How quickly can a flow valve go bad?
Back in November I had a short-cycling problem with my Minimax 400 (original Triton brand) heater. I replaced the flow valve which looked like the spring had elongated and no longer fit right. I also replaced the pressure sensor, which was rusted. Everything seemed to be back to normal.
Now, the heater is short cycling again. Just like last time, it happens when the temperature of the spa gets close to the set temperature. For example, if I set the spa to 100F with the starting water temp at 75F, everything works fine for a while. Then when nearing 98F or so, the heater cuts out -- the sensor light comes on briefly, cold water keeps circulating through the heater for a while, and then the heater comes back on a couple minutes later.
I checked the flow valve and the spring looks good and nothing is corroded.
Yet, when I measure the temperature of the steel manifold on the outlet side, it's getting up to about 150F -- which is about when the heater cuts out. This says to me that the high limit sensors are working fine, and that the water is getting too hot on the outlet side. (When measured on the inlet side, the water temp is around 95-99F).
So do all signs point to a bad flow valve again? Or is there some other potential culprit here?
Back in November I had a short-cycling problem with my Minimax 400 (original Triton brand) heater. I replaced the flow valve which looked like the spring had elongated and no longer fit right. I also replaced the pressure sensor, which was rusted. Everything seemed to be back to normal.
Now, the heater is short cycling again. Just like last time, it happens when the temperature of the spa gets close to the set temperature. For example, if I set the spa to 100F with the starting water temp at 75F, everything works fine for a while. Then when nearing 98F or so, the heater cuts out -- the sensor light comes on briefly, cold water keeps circulating through the heater for a while, and then the heater comes back on a couple minutes later.
I checked the flow valve and the spring looks good and nothing is corroded.
Yet, when I measure the temperature of the steel manifold on the outlet side, it's getting up to about 150F -- which is about when the heater cuts out. This says to me that the high limit sensors are working fine, and that the water is getting too hot on the outlet side. (When measured on the inlet side, the water temp is around 95-99F).
So do all signs point to a bad flow valve again? Or is there some other potential culprit here?