Quote Originally Posted by DaveV View Post
Hi - I have a Pentair MiniMax, about 5 years old. Always worked great. This year when I first turned it on, fumey black smoke came out of it while it was operating. It did heat the water, but the smoke continued. It left a sooty dust on top of the heater. Something aint right. Anyone know what?
This is a guess but if you had the pool shutdown for the winter and live in a colder climate like I do (Wisconsin), it could have been mouse nest. Happened to me 3 years ago. There was a nest built on the burners and another above the heat exchanger. The little buggers chewed through the insulation and used some of that to make the nest. Now I check it every spring before firing it up.