Description

This is the genuine Raypak 018874F direct spark ignitor kit for AVIA pool heaters. The listing title gives it as a kit for AVIA heaters and the source description names AVIA Model 264A, so both are worth checking against your unit before ordering.

What it does

An AVIA heater has no standing pilot. When the control calls for heat, the ignitor throws a spark directly at the main burner and the flame sensing circuit confirms the fire. That makes the ignitor a single point of failure: if it will not spark, or sparks to the wrong place, the heater goes to lockout without lighting.

When to replace it

Look at the ceramic insulator and the electrode. A hairline crack in the ceramic bleeds the spark to ground before it reaches the burner, and an electrode eroded by years of firing opens the gap past what the ignition control can jump. Carbon tracking across the ceramic does the same thing. Any of those, and the ignitor is the part to change.

The rest of the ignition system

The high tension igniter wire and the ignition transformer are separate Raypak parts. If a new ignitor does not restore reliable lighting, those are the next things to check.