Heater shutting down when switched to Spa mode

[gregorym59]

Our State-Rite SR400 gas heater shuts down when switched from Pool mode to Spa mode. Pool is 10 months old, and heater has worked fine in both Pool and Spa mode until yesterday. It still works fine in Pool mode, fires up when heat is called for, shuts down when set point is reached, etc. When the system is put into Spa mode, the automated valves do their thing, the heater switches on (set point is 100 and water is 86), but after about a minute the heater shuts down an displays error code ERR PS. I assume that this is a Pressure Switch issue, but have no clue what is causing it or how to resolve it. The Pool and equipment is under warranty, so I plan on contacting the builder/installer, but would appreciate having some understanding of the issue to ensure it is fixed properly. In Pool mode pump is set at 2,700 RPM. In Spa mode pump is set to 1,000 RPM. Any / all insights are much appreciated.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Greg,

When was the last time the filter was cleaned?

The heater does not really know you are in the spa mode, it just heats when told to heat. If it does not work in the spa mode, it has to be a water flow issue.

What does the water feel like coming out of your spa jets?

What does your spillover look like when in the pool mode?

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[mknauss]

In Spa mode pump is set to 1,000 RPM.

I suspect that is not enough flow rate for the heater to operate.

 

[Jimrahbe]

In Spa mode pump is set to 1,000 RPM

Greg,

Wow.. I totally missed that...

Like Marty, I doubt a 1000 RPM is anywhere close to what you need to turn the heater on..

You kind of have your speeds backwards.. Most people run slow in the Pool mode, and much faster in the Spa mode.

Who set those speeds up???

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gregorym59]

Greg,

Wow.. I totally missed that...

Like Marty, I doubt a 1000 RPM is anywhere close to what you need to turn the heater on..

You kind of have your speeds backwards.. Most people run slow in the Pool mode, and much faster in the Spa mode.

Who set those speeds up???

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks. The pool builder installed all equipment and no adjustments made since. The filter was cleaned this week - first thing I thought could be an issue, but didn’t resolve the issue. The odd thing is that none of the settings have been messed with, and the heater worked in the past in both pool and spa mode, but I appreciate the comments on the flow rate. The spillover is working fine, but the jets in the spa are extremely week, also pointing to incorrect pump settings for the spa.

 

[gregorym59]

Problem mostly solved. I increased the pump speed to 2500 for the spa; much better flow (duh) and heat! I decreased the pool speed to 1600 and the spillover became a trickle, and in fact the spillover is very low at any speed under 2000 rpm. I’ll take another shot at cleaning the filter cartridge, as well as looking at making a valve setting adjustment.

A related question. I noticed the heater display isn’t changed when temperature settings are adjusted at the indoor control unit or at the EasyTouch panel. The heater displays “Spa” and set-point of “100.” The heater is wired to the control panel by a two wire cable. I assume the “Spa” heading on the heater display means nothing, and the 100 degree set point is the max temp that will be reached, but the actual set points are controlled at the EasyTouch panel (or indoor unit). As example, if the pool is set for 86, it will reach 86 and shutoff. If the Spa is set at 98, same thing. But if the spa is set for 102, it will only reach 100, unless I adjust the high temp at the heater. Do I have a correct understanding of how this works?

Thanks again!

 

[mknauss]

That is correct. You can raise the max temp at the heater to 104. You have to be in service mode I believe to do that.