Heat stalls at 95?? Noob

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Dave911

0
May 5, 2013
18
Austin TX
Hi all. Great site!!
Situation: heat stalls out at 95 degrees on thermometer
Equipment: purex triton minimax heater, jandy aqua link rs6 controller
Notes: RS6 spa temp set to max of 103 degrees. Triton heater on spa side set to "high". While sitting in the cajuzzi (as named by kids) I feel the jets cycle hot, then to cold water, then I hear an audible "boom" as the heater re-ignites, then the water heats up again.
Thoughts on getting the tub to 100 degrees-ish??
Thanks for any / all advice. Dave911
 
Apparently the heater is cycling on and off, when it should be running continuously. If you are lucky there might be an error message/code on the heater display when it cycles off that will give you more information.
 
The heater you have has dials and no display so it can't give you any error code. This could be a hard one to diagnose. It could very well be the high temp limit but for it to get to say 95 each time and shut off is odd. thus the reason why this is hard to figure out. Usually they won't get that high in temp before they stop heating.
 
You could always put the controller into service mode, turn on pump, choose spa option so valves turn, and then turn on heater. Then see what temp the water gets too. If it goes over the magic temperature of 95 then possibly the water temp sensor for the controller which is probably unlikely.
 
The next step is fairly technical. You need to open the heater cabinet and track down which safety switch is turning off the heater when it should be staying on. There is usually a nice diagram of the safety switch wiring in the manual. Using that you can find the various safety switches and use a jumper to short them out one at a time until you find the one that is turning the heater off. This is a little tricky as it must be done while the heater is on and while it has turned off when it should be on. Once you have pinned down which switch is causing the problem it will either suggest the next place to look, or you can simply replace that particular switch.
 
The saga continues...
I tried the "service mode" route with no luck, so then we had the home warranty fix-it guy come out. He told me the valves were not set properly, and that cold pool water was being sent back to the tub along with hot water from the minimax. When he adjusted the valve, the water heated up to 104!!!
However, now a new problem....
The water level then crept down to fully empty in the spa...with all the water returning to the pool. Bummer.
I called him back and he found that the jandy actuator stating on the valve was faulty and not properly lining up with water flow so it leaked the water out of he spa at a slow rate. He tells me I should either remove OR replace the actuator.
Thoughts?..
Thanks again in advance for your time.
Dave911
 
Is it just a matter of it not lining up correctly? So it turns but either not enough or too far? Then I would think they should be able to adjust it internally so it does. Unless of course the actuator is shot internally and they can't adjust it.
 
ps0303 said:
Is it just a matter of it not lining up correctly? So it turns but either not enough or too far? Then I would think they should be able to adjust it internally so it does. Unless of course the actuator is shot internally and they can't adjust it.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Sounds like an alignment issue...I'll try to adjust manually...Thanks! Dave911
 

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Ok. Removed the actuator on the pool / spa suction valve and rotated the valve 90 degrees clockwise to get the csjuzzi heated up. Immediately the water level started to drop, so I spun the valve back toward the original position - settling on about 15 degrees.
I marked the original pool position and the new cajuzzi position with tape. See attached. Everything seems to be working, but I don't really want to spin a wrench on the valve every time I want to change from pool to csjuzzi or back. Thoughts?? Thanks again all. AND HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!!
 

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Don't you have two valves to turn to isolate the water in the spa? One valve should be for the drain in the spa and then a second valve should be turned so the water returns back to the spa only.

Take a pic of your entire setup if you can and post it.
 
ps0303 said:
Don't you have two valves to turn to isolate the water in the spa? One valve should be for the drain in the spa and then a second valve should be turned so the water returns back to the spa only. Take a pic of your entire setup if you can and post it.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I really don't know what I have. I'm trying to figure out, but not that easy for me. I am pretty good with pics and photoshop though, so here are numbered pics of the system.

Does this help??

file.php

file.php


THanks for any help you can offer!
Dave911
 
ps0303 said:
Don't you have two valves to turn to isolate the water in the spa? One valve should be for the drain in the spa and then a second valve should be turned so the water returns back to the spa only....
Click to expand...

OK. I think I see your point. Perhaps #6 valve spits suction between pool and spa, and #5 splits the return flow between pool and spa??
 
In the picture, your valves are in "spa fill" mode. IOW, water is being drawn from the pool and returned to the spa. If the system reported that it was in "pool mode" while this picture was taken, you need to switch the orientation of valve #5 to the other direction.
 
Pool Clown said:
In the picture, your valves are in "spa fill" mode...you need to switch the orientation of valve #5 to the other direction.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about this?? The actuators have a big "OFF" opposite the handles, so it looks to me as though valve controller #5 (return to body of water) is set to "pool" and NOT "spa".

Thank you for your thoughts. Dave911
 
Yes, after looking at the pic again, you are correct. What i thought was the pool sweep feed is actually the spa by-pass.

If the spa empties while in spa mode some of the return water is being diverted to the pool. Your actuators must be fully closing the "pool" ports while in spa mode otherwise you will loose water from the spa.

What does the pump that valve #7 is on do?
 
Pool Clown said:
...If the spa empties while in spa mode some of the return water is being diverted to the pool. Your actuators must be fully closing the "pool" ports while in spa mode otherwise you will loose water from the spa.
Click to expand...

How prophetic. I went to manually adjust the valve (#6) to heat up the cajuzzi for later tonight. This is the same routine I'd been doing for a few days. 15 minutes later, I looked out the window and the jacuzzi level was down 12 inches or so. I quickly shut down the system, by-passing the cooling period, as I wasn't sure if the lowered water level would do any damage to the pipes or motors.

Not sure where to go from here...Thoughts? Thanks, Dave911
 

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