Possibly the Final Installment repairing RayPak ELS-552
Last night, I may have finally fixed the heater issues once and for all. From my previous post, you know that a new contactor coil was on order. That arrived and was easy to install. Result: The heater starts and stops without tripping the breaker under MOST circumstances. The one situation this did not fix was when the heater turns off due to the thermostat no longer calling for heat—and THAT still tripped the breaker.
Suspects at this point include:
More heater parts (thermostat, high-limit switch, manual on/off switch, flow pressure switch, heating light, wires)
Weird ground fault issue in the circuit wiring
tired old 30-amp breaker(s)
I decided to first try bypassing the high-temp limiting switch. This seemed like a low-risk elimination step to hopefully rule out another component. Given the long time it takes to heat the pool and the fact that this high-limit is factory set at 140F, it seemed unlikely the heater is going to run away on me with high temps that high. Bypassing the high-limit was easy enough, as I simply took it out of the switch ladder by removing the wires to the heating element and moving the power terminal wires now screwed directly onto the element.
With the high-limit bypassed, I ran the pump, heater kicked on, then I dialed down the thermostat. As the dial crossed the current temp threshold it clicked, heat off. Then, dialing back up, it clicks, but no heat. No power. It tripped the breaker still.
I wondered if this would still trip the breaker under normal thermostat disengagement, so I set the dial, reset the breaker, and let it run for a few days.
I noticed one day while the pump was running, the heat was off. The pool was a nice 84F. No need for heat. A day later, the pump was running and the heater was on. Seems to be OK. The next morning, the breaker was tripped. So, it would seem that at some point overnight, the pump came on, the heater came on, but as it was heating, the temp crossed the threshold and the thermostat cut the heat—and in doing so tripped the breaker.
It was very consistent at this point. It works when it needs heat. It seems fine when it doesn’t need heat, but when it is heating and crosses the set temp threshold, that’s when it trips the breaker.
The next logical step was probably to replace the thermostat. The swap would be a little more involved given the capillary/bulb placement, routing the cap tube etc, not to mention trying to find the replacement part for a decent price.
It has been nagging in the back of my mind that the old circuit breaker could be the issue too, even though I swapped it with another—that one is also old. It has been tripping many times--and who knows for how long before we became the new homeowners. Amazon has a Seimens 30-amp, GFCI breaker that could be in my hands in 12 hours, free shipping for $72. So, I pulled the trigger.
TLDR Installed the new breaker and that solved the problem! I can run the heat, turn the thermostat dial while running and the heater cuts off. Turn the dial back up into the orange/red zone and the heater kicks back on again! No tripping the breaker anymore.
SO, I think that’s the end for now. I still feel good about the new heating element, as I never saw any heat coming from the old one while running non-stop. Glad I have a new contactor (though this was only like $21). And a new breaker was easier to replace than pulling the thermostat:
1. New Heating Element
2. New Contactor Coil
3. Replaced the 30-amp breaker with Seimens GFCI
I need to re-connect the high-limit switch, but I think the story ends here. Thanks for the input!
Last night, I may have finally fixed the heater issues once and for all. From my previous post, you know that a new contactor coil was on order. That arrived and was easy to install. Result: The heater starts and stops without tripping the breaker under MOST circumstances. The one situation this did not fix was when the heater turns off due to the thermostat no longer calling for heat—and THAT still tripped the breaker.
Suspects at this point include:
More heater parts (thermostat, high-limit switch, manual on/off switch, flow pressure switch, heating light, wires)
Weird ground fault issue in the circuit wiring
tired old 30-amp breaker(s)
I decided to first try bypassing the high-temp limiting switch. This seemed like a low-risk elimination step to hopefully rule out another component. Given the long time it takes to heat the pool and the fact that this high-limit is factory set at 140F, it seemed unlikely the heater is going to run away on me with high temps that high. Bypassing the high-limit was easy enough, as I simply took it out of the switch ladder by removing the wires to the heating element and moving the power terminal wires now screwed directly onto the element.
With the high-limit bypassed, I ran the pump, heater kicked on, then I dialed down the thermostat. As the dial crossed the current temp threshold it clicked, heat off. Then, dialing back up, it clicks, but no heat. No power. It tripped the breaker still.
I wondered if this would still trip the breaker under normal thermostat disengagement, so I set the dial, reset the breaker, and let it run for a few days.
I noticed one day while the pump was running, the heat was off. The pool was a nice 84F. No need for heat. A day later, the pump was running and the heater was on. Seems to be OK. The next morning, the breaker was tripped. So, it would seem that at some point overnight, the pump came on, the heater came on, but as it was heating, the temp crossed the threshold and the thermostat cut the heat—and in doing so tripped the breaker.
It was very consistent at this point. It works when it needs heat. It seems fine when it doesn’t need heat, but when it is heating and crosses the set temp threshold, that’s when it trips the breaker.
The next logical step was probably to replace the thermostat. The swap would be a little more involved given the capillary/bulb placement, routing the cap tube etc, not to mention trying to find the replacement part for a decent price.
It has been nagging in the back of my mind that the old circuit breaker could be the issue too, even though I swapped it with another—that one is also old. It has been tripping many times--and who knows for how long before we became the new homeowners. Amazon has a Seimens 30-amp, GFCI breaker that could be in my hands in 12 hours, free shipping for $72. So, I pulled the trigger.
TLDR Installed the new breaker and that solved the problem! I can run the heat, turn the thermostat dial while running and the heater cuts off. Turn the dial back up into the orange/red zone and the heater kicks back on again! No tripping the breaker anymore.
SO, I think that’s the end for now. I still feel good about the new heating element, as I never saw any heat coming from the old one while running non-stop. Glad I have a new contactor (though this was only like $21). And a new breaker was easier to replace than pulling the thermostat:
1. New Heating Element
2. New Contactor Coil
3. Replaced the 30-amp breaker with Seimens GFCI
I need to re-connect the high-limit switch, but I think the story ends here. Thanks for the input!