers:
FC: 6.5
CC: less than .5
PH 7.5
CH 300 (almost time to add de-icer)
TA 50
CYA 0 (over the years I have run a low CYA level in the summer simply for comfort with a lot of extra swimmers)

The only thing I can think of that I've never tested is phosphates. I know the pool stores love to sell stuff for that, but TFP guidelines usually ignore them. Of course indoor pools are a slightly different animal, so maybe I should test that one day?
 
Sws said:
Agreed. Its connected with an indoor range flex line. Also looks like the gas line goes all the way to the right and loops back left.

Its probably not contributing to these problems but it surely isn't ideal.

If the plumber did that, then I would have the whole gas system looked into all the way back to the meter and regulator.
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Depends.

Did the air blower not run at all?

Otherwise a combustion problem can be blamed on the air blower when it is an inadequate gas supply problem.
 
Sws said:
Agreed. Its connected with an indoor range flex line. Also looks like the gas line goes all the way to the right and loops back left.

Its probably not contributing to these problems but it surely isn't ideal.

If the plumber did that, then I would have the whole gas system looked into all the way back to the meter and regulator.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure it does go right and loops back. I think the first heater was on the right with the other things on the pad and the first time I installed a new heater, the service guy wanted to move it. I do not remember the reason for that.
 
You should have at least CYA 20 with a FC over 3. Otherwise the chlorine can be very harsh to people and equipment.
 
ajw22 said:
You should have at least CYA 20 with a FC over 3. Otherwise the chlorine can be very harsh to people and equipment.
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ok, that is new information for me. when i started with TFP, i had zero CYA as is normal for indoor pools i suppose. TFP recommended the 20 CYA for swimmer comfort, swimsuit, hair etc. But nobody told me zero CYA would be harsh on my equipment. i realize the indoor aspect of my pool gets mixed recommendations sometimes from you guys, most likely due to not enough stats on indoor residential pools.
 
There is no reason not to have CYA 20 in your indoor pool.
 
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Jenmachen said:
Gotcha. My tube starts at 30, is there a way i can reliably test for 20?
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Indoor pool discrimination again!

You can get the Taylor CYA tube or add wgat calculates to be 20 CYA which should get the sample cloudy but you can still see some of the dot. Thst is good enough.
 
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