Service Lamp on Purex 400 Gas Heater ?- UPDATE and a ??

[Piney]

Greetings--

Heater will turn on and burn for 1-2 min, then service lamp lights and burner goes off. It will wait 2-3 min, and turn itself back on. Over and over. A week ago, it stayed on just fine.

Unit is aprox 8 yrs old . It was here with the house so I have no idea about service ect.

What to look for to repair/replace ?
===============

UPDATE

Local tech replaced flame sensor-- was *sure* that was it-- NOPE
Same tech then wanted to replace the circuit board -- was *sure* that was it.

I called and spoke withe PoolCenter.com folks. He suggested that it was probably the water flow regulator , causing the water to get too hot and trip the heat sensors. He said it was comon to see the regulating disc/systyem get rusted and impede the flow of water. The heat sensors indead open up after 5-7 min or operation

I took it out (part # 27 on the diagram)-- and it was toast-- rusted up and springs were gone.

QUESTION- Can the unit run without this flow control in place-- ie wide open water flow ?

 

[Piney]

bump

 

[Kinguni]

QUESTION- Can the unit run without this flow control in place-- ie wide open water flow ?

Sure. It just won't be very efficient - will use more gas and heat the water less. Not ideal to say the least, but can be done.

 

[Piney]

That make sense-- I just wanted to be sure that it wouldnt damage anything running it w/o the flow control valve. I'll order one Monday.

Kids wanted to swim this weekend so I wanted to fire up the heater.

 

[Kinguni]

I think my heater ran without it for some time. When I called out a service man to fix a dead gas valve he opened it up to service it and found that valve disintegrated. Being a 25 year old Jacuzzi heater the part was impossible to repair or replace, so we decided to disconnect it and purchase a new heater in the spring.

Do not run your heater like this for too long as you will get condensation inside which can cause corrosion. Fix it ASAP!