Artesian Grand Cayman elite- heater may be dry Error Code

[Nashvillejoe]

Hello and happy holidays to my pool peeps….. hope you are doing well-

I have a Artesian Grand Cayman Elite 2020- i have had some issues recently with “Heater May be dry” - i have pulled the filters and removed the front panel so i can access the pumps and wiring….. i have rebooted a couple of times, loosened the unions on the pump to the right of the heater which i am certain is the recirc pump- i hear a buzzing - same sound your garbage disposal makes when something is blocking it…. That hum….so my NON professional opinion is that there is something blocking the recirc impeller….. oh and the impeller pump is very very hot as if it has been trying to boot itself up …… i don’t want to have to remove it but i am guessing that is my only option….. any ideas…..

is there a reset on the impeller pump

thoughts??

 

[ajw22]

Calling @RDspaguy for a consultation.

 

[Nashvillejoe]

so good news….. it has a 5 year warranty….. 100% parts/labor…… so they are coming on Tues….. but still….. i like to try and fix these things myself…..

I’m thinking maybe the circ pump threw a bearing - no obstructions, the filters are off, the water is clean and I have loosened the unions water flow seems good

 

[Methuselah]

Glad you have it covered (warranty). When they show up hopefully they can answer your questions about how it works and what kind of things could cause your heater dry error.

My better half is in your neck of the woods this weekend (she likes visiting Nashville)

 

[Nashvillejoe]

And now it is working …….

So with the size of the recirc pump, fact my water chemistry is close to perfect and age of the hot tub i am pretty certian no calcification….. i also change out my filters pretty religiously…. I keep about an 1/2 dozen on the shelf and circle through them….

so i am wondering if there is a temp sensor on the recirc pump and when it gets to hot….. it shuts it down and that is why 24 hours later it started working again??? Also the recirc has the filter returns and then it has two jets in the pool that have a pretty low velocity, enough to mover water and a waterfall on the end into the filters….. i started turning off the water fall and am wondering if that led to the heater dry….. it seems it would still be pullling from the filter irrespective of the waterfall being active….. i noticed there was no water in the water fall line when i popped the adjustible cap so i poured a gallon of warm water into the line so it would fill up the line and if i was reducing suction on the recirc pump pull it would once again be full….

 

[Methuselah]

And now it is working …….

So with the size of the recirc pump, fact my water chemistry is close to perfect and age of the hot tub i am pretty certian no calcification….. i also change out my filters pretty religiously…. I keep about an 1/2 dozen on the shelf and circle through them….

so i am wondering if there is a temp sensor on the recirc pump and when it gets to hot….. it shuts it down and that is why 24 hours later it started working again??? Also the recirc has the filter returns and then it has two jets in the pool that have a pretty low velocity, enough to mover water and a waterfall on the end into the filters….. i started turning off the water fall and am wondering if that led to the heater dry….. it seems it would still be pullling from the filter irrespective of the waterfall being active….. i noticed there was no water in the water fall line when i popped the adjustible cap so i poured a gallon of warm water into the line so it would fill up the line and if i was reducing suction on the recirc pump pull it would once again be full….

If the recirculation pump is running cooler now I'd let the repair guys come and decide root cause and remedy. That said, I think you have a case asking for a new recirculation pump just to avoid the possibility that if it was overheating, it may have been rendered less likely to provide reliable service. Maybe you could even talk them into leaving the old one behind as an emergency spare if they can't figure out what happened(?).

Mine has a few design issues and I got MasterSpas to step up on one that causes the filter basket to hang when the pumps are running (even though they insist on starting our warranty on the delivery date and we installed, wired, and filled it about 3 months later while waiting for the concrete to be poured/hardened).

You'll probably deal with a licensed contactor to the manufacturer, so if necessary plead the case you don't want to escalate...

As to your troubleshooting, I think there are far more qualified people on this forum than I (i.e. @RDspaguy), but if opening the waterfall valve --- if it did have an effect, do you recall if it was loose when you unscrewed it? Mine was leaking there and just needed to be tightened, so thought it worth mentioning. I'd also check the two jets you mentioned to make sure they are opened all the way, and if there was any chance the filters could have been dirty in conjunction with other "stuff", give consideration to that as well.

Wish I could be more help but I'm out of my depth.

 

[RDspaguy]

Ok.
Bad parts happen sometimes, that's why you get a warranty. Unfortunately, if the dealer sends back a working part they will not be paid for the repair. If it was working on arrival his hands are tied. Have to wait for complete failure to replace if he doesn't want to eat the cost himself. You may be able to push for a replacement (and I stress "may") from the manufacturer, but the dealer is unlikely to do it without manufacturer authorization. There is no chance they will leave the original, as it must be returned for warranty coverage. Otherwise a shady dealer could just randomly bill for repairs they did not do.
That said, it is unlikely to be a pump issue as described. The pump does have an internal "thermal cut-out" that will turn it off in the event of internal overheat, but this is self resetting and generally does so within minutes. If it's humming, the thermal cut-out is not tripped yet. Debris in the pump can lock the rotor, causing the hum and thermal cut-out. On that low hp pump, it wouldn't take much.
The waterfall is not involved in any way.

 

[Nashvillejoe]

OK so it stopped working again and this time I had the guy come out and when I tried to turn on, you could hear that the pump was trying to pop on. He reached down with a screwdriver and he popped the fly wheel on the pump started right up.. he said about 10% of these motors which come out of China we’re failing so the new units come with a different manufactured part. We drained the unit put in the new pump and filled it back up. By the way, I emptied all of the hot tub water into my pool and then when it was ready to fill up the hot tub I just reversed the pumps it made the emptying out and filling up really quick. So the air in the unit is a capacitor that kicks the flywheel on.

Apparently, this is common in heating recirculation pumps !! Thanks for all the great input I feel in another couple years I’m going to be knowledgeable enough to open up my own pool install business