"(basically a LCD display with three touch sensitive panel/buttons connected to a circuit board)."

And? That is what Raypak charges! Complain to them...

The digital t-stat prime failure is a bad LCD. If they made just that part available, you would never need an entire board. But, they don't. The touchpad does fail but it usually needs replaced as part of a t-stat replacement. You can try the touchpad first.

The current board replaces all digital boards. It is a retrofit part. When they changed it, they integrated the ignition control into the board and that is what makes it so expensive. $500.00 with a touchpad is quite fair considering the part cost and labor to retrofit an older unit.

The older board only was a couple of hundred. The wholesale cost for both parts in in excess of $325.00.

601533 is not a part. The part is 010253F and is generally $400.00 online w/o labor and tax. The decal membrane switch is 009492F and is about $30.00

That is close to a third or more of the cost of buying a brand new heater. I've googled the PN 601533 (which is the circuit board)and have not had much luck finding out much info on the part. You cannot purchase replacement parts directly from Raypak and it looks like the RP2100 was replaced by a newer model in 2004. The heater itself looks brand new. It's pretty hot here in southeastern Texas, so we really only use the heater to heat the spa at night or occasionally the pool in the off-season months.

Thanks for the response. I appreciate the info. I have to disagree with you about the cost being "quite fair". And I'm not blaming the people who install the new boards, it's Raypak - like you pointed out - that should be targeted. Clearly their business model is based on selling you a new heater rather than repairing an old one. I've asked around the neighborhood and I am starting to get the picture that a lot of these Raypak heaters had control board issues - at least the pre-2004 models. One neighbor had 3 boards replaced before getting one that worked properly - fortunately for her it was all under warranty.

I know a fair bit about circuit board manufacturing costs, and it is not costing Raypak anything close to that amount to produce those control boards. I've given it some more thought. Why would I pay $500 incl. labor to replace one part of the heater when I can go out and purchase a brand new one with a warranty etc. - from another manufacturer - for only 2-3x more money than the cost of the repair? I would be insane not to scrap the whole thing. And out of curiousity, what does a retrofit intail? Unplugging and unscrewing the old board out of the unit and swapping it out for the new board. I'm assuming because it's backwards compatible with older heater models that the wiring will be similar, if not the same. But then again, what do I know?

Is there really a company that will provide and install a heater for $1500.

I would assume that installed heaters over 200,000 btu's start nation wide at $2,250.00 and go up depending on the market.

Racket: Here in central MS we are getting a 266,000 BTU NG heater installed for $1800.

Thats a crazy price.

The cheapest I can find online is ~$1500 shipped.

Maybe with the average house up around $360,000+ we have to pay a little more up here.

I don't know ... In case you didn't realize, that is probably lower than the average house price in my immediate area. Maybe they just sell more heaters here since a lot of people here swim longer in the year than in other regions. I know our pool prices are generally higher than most I have seen on this board. I was surprised to get the heater for that price. We just missed a promotion during the summer for an even better deal.

A Pentair MasterTemp runs almost $1700.00 wholesale right now. You cannot buy a modern heater for less than that. If you want a quality heater, and Raypak is one, it will run you $2500 to purchase and install.

The Raypak board is a sign of doing too much in one thing. When you add a $250.00 ignition control to a board and then make that board LCD and then make it compatible for a low nox OR propane heater, you are going to inflate pricing. The old style board never failed but the LCD screen failed miserably. This required a new board when the board itself was not bad. Add the ignition control part and you have the high cost.

Every manufacturer is guilty in any appliance category. I'd still buy a Raypak over any other heater as aside from the board, it is superior to all others.

Buy a Hayward and you are asking for a lifetime of repairs. Buy a Jandy and the first repair will kill you.

".. In case you didn't realize, that is probably lower than the average house price in my immediate area."

360k in seattle will buy you a 3 bedroom 1100 sqft rambler built in 1965 with a .13 acre lot.

Most of the neighborhoods that Have pools in this area typically average $700k+

".. In case you didn't realize, that is probably lower than the average house price in my immediate area."

360k in seattle will buy you a 3 bedroom 1100 sqft rambler built in 1965 with a .13 acre lot.

Most of the neighborhoods that Have pools in this area typically average $700k+

Thanks for all the input. It looks like it might be time for a new Raypak heater. I just can't justify putting a $500 (installed) part in a unit that is at least 5 years (probably more) old and out of warranty.

Hi-

I own a Raypak RP2100 Digital with a failing LCD and I wanted to see if I could get some follow up info on something RepairGuy wrote several months ago.

"The old style board never failed but the LCD screen failed miserably. This required a new board when the board itself was not bad"

I think this implies that the LCD is not required to operate the unit. I have never really used the LCD, I simply turn the unit on using the on/off rocker switch and click the red "Temp" switch to max which is about right for my spa (~105Deg F). Recently my heater is only only getting to about 85 Deg F, despite cleaned filters etc.

My questions are:

1) Any ideas what the problem might be, could it be in "Pool" rather than "Spa" mode. I have never really understood what "Pool" mode meant other than a lower max temp setting.

2) I'm not getting any "click" when I press the switches. How do you replace the Switch Decal (Part # 009184F) Is it really glued on to the front panel?

3 Can you operate the heater blind? That is simply by counting the "clicks" of the Mode and Temp switches (assuming my switches did actually click). When you power up this unit, how many "clicks" are required to get into "Spa" mode and Max temp?

4) If I do 'bite the bullet' and replace the PC Board, is this something a (reasonably) intelligent person can do? Is the wiring the same etc. It sound like they've made some other changes to the ignition etc. The PC Board I have is Part # 601553 (Date Code 1700, Rev 10)

Thanks for any info...

I own a Raypak RP2100 and am having the following trouble. The unit fires up and runs fine on the initial start-up. Once the water reaches the desired temperature and the heater turns off it will not re-fire as the water temp drops. You here the electronic ignition clicking, then after 2 min, the unit shuts down and PLT is displayed on the board. If you turn off power to the unit and retart it, its fine. This is ok for running the pool, but lousy for the spa.

Any ideas what could be causing this. The service people I use have gone out of business and I haven't found a local place that will service the unit.

Is this a 406 or 407 model? If you have the new style igniter which is in the center of the burner tray, many times it is not gapped right. Believe it or not, power down the heater, turn it on and give it a swift kick when it tries to ignite. It just may fire. You really need to pull the igniter and give it just a fraction more gap. They all do this out of the box. PLT is the pilot error.

Thanks....can't tell what model, but will try re-gapping the igniter. Kicking it is won't work since I don't want to get out of the hot tub each time to kick it :-)

I also have the RP2100, it's making a whining noise and I'd like to check the Unitherm Governor, but I'm baffled about how to remove the U.G. plug

Repair guy.

Afaik the ignitor you are speaking of is only on the 130 model. The Digital models still have the electronic pilot.

Deamo I would bet your pilot orifice is clogged. The tube can be removed from the pilot, and the orifice can be cleaned out using a needle.