Pentair Max-E-Therm Starts Up and Heats For a Few Minutes

[samp]

I have a Sta-rite Max-E-Term 400HD model which I got refub from and installed by some guy off craigslist over the weekend. The heater only worked for about 5 minutes before shutting down. Just long enough for him to drive away. I know I should have let it run longer before letting him go.

Long story short, the guy said he would come back to fix it but hasn't shown up yet. He's now not returning my text or phone calls.

The heater turns on and runs for less than 5 minutes before shutting down. I followed the troubleshooting guide, however none of the dummy light is on except for "Service Heater".

I've also jumped all the sensors without any luck. I'm not able to isolate the issue to any one component. It's able to ignite the gas and heat the water for a few minutes before the heat led goes from solid to blinking and the burner turns off. The heater cycles for a couple times firing the burners and then turning off before the service heater led comes on. At this time the ignition status led is blinking 3 times in a row to indicate ignition lockout.

What could be the problem? It's not throwing any error codes and none of the dummy lights turn on to indicate the problem.

 

[ps0303]

So you looked at the underside of the control board and you don't see any other LED lights lit or are you just looking at it from the top/outside?

Any knocking or banging sounds when it is running?

 

[samp]

So you looked at the underside of the control board and you don't see any other LED lights lit or are you just looking at it from the top/outside?

Any knocking or banging sounds when it is running?

No knocking or banging sounds. Yes I've looked at the underside of the control board. I just talked to another pool service guy and he said it sounds like my gas line is not big enough for a 400K BTU heater. How can I confirm this?

 

[Pool Clown]

What does the water temp get up to before it begins to cycle?

 

[ps0303]

Well did you have a gas heater previously? Also, who hooked up the gas line to the unit?

 

[samp]

When I'm running on spa, it will get up about 1 to 2 degrees. On pool, it doesn't run long enough to raise the temp.

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Well did you have a gas heater previously? Also, who hooked up the gas line to the unit?

This is a home we just moved into. There was an existing gas line.

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What does the water temp get up to before it begins to cycle?

Running the spa, it heats it up 1 to 2 degree before shutting down. On pool, it doesn't run long enough to raise the temp.

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I also measured the gas line, circumference is 3.90 inches so the gas line outer OD is 1.25 inches.

 

[ps0303]

Natural gas or propane? Have you looked at the thermal regulator?

 

[samp]

Natural gas or propane? Have you looked at the thermal regulator?

It's natural gas. I'm going to pull and replace the thermal regulator tomorrow.

 

[Pool Clown]

Thats what i was trying to ascertain. At what temp does the heater shut off?

Bad thermal regulators, in most cases, don't begin to cycle till the water is in the mid 80's

 

[samp]

I pulled the thermal regulator and it was in need of replacing. However, after replacing the problem still exist. I figured out my gas meter is only 250K BTU. So that might be a problem. Gas company is coming out in a couple of weeks to install a larger meter.

 

[samp]

Thats what i was trying to ascertain. At what temp does the heater shut off?

Bad thermal regulators, in most cases, don't begin to cycle till the water is in the mid 80's

It doesn't shut off at a specific temp. It only runs for less than 5 minutes, not enough time for it to raise the water temp of the pool. If I fire it up and the water temp reads 77, it will shut off at 77.