Pentair MiniMax Plus 400 - Pilot light works, burners don't fire

[zendril]

Bought a house (first time pool owner and reasonably handy DIYer).

Searched the forums and see plenty about this model, but not specifically this issue so sorry if this is a duplicate.

The MiniMax will light the pilot fine.
All the green lights on the left are lit. (Notably the power light isn't green or red, just not on.. but I think that is possibly a red herring).
However, none of the burners kick in.
Obviously I have tried turning the temp knob up and down.

Any troubleshooting starting points?
Maybe something with a thermostat?

Also, is there a general cleaning/maintenance guide on these forums I can look at. I'm really not sure if the previous owners ever did anything preventative or did any cleaning.

Thanks!

 

[1poolman1]

Bought a house (first time pool owner and reasonably handy DIYer).

Searched the forums and see plenty about this model, but not specifically this issue so sorry if this is a duplicate.

The MiniMax will light the pilot fine.
All the green lights on the left are lit. (Notably the power light isn't green or red, just not on.. but I think that is possibly a red herring).
However, none of the burners kick in.
Obviously I have tried turning the temp knob up and down.

Any troubleshooting starting points?
Maybe something with a thermostat?

Also, is there a general cleaning/maintenance guide on these forums I can look at. I'm really not sure if the previous owners ever did anything preventative or did any cleaning.

Thanks!

Likely your flame sense rod is "dirty." Pull it out, clean it with something like a Scotch scrubber, or even a new dollar bill (old HVAC trick). Don't use sandpaper, you will remove the coating that protects the rod from the flame. It usually has a single white or yellow wire going to it and is held in with one screw.

 

[zendril]

Awesome. I'll give it a run probably this weekend, and thanks for the hvac trick.

 

[zendril]

I'm out here. Starting to look at this now. Where exactly is this flame sense rod?

I see the gas line for the pilot light going down under and then up in between the burners and I see an orange line which I believe is the igniter for the pilot light. I'm not sure which side or where this flame sense Rod would be located

 

[zendril]

I may have a slightly different lead here.

This connector to the gas valve has 3 leads.

The bottom one appears to be rusted/broken completely.

The pilot light comes on and the igniter stops clicking when this happens, but no gas through the main burner pipe after.

Before I try to replace the solenoid, does this seem like a reasonable this to be looking at? Any clue what that bottom red wire is controlling?

 

[swamprat69]

It looks like the corroded connection is the MV (main valve power) connection. PV=pilot valve power and MV/PV= common power connection. It looks like the male spade connection at the gas valve is corroded off. Due to the excessive corrosion of the gas valve, just replacing the gas valve may not be ideal as you may be looking at other problems with the heater that caused this and will need further attention to resolve any other problems with the heater. Best solution would be to have a capable and competent service technician check the heater thoroughly and give you a list of all problems that would need to be addressed in order to operate the heater safely. You might be able to get an approximate age for the heater by checking the labels on some parts as most have a 4 digit code on the label that is a date code. E.g.: 0402 would be 4th month of 2002.