Sta-Rite Max-E-Therm Will Not Light No Error Codes

[JamesW]

Definitely a mystery. Probably time to call out a qualified gas contractor. Hopefully, they can identify the problem and recommend a solution.

 

[jamescodling]

Looks time to replace the bloody thing.. It's 1.5" and I need about a 100ft of video scope to reliabily see what's going on. The ones on Amazon are 50ft and don't think those types can make hard 90's. THanks all for the help. now time to return all these darned parts!

 

[JamesW]

Ok, thanks for the update. Let us know how it goes.

 

[jamescodling]

I rented a miniflex cam that can scope down to a 3/4" line with 100 feet of cable. I started at heater and and right there at the riser it was completely shut off with corrosion, maybe a 1/4" opening but camera could not make it through. I went to meter side and ran scope 110 ft into pipe and clear as a bell. Going to get the teen boy digging this afternoon and see what we have. Finally think I have resolution! Thank you all for the tips!

 

[mguzzy]

Should we take bets on what you will find? or just be patient until "teen boy" (that phrase made me giggle) finishes his due diligence!

 

[jamescodling]

Haha.. Well he's 18 so maybe not technically a boy.. shipping off to the Navy in 4 weeks! Going to dig it up in the morning, I'll post what I find. This was the last thing I suspected. I should have listened to JamesW earlier!

 

[mguzzy]

I don't recall how old you said your install was. Is the underground line yellow plastic or old school black iron pipe. I've seen some really bizzare installs where whoever put it in didn't use the right fittings. It seemed like they used whatever was laying around

 

[jamescodling]

About 15 years.
We scoped it from the other way and it was yellow pipe, so guessing I'm going to find the iron riser transitions to plastic fairly shallow.

 

[mguzzy]

That sounds like my gas line to the spa heater. There was an extension done to the line at some point, and the later part was yellow pipe. the older part was black iron. I hope whatever was done in the middle was to code, cause I would hate get my teen boy to dig up the sport court to find it.

 

[jamescodling]

Mystery solved. Once I got it completely dug out the riser came apart from the IPS without much trouble as it was corroded all way through. There is the problem!

 

[JamesW]

Good job on getting it figured out.

 

[mguzzy]

Well done!

Was it the pipe or a fitting that was corroded? can you post of pic of the pipe/fitting? I'm curious to see. And tell us as well how your going to fix it.

 

[jamescodling]

I am guessing, and can only guess, is when it was installed the factory fitting was cut and it ensued to corrode over the years. Here is the outside pic before I pulled it apart. It surely was leaking gas. Odd thing was when I ran compressed air I was getting flow going both ways, but guessing if I had the right equipment it would have shown a loss.

 

[jamescodling]

and fixing it.. ugh.. it's got a 1.5" IPS going into the main 2" line... the 1.5" risers are 40+ days to order. I can get a 1" or 2" quick. any advise on splicing IPS? use PVC glue?

 

[mguzzy]

That almost looks like the wrong fitting was used to join the pipe to the yellow PVC.. if they used a galvanized fitting.. it would have acted like a sacrificial anode. Just a guess. I had to replace a coupling on my gas line and I had to find a plumbing supply store that catered to contractors and plumbers. It wasn't the kind of thing that HD had in stock for sure.

 

[jamescodling]

The fitting was definitely rubber, the corrosion was in the galvanized pipe. It appears the damage would have had to been pretty severe for this to have happened, i.e. cut all the way through the epoxy coating and galvanizing. I'm having a trusted gas plumber come by to quote it. The heater isn't really needed by now anyways since it's 100 degrees+/day in AZ now. But I do need to cover up the pipe before June when monsoon season comes!