Sta Rite Heater issues

cchaynes

Well-known member
Jul 6, 2020
81
Wallingford, PA
This heater is new and I have been using it with the intelliconnect automation system.

I had no issues initially, now I seem to have nothing but issues.

The first issue was the computer kept telling the heater to turn off perhaps a faulty temp reading, so I bypassed the computer and I am controlling it manually which did work for a bit, but now when it turns on at say 83 degrees, the heater goes to 90 and thinks the pool I swarmer than it is.

Additionally, the heater was starting and shutting off 2-3 times per minute and throwing a red light for "system" when the heater turns on the service heater light comes on briefly, and then it runs.

No LEDs on the back of the board are lit.

I spoke with Pentair, and have done the following.

1)Test that the gas supply is in range, it is about 8 WC, and the load drop is only about 2
2) Tested the impedance on the igniter it is in range (if a little hight) they said 45-75, it is 75
3) removed the igniter to inspect it, no cracks
4) looked at the insulation in the igniter hole, seems ok.

Not sure where to head next on this, I did wonder if the heater was getting enough water flow, and increasing it yesterday by setting the pump to 2600 seemed to work, but it won't work today given the heater and computer both think the water temp is higher than it is.

I have ordered a GPM flow meter and a new pentair sensor for the computer but now with the heater also reposting bad temps, I am at a loss.

Nay issues with mice in these heaters, I do not see any wire damage but there are some droppings inside.

Any other test that I can run or things I should check?

Thanks in advance.

Craig
 
What speed are you running your pump at?

What is your filter pressure?

Cycling on and off can be caused by low water flow causing overheating.
 
  • Like
Reactions: setsailsoon
What speed are you running your pump at?

What is your filter pressure?

Cycling on and off can be caused by low water flow causing overheating.
I have been playing with that, it was set to run at 2450, I bumped it to 2600 and it was better for a bit, but then the problems seemed to get even worse. now running it at full speed, 3450 it still does this, but I did notice that I do not get a lot of pressure at the pool jets at 2600. filter pressure is normally around 10-12 and goes up a little to say 15 when at 2600. I am due to backwash soon but it has not raised 10 psi yet fro installation

Pentair has suggested a new thermister.

not sure what I might be missing!
 
I have been playing with that, it was set to run at 2450, I bumped it to 2600 and it was better for a bit, but then the problems seemed to get even worse. now running it at full speed, 3450 it still does this, but I did notice that I do not get a lot of pressure at the pool jets at 2600. filter pressure is normally around 10-12 and goes up a little to say 15 when at 2600. I am due to backwash soon but it has not raised 10 psi yet fro installation

Pentair has suggested a new thermister.

not sure what I might be missing!

So, it turns out that the filter needed to be backwashed, the heater was being starved. The filter was installed just under 2 months ago (DE) and the instructions said to wait to backwash untill the psi goes up from the baseline by 10, it was barely up 5 psi.

How frequently should I be backwashing and replacing the DE?

I have ordered a flow meter so I can keep a better eye on things, but looking back, I had noticed that my check valves we not very open and that the flow was lower.

Sometimes the easy answer is correct! The good news is that my troubleshooting has helped me learn a few good things about the heater, and have decided to rodent proof it!

Thanks!
 
  • Like
Reactions: setsailsoon
TFP guideline is backwash when filter pressure rises by 25% over clean PSI. With clean PSI of 20 backwash would be around 25.

 
The guideline of 10 psi to backwash is from the old days of single speed pumps. With VS pumps and lower flow and lower PSI better to use a % psi rise then a fixed number.
 
An easy way to test a thermistor is to get a multimeter and use Temperature vs Resistance Conversion Chart. I assume that the IntelliConnect software also gives a reading, was that not within range?

I managed to get this sorted with getting my flow to the heater to increase, I had not noticed it had dropped so much!

The interconnect has its own temperature probe, it only runs a fireman's switch to the heater to turn it on/off.

Seems is am sorted for now, thanks for the help!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.