I recently bought a house with a small in ground pool with a Rheem M6350 heat pump. The contactor went bad causing the compressor to not be able to turn off. I had a local HVAC company fix that and it worked fine for a few weeks. Now, when the compressor tries to turn on, it makes a weird noise, shuts off, and the compressor delay light comes on. This repeats until I turn the heater off. The guy they sent out this time doesn't seem to know a lot about these. He thinks the internal water bypass has failed causing a lack of water flow over the heat exchanger. This is what is causing the compressor to turn itself off. He checked the high and low side pressures and said the high pressure spikes up to about 590 when it cuts itself off. Does this sound like a water flow issue or something else? Anybody have a suggestion for a company in Panama City Beach that works on these?
Rheem M6350 Heat Pump
- Thread starter jrchandler
- Start date
swamprat69
Well-known member
Any idea how old the heat pump is? Is the power supply 208/230 Volt single phase? I am guessing that the original problem was that the contactor contacts had welded shut? I believe this is the installation manual for your heater https://images.inyopools.com/cloud/documents/raypak-heat-pumps-owner-installation-manual.pdf If the contactor contacts were welded shut, the compressor would run "wild" not using the water pressure switch, water temperature sensor or the refrigerant low and high pressure safeties. The contactor could fail like this by itself, but I would also check the compressor capacitor and the actual electrical connections at the compressor. A photo of all of the pool piping and equipment would also be needed (you should also fill out your pool info in your account profile/details). The high pressure spike could be caused by a water flow problem, but could also be caused by a refrigerant restriction in the system. The best way to insure that a qualified technician is working on your system is to look for companies that have either NATE or HVAC EXCELLENCE certified technicians.
The power supply is 230 single phase. You’re correct about the contactor. It welded shut and the compressor would not turn off unless I flipped the breaker. The technician checked the capacitor at the time (about a month ago) and said it was fine. He also checked the pressures and they were fine. I ran it pretty hard since then so I guess something else has broken. It is a 2014 model. I had to call 4 places before I found a company that would even come look at it. This company is actually listed on rheem’s website under find a pro in my area.
The company sent someone else out. It is the thermal expansion valve. $1000 to replace. Will likely replace entire unit.