Raypak IGN: Ignition Failure
IGN means the heater tried three times to light the burner, never detected a flame, and locked itself out.
You hear the igniter cycling, the heater is clearly attempting to start, but the burner never catches — and after the third try, the panel settles on IGN instead of a running flame. That three-strike pattern is by design: Raypak's control board won't keep dumping gas into the burner chamber indefinitely hoping something lights, so it gives up after a fixed number of attempts and reports exactly what happened.
Medium severityApplies to: Raypak Digital ASME and low-profile residential gas pool/spa heaters
What it means
Ignition failure — the heater failed to establish and hold a flame after three light attempts and went into a hard lockout. The fault sits on the gas-and-ignition side of the heater rather than the water side, which is what separates it from flow-related codes like PRS or HL1: everything about circulation can be perfect and IGN will still show up if the burner itself simply never caught.
Likely causes
- Gas supply valve closed, low gas pressure, or an empty propane tank
- Fouled or misaligned igniter/flame-sensing rod
- Failing ignition control module or gas valve
What you can check yourself
- Confirm the gas valve is open and, for propane, the tank has fuel
- Clear the lockout at the control panel and allow another attempt
- Check that other gas appliances on the same line work normally
Never service the gas valve, igniter, or flame sensor yourself. If gas supply is confirmed fine but IGN keeps recurring, have a licensed technician inspect the ignition system.
Sources
Related
- All Raypak error codes
- Raypak ILO — the hard lockout that follows repeated IGN failures
- Hayward IF — the equivalent ignition-failure code on Hayward gas heaters
- Pentair ERR IGN — Pentair's version of the same flame-detection fault
- Pool Heater Won't Ignite — the cross-brand symptom guide for this exact problem