Can't Light Pilot

[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.