Puriton Triton Mini Max 350 Intermittent Fire up

[silverado]

Does anyone know how to diagnose a Puriton Triton Mini Max 350 with intermittent ignition fire up...I sometimes can get it to fire up by switch movements. But not always. Got it to work again just now but this is getting frustrating to keep an even temp in my pool. I rarely use my heater and its about 15 years old. Can someone please give me a method to track this problem down.
Thanks! Guy

 

[Rocco]

Hey Silverado I have a 400 model and i have to fight with the thing every year to get it to work. It is the one thing that makes me nervous when opening the pool. I have had the same issue and what seemed to work for me was taking out the burner assembly and cleaning it.

The burner assembly has a lot of tiny holes the gas flows through and if they get clogged it will be hard to start or keep a flame going.

Here is the thread I started about how to clean the assembly approximately 1 year ago.


http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/70631-Cleaning-Pool-Heater

In this link there is a link to the service manual for the heater: http://www.rhtubs.com/manual/minimaxPlus.pdf

There is also a handy section in the manual on how to identify issues just by the 4 lights that are on the front.

 

[ps0303]

So it sounds like a connection issue if it will work when you mess with the switch. Confirm that all connections to the switch/board are good. Sometimes people clean them off and plug them back in and things are good for a while. Of course you could start replacing parts, rocker switch and control board, to see what's wrong but it could get expensive on a 15 year old unit. If the thing is 15 years old, how does it look inside where the burners are? Is it still in good shape?

I know people don't like hearing this but it could just be time to replace the unit and get something new. A lot less hassle and you know if will work without any fiddling with it. Once you get into 10 years plus on a heater it's a **** shoot on it working when you want.

Here is a place, I'm not affiliated with them, that has the parts for your heater and a PDF of the manual. http://www.parts4heating.com/Pool-Heaters-Pentair-MiniMax-CH-s/681.htm

 

[silverado]

Thanks everyone. The unit has been in place since 1997, however, I'd say its been used in that span till today a total of maybe 30-60 days if that as heating this pool gets quite $pricey. In California we can get by without it for a good 7-8 months each year. My health has deteriorated and the only thing I can do to sustain life it seems these days is to swim my *** off despite the cost of the gas.....so this is the first year in its history that I have demanded regularity with the heater.
Hense, my problem is rearing its ugly head. I have decided to do a burner service and to take the panel off to chech connections.

I tried getting the 2 screws off the front of the panel yet the panel seems to have a trick for removal that I don't know about...any suggestions?

Guy

 

[JamesW]

I think on that heater the screws don't come out. You just turn them to lock or unlock the access panel in place. The screws are connected to a securing mechanism. I think that the screw slots are vertical to close and horizontal to open.