Finally installed my new Sta-Rite heater. A quick review.

[cruzmisl]

Hi Everyone,
Trying to buy a heater was an unbelievably daunting task. Every brand has advocates and opponents. They all have reported issues and trying to decide which one was tough for me. Hopefully this will help others in the same predicament.

I had to replace my 4 year old Raypak Versa 2 because it started leaking. Trying to get it repaired under warranty was a lost cause so it was either put money into a dead horse or buy a new one. Here are some pics of the unit so I think you'll agree I was best to buy a new one with a warranty.




The pool company tried to blame it on my water but my water is always close to perfect. I didn't have any copper in my water so at least the thing rotted from the outside.

I looked at many replacement brands. Laars, Hayward, Sta-Rite and Pentair were among the top. For obvious reasons Rasypak was not a candidate. Laars had really mixed reviews from what I have read while the Hayward units everyone seemed to despise. Pentair was regarded as a good brand and Sta-Rite was the toughest to find reviews on. Since Sta-Rite is a subsidiary of Pentair I felt pretty comfortable. I should note that every brand I read about had problems, some just more than others.

I decided to go with the 333k btu Sta-Rite unit. It was 84% efficient has electronic ignition and doesn't have a big ugly galvanized stack sticking out of the the top of the unit. The unit has a digital display making it very easy to set temperatures. Even before the Raypak failed I was so tired of trying to determine where on the scale of red to blue 80 degrees was . I also liked the fact that the unit was plastic, a decent size and has a unique shape. It also has a 2 year warranty.

I got a great deal online and the unit was delivered unharmed in 2 days. I needed to change out the gas line from 1/2" to 1" in order to supply enough gas (the Raypak was 204k btu) Wiring the unit was a simple 3 wire affair and the plumbing was a joke. Unfortuantely I had to deal with the mess the pool company made. Is it so tough to ask for things to be mounted square and level?? They just don't care how it looks.

Anyway, once everything was hooked up I plugged it in and turned it on. I set the temp in my spa to 100 and stood back to watch the fireworks (bad analogy since I was dealing with natural gas but you get the point) I heard a blower come on and about 15 seconds later a click and WHOOSH I had heat!! 15 minutes later my spa went from 76 to 100. Once it reached the programmed temp it shut off.

So far I am really happy with the unit. It is definitely well built with lots of stainless fasteners and it's relatively compact for a heater with so much output. The only drawback - I may need a new gas meter sooner than expected. When this thing fires I swear my meter is on a turbocharger. I've never seen that thing spin so fast.

Here are some pics.







Lots of stainless - no rotting here!



I hope this helps. Any questions feel free to ask.

J.

[mshumack]

StaRite is a good brand. You should be happy (except for when gas bill comes in) for years to come. Don't put down RayPac just yet. They have some great new products. I have a 2005 RayPac heatpump. It is very well built. I also have a older model Jandy (Laars) gas heater which is not built as well as the newer Laars heaters.
At least the manufacturers are impoving their products.

[cruzmisl]

Raypak may be great but as I said every manufacturer has their own host of issues. I just wasn't too excited about buying another one given my past experience. That is not to say in the years to come the Sta-Rite will not suffer the same fate. However based on build quality alone it's seems much more unlikely.

J.

[JROLAND508]

I just replaced my Sta-Rite heater with an electric heat pump. I had the Sta-rite for 3 years when the heat exchanger started leaking. Support claimed it is caused by my water, but you really can't refute them, and it is out of warranty. Repair would have been close to the cost of buying a new one and with the price of propane at 2.75 a gallon, I went with the heat pump. Plus the heat pump has a lifetime warranty on the heat exchanger and 10 years on the compressor. Down side is it doesn't heat the water as fast, but does keep it at a steady temp once it is warmed.

Good Luck with yours - I have parts if you are interested

[cruzmisl]

Good Luck with yours - I have parts if you are interested

Hopefully I'll have better luck.