Pentair Minimax CH

[kiwiswimmer]

Hi everyone. We inherited a pool and Minimax CH heater when we moved last year. I have been able to light the pilot (manually, not with the push starter) and the pilot is burning blue. I can not get the heater to fire up though. I have followed instuctions several times and adjusted the heat dial up and down. The heater worked last season (our first with a pool). Does this sound like a thermostat sensor is broken or could it be something else?
Cheers!

[kiwiswimmer]

So apparently Pentair Mininmax Ch heaters have a crappy thermostat that regularly fails. Pool guy looked at heater and said that we need to get a "solid state thermostat" which I guess is a more reliable older method of detecting water temp.
Does anyone have any experience with this problem? They are saying it costs as much as $400 dollars and I have the same feeling I get when I go to the car dealership or see a snake looking at me from the long grass.