Questions for heater repairman...

[Midnight]

I have a heater repairman coming out in about an hour to fix the pool heater. It only worked three times, for a few minutes to test it out the first time, then for about an hour the next time (I turned it off), then for around an hour or two the third time until the pool hit 75 degrees, then it quit. We had just hooked it up a little over a week before we tried it out, just too busy to mess with it.

Called the home warranty company, they approved calling a local pool store. Someone is coming out today. Are there any specific questions I should ask the repairman? I had a low ph issue that PoolDoc helped me clear up quickly. But it worked the next time after that. I'm not impressed with the company so far, as the repairman was supposed to be out last Monday and never showed. The pool store has been telling me he'll be out since then. Any general advice on the process of having it looked at?

[Midnight]

Posting the results for anyone lurking and reading. There was a knob plate behind the dial that has a screw in it that can be screwed in to keep the temperature from being turned up higher than you want it to. It's a way to lock the temperature so the kids or other people can't turn it up too high. I had googled and googled before I called the repair company and couldn't find the answer anywhere. It was in the manual and I missed it. I did feel pretty foolish. The repairman didn't charge me for the visit, but did tell me the heater was out of code, being closer than 4 feet to the house, though, and that he'd have to write up a disclaimer. He kept telling me he was afraid it would melt the siding on my house and that I shouldn't run it at all, and don't ever run it while I wasn't home. And that he was sure that was the reason the previous owners refused to open the pool for a pool inspection and offered a pool warranty add on to the home warranty instead. My husband and I decided not to use the heater anymore, and I was planning on emailing our agent to see if we had any recourse with the previous owners. After spending the evening planning a remodel of the backyard, trying to figure out where to move the pool, place the pump, move the deck, figure out IF we can move the deck, calculate how much to move the gas line, and where to put the heater so that it has the proper clearance, I reread the heater manual and found out it has the proper clearance after all. I had read the heater manual when we hooked it up, but it was easy to forget when the repairman said it was dangerous to run it. Remember to read the manual again before you call a repairman. LOL.

[Charlie_R]

Thanks for the update.

Yes, reading instructions is something that many of us "forget" to do, and we usually end up wiping egg from our faces....

It's great that you got everything sorted though, so go out and enjoy your pool!

[Spensar]

What kind of heater do you have, and what is the fuel. eg. Natural gas, propane, electric.

I have had a natural gas heater for years, and it is only about a foot from the house, and it never affected the siding. Gas regulations required it to be a minimum distance from all windows. That could be a regulation in your area, or for you fuel type. I would inquire on exactly what the reg is and read if for yourself. If you are out of reg. or code, you should move it to ensure your insurance coverage is not affected.

My first heat was a Jandy with a wind stack for venting, and the stack come from the middle of the heater, so it was a couple of feet from the siding. The siding got more heat from the sun than the heater. My new heater is a Hayward lo-nox and it doesn't require a wind stack. No heat problems there.