Hi
I have a Purex Tropic Isle gas heater which worked fine last year but this Spring, I can't get the main burners to fire up. The pilot stays on but when I turn the switch to "ON", nothing happens. I have cleaned/checked all the electrical connectors. I have also cleaned the jets to the main burners and they are clear. Can anyone suggest something?
Thanks
Peter

Peter,

Your problem sounds very similiar to the one I am having. I have a Raypak gas heater and it worked fine for years. Sometime this winter, it started no lighting unless it was bumped.

I too checked all the connections and everything looks in good working order. I changed the flow sensor as a precaution and it still does it.

I am clueless as to what is going on.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,
Dave

Dave
I got a gas heater engineer round and he said the "Pilot generator" (otherwise known as a Thermocouple) is not generating enough milivolts to open the valve in the gas controller. I have ordered a new one to see if replacing it does the trick. The Pilot generator on my system sits next to the pilot light and the heat from the pilot light generates a small current which (when you turn the main burner switch on), should open up the valve to let the gas in to light the main burners.

If your system works in the same way, you could check to make sure your pilot light is strong enough to provide enough heat for the pilot generator? If it is, the pilot generator may be not working?

When you say you "bumped it" to start it, what do you mean? Maybe I can at least get the heater going like you are doing till I get the new part.
Peter

Peter,

Thanks for the tip. I'll check into that.

When I bumped it, I actually rocked it (tiped it over) a few degrees and let it fall back upright. Not a vilent motion, just a bit. For some reason it works, everytime. Last night the pump was running, no burner, I bumped it and it lit.

I think, based on what your saying, the pilot is not directly in the sream of thermocouple and maybe that is doing what your saying. I'll check it out this weekend and repost what I find.

Thanks,
Dave

I have a 10 year old Purex Tropic Isle, rusty but still working although possibly on its last legs.
Mine is the millivolt model and the generator produces 300mv (0.3v) dc when I put a meter across the terminals on the gas switch block to measure the output of the generator.
It is possible that one of the switches and other safety devices is faulty or corroded as that will stop the burner from starting.
Look at the wiring circuit (it is very simple) and you will probably see that you can short out all the controls and see if the burner fires up.
At this point I must mutter things like "at your own risk" and if you are not sure about what you are doing then don't do it... etc.
But in my own case I was able to short the orange and white wires at the gas control switch thereby bypassing the rocker switch, the thermostat, pressure switch etc.
The burner fired up and that told me that the fault was with one of these auxilliary controls.
Hope this helps.
Les

I had a tech come out to see why my burner would not light. He found a bad limit switch.

I have a Purex Tropic Isle heater which has given us a few good years of service, however this summer its just not firing up.
I've checked the pilot light generator to see if its giving enough milivolts and its giving plenty but the gas valve just doesn't seem to open for the main burner.
Does anyone know where I can get a reconditioned valve unit.I've tried me local swimming pool consultant and he has drawn a loss in locating the part (new) as the heater is so old.
I'd be grateful for any advice.

cameron