Hello! I replaced the atmospheric pilot, tube and bracket on a 266 nat gas heater and the pilot lights up just fine… but the heater still gives an error code for pilot not sensed and won’t turn on the burners.
I pulled the burners and cleaned them. I reset the error codes and factory settings.
What else can I do?
Hi Johnny, it sounds like you did the correct first steps to cure the problem. I would take a look at the control board to see if there are any issues with it. Sometimes critters get behind it or spiders make a nest which can cause problems. Turn the power off and remove it and make sure it is clean and the connectors are all seated properly.
Thanks Rich! Yeah I should have said that, but I did look at the control board, which looked clean, and I reseated the connectors and none looked corroded or burnt.
And you’re right, I’ve found giant nests everywhere in heaters (wasps being the worst!) but this one didn’t have any.
Do you think the board could be bad? or would the gas valve be bad and show as a pilot not sensed error?
What model is your Raypak heater? I’ll dig and see if I can find a good troubleshooting guide.
Raypak r266a
The Raypak online troubleshooter (which didn’t ask about error codes) just said “no flame? install new gas valve” which seemed odd that it was that simplistic… Unless the gas valve is always the problem?
It is pretty unusual for the gas valve to go bad. We sell a lot more of the control boards. Try to reposition the flame sensor to be sure it knows the pilot is lit. You may also be able to check to see if there is voltage going to the gas valve (after the pilot is lit).
Where should the sensor be positioned? Do you have picture of it correctly positioned? It sure seems like it’s in the flames, but maybe it’s wrong… And do you have a link to the control board? I’m going to order one to try swapping it to see if that fixes it. I’ve replaced them elsewhere but the symptoms were more obvious than this.
Hi Johnny, we don’t have any pictures or videos showing the pilot light, but be sure that something didn’t get dislodged - it should look like this pilot assembly. Here is the control board if yours is the digital heater.
You have probably seen this, but here is a link to Raypak’s YouTube troubleshooting guide.
Q: Does the pilot assembly have the correct orifice in it for your fuel (the orifice with the red dot is the propane orifice).
Yeah that’s the pilot assembly I installed, and it said the nat gas was pre-installed and there was a propane orifice in the box, but I didn’t need it. Here’s a pic of the pilot lit after I pulled back out and fired it up to see where the flame was on the sensor.
<pic didn’t work>
Also, that control board doesn’t look quite right. Is there another model?
Here’s another try to show the pic
Thank you - that picture posted. All looks well - can you post a picture of the label (generally inside the heater under the main front service panel)?
