Pentair MiniMax NT Stopped working overnight E04

[tkrotchko]

Lots of stories about this, and it seems to be one of 2-3 possible causes.

So here's the symptoms (first, it worked last night before I went to bed):

1) E04 error code
2) I reset the heater with a power down
3) When the heater turns on, you hear a click of the relay, but nothing happens.
4) Eventually after a few minutes E04 is displayed

Now, I know that a common cause is the igniter, and dirt in the tubes, but the normal sequence of fire-up is:

1) The relay clicks
2) The fan turns on immediately
3) After 10-20 seconds (never really counted), the igniter turns on
4) It's now heating.

Does the fact that nothing happen point to the fan? It doesn't even try to start.

 

[tkrotchko]

So I'm going to reply to myself.

I fiddled with it a bit and I felt the fan blowing some feeble air. However, I wasn't sure if it *always* did this.

So I finally figured out how it came apart (right side panel), and exposed the fan & motor. I could hear the motor humming, but now nothing was blowing. And I felt the top of the heater and it was hot. I did a quick touch of the motor, and it's burning hot.

In this case, it really is the fan. Fortunately Amazon has a replacement for not too much money .

 

[Richard320]

Excellent

 

[ps0303]

So did you remove the motor and inspect the squirrel cage and was it intact or all rusted away? If it was still fully intact, then you most likely have a bad capacitor which can be changed out at a cheaper cost then the entire blower motor.

 

[tkrotchko]

So did you remove the motor and inspect the squirrel cage and was it intact or all rusted away? If it was still fully intact, then you most likely have a bad capacitor which can be changed out at a cheaper cost then the entire blower motor.

I didn't do that, although I managed to track down a new blower motor for $211 shipped, which is why I didn't do any more diagnosis than I did.

 

[tkrotchko]

So did you remove the motor and inspect the squirrel cage and was it intact or all rusted away? If it was still fully intact, then you most likely have a bad capacitor which can be changed out at a cheaper cost then the entire blower motor.

Out of curiousity, do you know what kind of capacitor this takes?

 

[ps0303]

It uses a 5 microfarad (5UF) run/start capacitor.

 

[MaxAcceleration]

I managed to track down a new blower motor for $211 shipped

I know it's been a few years, but that's a great price - where did you purchase it from?

Thanks,
Jamie