Chapter One: The Clues
It started on a chilly morning. The homeowner pressed the button, expecting warmth. Nothing happened.
The heater sat there, silent. Mocking.
“I checked everything,” the homeowner said. “Filter’s clean. Pump is running. I shock the pool every week!”
Yet the water stayed cold.
Chapter Two: The Interrogation
We inspected the scene. The filter gauge? Normal. The pump? Humming along. Baskets? Emptied recently.
“When was the last time you opened up the heater?” we asked.
“…Do you have to?” they replied, eyes wide.
Ah. The confession we needed.
Chapter Three: The Misleading Evidence
The water looked fine. Balanced, even. The filter was doing its job. The heater should have worked.
But heaters are picky. They don’t care if your pH is okay if the internals are clogged with debris. They don’t care if your filter looks good when calcium has built up in their pipes.
Even clean water can carry minerals that settle and suffocate the heat exchanger.
Chapter Four: The Real Culprit
We popped the cover off.
Inside, a mess of scale, soot, and spiderwebs. The burners were choked with dirt. The exchanger coated white with calcium.
All that “perfect” water and sparkling filter meant nothing when maintenance on the heater itself was ignored.
Chapter Five: Case Closed
We cleaned out the burners, flushed the exchanger, and reassembled. The heater roared back to life.
We handed the homeowner a checklist:
- Open and inspect the heater every month
- Flush the heat exchanger at least once per season
- Keep calcium hardness between 200–300 ppm
- Clean out debris, dust, and webs from inside the housing
- Schedule a professional check before winter and summer
Even the most loyal heater can’t save itself from neglect. Next time, don’t just love the water, love the machine that keeps it warm.
Case closed.
