Sta-rite gas heater start up

[SSharp]

I have a 400k sta-rite heater and have it hooked to an intellicenter. I hired an electrician to do the wiring, but when I try to turn the breaker on, I don't have any power on the heater control panel. Am I missing something very simple as to why I can't get the heater to power up, or does anyone have some suggestions for me to diagnose the problem?

 

[mknauss]

Is it enabled in your Intellicenter? You have to enable it and set the temperature in the Intellicenter high enough for the firemans switch to allow power to reach the heater.

 

[SSharp]

Yes, I did both of those things...the little flame signal shows on the intellicenter, but there has never been any sign of power to the control panel on top of the heater.

 

[mknauss]

You must be in Pool Mode.

If that does not work, we will need to call in the Intellicenter experts.

 

[SSharp]

That's the mode I've been in.

 

[mknauss]

Help @MyAZPool

 

[JamesW]

What does the electrician say?

 

[SSharp]

He thinks everything looks good on his end.

 

[setsailsoon]

If you're getting the flame on the panel display sounds like the temp sensors are set up properly. Either the configuration isn't correct or could be the wiring to the relay is not correct. Do you know if the heater is wired using the RS 485 or the fireman's switch? Who did the Intellicenter installation?

Chris

 

[SSharp]

The electrician wired the intellicenter including relay wiring to the heater, but our baseline plan was to just leave the fireman switch alone, and left the jumper in there as the heater came from the factory. I tried hooking up a low voltage connection from the fireman’s switch to the J2 connection in the intellicenter, but that also didn’t work.

 

[setsailsoon]

J2 is correct for the fireman's switch. I'm doing the same thing for my old Jandy Jxi. Works fine. The fact that you have no power to the heater leads me to believe there's something wrong with the heater power relay or it's wiring. I would check the supply voltage to the heater at the load side of the heater relay inside the power distribution panel when you select the pool and "Heater On" at the display and the power connection at your heater. If you get power to the relay and the heater the problem is internal to the heater. Most likely the 24 vac fuse after the transformer. The local heater display is powered from 24 vac and will be blank if the fuse is blown or the transformer is fried.

Chris

 

[setsailsoon]

Can you please provide a little more history here? Is this a new heater or new Intellicenter or both? Or has it been previously installed, running, and just now stopped working? The 24 vac fuse is only 2 amps. If anything was accidentally grounded during installation it will blow immediately. I've also seen cases where the fuse is supposed to protect the transformer but it doesn't and the transformer ends up protecting the fuse. Expensive mistake for the owner.

 

[SSharp]

Brand new heater and intellicenter. Just reaching the time a year I needed to turn the heater on, so it has never been powered on and used yet.

 

[MyAZPool]

SSharp
@setsailsoon and @mknauss covered most of the troubleshooting steps that I would have tried.

If you have a model SR400NA heater and you have tried all recommended to you above, then I think what I would do is:

1. Disconnect the two low voltage conductors wired to terminal J2, and connect them temporarily together (this is essentially what happens when you activate the heater through the automation). It completes the fireman switch circuit. This will take the automation out of the troubleshooting equation.

NOTE: Ensure you remove power to the IntelliCenter anytime you are connecting or disconnecting any wiring (to include low voltage connections).

2. Ensure the heater circuit breaker is in the ON position. Do you have power to the heater? If yes, then it's a connectivity issue between the heater firemans switch and the J2 terminals on the IntelliCenter mother card, I would think OR it's an IntelliCenter configuration issue possibly.

3. If you have NO power to the heater (LCD display is not active), then it's a heater issue and you can concentrate your efforts there. i.e. Fuse as Chris suggested or some other issue going on with the heater or the power connection between the IntelliCenter Load Center (Circuit Breaker) and the power connection at the heater. Also could be a defective circuit breaker (it happens).

NOTE: If you are not proficient or possess the skill-sets necessary to work with 240vAC connections, then please consult with a licensed professional who is.

r.

 

[JamesW]

He thinks everything looks good on his end.

It's not good if it doesn't work. You paid him to get it wired up. He should come out and help make sure that it works correctly.

 

[SSharp]

Thanks for all the input....so I went and tried to diagnose further.....I have the heater disconnected from J2 and have the original jumper across the fireman switch. I have 240v to aux1 power relay, Where the heater is wired, and the wiring in the heater matches the instructions....I do not have any power coming out of the aux1 relay. this is with the pool on, temp set above actual temp and flame showing on screen.....so do I need to do something to get power out of aux1?

 

[JamesW]

Why go through a relay?

Just connect it directly to power.

 

[MyAZPool]

SSharp
I'm going to loudly echo @JamesW comments in his lasts two posts above. He installed it. He needs to make it work!
Most standard installations never use a Power Relay (aux) to control power to a heater. Especially with your type of heater.
r.

 

[SSharp]

Well I have success! I just had to go to “features” and turn on aux1. Everything appears to be working ok.....is there any reason to have the electrician come back and direct wire instead of going through the relay?

 

[JamesW]

There's no reason to go through a relay. You don't want to shut off power to the heater while it's running. The fan needs to run for several minutes after the flame shuts off to clear out the hot exhaust from the combustion chamber.

The automation needs to go through the Fireman's switch to control the heater.