Sunpak Heater Troubleshooting

Sunpak Heater Troubleshooting

Identifying the problem

There are no moving parts when it comes to Sunpak heater troubleshooting, so needing to fix one is an uncommon occurrence. But if you’ve stumbled upon this page, it’s likely because you are not able to turn on your heater and are looking for a quick fix, which we can provide! Here are the most common troubleshooting methods to implement before shopping around for a new hanging heater.

Damage likely occurred during transportation, installation or transferring the hanging heater from one location to another. Once the heater is installed, and except for rare manufacturing defects, the heater should operate perfectly for years. When purchasing a Sunpak hanging heater you should rest easy knowing these do not run across problems very often and when they do, these problems are likely fixable from home.

We’ve thought of the most common sunpak heater troubleshooting solutions and they are as follows:

• Spiderwebs

The most common issue with the Sunpak heaters are spiderwebs. Spiders are attracted to gas appliances including but not limited to, patio heaters, gas barbecues, and pool heaters. Any small opening having to do with burners, spiders tend to make a home and block or restrict gas flow. This can be fixed simply by blowing out or cleaning the opening.

• 0° to 30° Tilt

If the heater is installed improperly and there is greater than a 0° to 30° tilt, the gas will flow improperly into the burner. A giveaway that this is the issue are flutterings or pop off’s. To fix this issue, it is important to re-install the hanging heater without such a large tilt.

• Low Gas Pressure

Low gas pressure in the gas line tends to come from extra lengthy runs of pipe not having a large enough diameter. Necessary pipe diameter can change depending on how many heaters you are running it to. For example, normally a half inch pipe would be sufficient for one or two heaters, but if you’re running a pipe for 100 ft you may need three-quarter inch pipe instead. To figure out if this is the issue, run a pressure test.

• Bad Fuse

Since this heater is hooked up electrically for the spark ignition each time the heater is turned on, if no spark occurs, the issue could be something as simple as a bad fuse or loose ground wire! If the fuse is bad, contact us regarding replacements and we can lead you in the right direction. Otherwise, check all connections and wires to ensure the issue doesn’t come from faulty wiring.

On new installations, give the heater time to light. There could be air in the line.

Needing to troubleshoot a Sunpak Heater is very uncommon, but simple things like low pressure from gas pipe installation, wrong angle on the heater exceeding 30°, or gas venting issues have occurred. For best results, we suggest checking each of these four possible causes thoroughly to troubleshoot the issue. In 30 years, we have sold very few parts, as the problem is usually related to installation or maintenance.

Have additional questions? Contact us!