I just bought a house which has an ingournd pool/spa combo. I have the Jandy Aqualink RS control and pump plus two heaters (STA-RITE Max-E-Therm 400 model SR400n gas heater and AquaHeat LS Model MBP-150A Heat pump). If I want to heat the pool quickly I use the gas heater, if I want to maintain the heat I use the Heat Pump. I have gotten the pool temperature up to 78 with no issues. When I turn the system to "SPA Mode" to run the spa the Gas Heater comes on and the spa starts to heat up. When the temperature hits 85 the gas heater turns off but the Aqualink system says the heat is still on. I have tried it multiple times with the same result. I searched around and found where it said the Maximum Temperature set point on the STA-RITE gas heater could be set to 85 which would turn off the gas heater once it hits 85. I found the instructions online to set the Max temperature higher on the gas system. When I open up the gas heater and press the yellow button on the back of the board to set the max heat the system does not turn on like it says it should. Has anybody else run into this problem with a STA-RITE heater? Is there another way to try and set the max heat? I really would like to use my spa but right now it is useless and I am frustrated. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Spa Heater won't heat above 85
- Thread starter jmarsh56
- Start date
Just to eliminate the obvious, I didn't see you mention what your spa temp setpoint is in your Aqualink.
Sorry I have it set to 102 plus I upped it to 104 with the same results.
What you did was try to change the POOL option to heat to a hotter temp. You don't need to do that. You set the temp on the keypad of the heater. Choose the SPA option on the heater and set your temp to 104. Then when the Aqualink system tells the unit to heat, the heater will come on and can heat to 104.
That is the question I have. How do I set the temperature on the heater? I read online that you press the yellow button on the back of the board and the system would turn on. But when I press the yellow button I get nothing. I cant see anything when I do that.
Go to your Aqualink outside, put it in service mode, then turn the pump on, then press the heater button, then go to the heater and if the POOL option is lit up, press SPA and then press the up arrow to put the temp to 104.
I'm guessing someone has the heater set to POOL mode and that might be why it is shutting off at the temp you say. Your heater is setup to power up when the controller tells it to because they have the controller wire to the fireman switch on the heater which is the way it should be. So that yellow button will not operate as the manual says. But you shouldn't have to do that. The heater should be in SPA mode and the temp should be 104. So try what I suggested above and see if that helps.
I'm guessing someone has the heater set to POOL mode and that might be why it is shutting off at the temp you say. Your heater is setup to power up when the controller tells it to because they have the controller wire to the fireman switch on the heater which is the way it should be. So that yellow button will not operate as the manual says. But you shouldn't have to do that. The heater should be in SPA mode and the temp should be 104. So try what I suggested above and see if that helps.
I went out and did what you said. When I first turned on the heater it was in pool mode. I tried to press the button for spa but nothing happened. I then went to the panel outside where I put it in service mode and put it in spa mode. The light stayed on under pool. I tried to press spa but the pool light stayed on. I then went back and put it in auto on the outside panel and turned the heater off. This turned the pump back on. I then went inside to the panel and put it in spa mode. I went back outside and the heater was on and the pool light was lit. I couldnt change it to spa mode. any ideas?
It could be a bad keypad. If all of the keys are unresponsive then that could be the case.
Look at page 29 of the manual, Remote Control Connection. Did they use a two wire connection to the heater or a three wire connection?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwim8NLdjojbAhUCY6wKHdJPANMQFghGMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpentairpool.com%2F~%2Fmedia%2Fwebsites%2Fpool%2Fdownloads%2Fheaters%2520and%2520heat%2520pumps%2Fmanuals%2Fmax-e-therm_owners_manual_english.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1PhuO4klVxc-yZuNaP3Bd2
Look at page 29 of the manual, Remote Control Connection. Did they use a two wire connection to the heater or a three wire connection?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwim8NLdjojbAhUCY6wKHdJPANMQFghGMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpentairpool.com%2F~%2Fmedia%2Fwebsites%2Fpool%2Fdownloads%2Fheaters%2520and%2520heat%2520pumps%2Fmanuals%2Fmax-e-therm_owners_manual_english.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1PhuO4klVxc-yZuNaP3Bd2
I would say two wire. I looked at the three wire diagram on page 30. the three lines labeled spa line, common line and pool line are not connected. the jumper is configured as the top one (External control interface circuit disabled, heater membrane pad enabled)
OK. So if nothing works on the keypad, make sure it is connected to the board first. If it is, then it may be a bad membrane keypad. What does it look like? Peeling apart or pieces missing?
Yes it is connected. It is peeling apart for sure. I am going to agree this could be the issue.
Wanted to send out an update. I replaced the switch membrane and now everything works. I am able to make adjustments to both the pool and spa temperatures at the heater. Thanks for the help and hopefully this will help somebody else in the future.