Can't Light Pilot

[mickey4paws]

I'm probably too stupid for words, but I can't get the pilot lit on our pool heater. We have a Comfortzone CPS gas heater that has an electronic ignition to light the pilot. I follow the instructions in the manual but it's not lighting. Shouldn't I be able to see the pilot light if it were lit? The instructions in the manual aren't that great in that they tell you to push the spark ignitor button but don't show the button in the diagram. There is a rather large red button on the right hand bottom of the heater when you take the door off. I am assuming that is the igniter button?

What happened was the heater when on this morning and when I came out a few hours later, the pool was at the same temp. So I checked the heater and even though it was set to on, no heat was coming out and it was cold to the touch. Turning it off and on again a couple times did not help.

Any help is greatly appreciated

[PatL34]

If the instruction manual is that bad, I would call up Comfortzone and ask them why the instructions are not more explicit. You would have thought that safety would be their prime concern. Not using or knowing the heater, I cannot really help you, but on most types of heater ignition systems you have to hold the igniter in after the spark to allow the thermocouple to get hot so as to keep the pilot on.

Pat

[Poconos]

Don't know that heater but you say it has an electronic ignition. That tells me it has to be wired to the AC line, not a manual spark ignitor. The manual spark ignitors, as on gas grills, are a snap action type...the snap is very obvious and they produce a momentary spark. That red button may be the pilot valve override that is used to get the pilot going and keep it on until a thermopile heats up and produces enough power to keep the pilot valve open. If the heater is not connected to the AC 120 volt line then it is a 'millivolt' system as described in the previous sentence. Whatever the system you may have air in the gas line too that needs to be purged before the pilot will light. As Pat said, calling the company is the best idea and they should clear things up easily.
Al

[mickey4paws]

Thanks very much for the replies, Pat and Al. It seems the red button is for the electronic ignition. I called Comfortzone which is now Hayward. I explained what we were doing to light the pilot and they said it sounded right. First you turn a switch to off, then wait 5 minutes. If you don't smell gas, you turn it to pilot position and while holding it in, you then press the red button several times until the pilot lights. Then hold keep holding the pilot in for 1 min, let go and turn it back to on. We did this 3 or 4 times with no luck. So I called a company that has done work on the heater before and they're coming out tomorrow, $80 just to come out though. But neither myself nor my husband have any experience with gas heaters, so I thought it safer to contact them. What's odd is the heater did turn on yesterday morning, but sometime during the next couple hours, it went out. I hope it's something simple. Anyway, thanks again, I really appreciate it.

[Poolsean]

If this is a propane gas heater, is it possible that you need propane? Have you checked your gas lines to make sure it is not turned off?

[mbar]

I have a hayward heater, and had the same problem. It is just that you are not holding in the pilot long enough. We went through the same thing, thinking that it wasn't working. It takes a while for the ignitor to get hot enough to start the pilot. After you hold it for about 1 1/2 minutes, turn the pilot button back to the on position, and put the heater thermostat to the highest position. Turn it on and wait a little, it should come on. It is very hard to see if the pilot is lit - a bad design. Hope this helps.