STA-RITE SR400HD Will not stay on. SOLVED !!

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I

issacsim

Member
Mar 22, 2019
20
New York
Hello,

I have a 2013 Pantair STA-RITE SR400HD that will not stay on. Everything looks fine, temperature showing correctly, it starts up normally, first blower comes on, about 30 seconds later the burner comes on. Burner stays on for about a minute and and stops, about half a minute to a minute later. Same thing, burner turns on and stops about a minute or 2 later.

The heater is controlled by iAqualink, checked pool temp settings and it shows 95 degrees.
I am getting no LED's on the back of the board.

Any help with what part needs changing will be appreciated !
 
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I had the same problem when I tried using my Hayward heater for the first time, and it turned out that I wasn't pumping at the minimum flow rate so it kept cycling. My Hayward, which is also a 400k BTU heater like yours, requires 40gpm minimum. It's quite a lot. Might be something worth looking into.
 
Thanks Allen,

I will check the LED's on the Fenwal later on today, I suspect it's something with the wiring, I will clean up with a steel brush on all contacts.

Thanks Kevin,

I believe my water pressure is fine, although I don't have a tool to measure, all preasure out of the returns and deck jets looks same as when we closed last season, and heater been working fine.
 
Allen,

There are no blinking lights on the Fenwal, the LED comes on briefly when I call for heat and the device comes on. But nothing when the heat stops.
Also went over all wires and clean some of the connections with a steel brush.

The heater stays on for about a minute before stopping, so I am not sure I am having the same issue described in the link.

Any other ideas ?
 
You mentioned it worked before you closed it for the season. Before checking anything too complicated, can you confirm that it is actually producing heat while it's on, i.e. all gas valves are open? You can probably tell just by feeling near the exhaust vent. Mine has two gas shutoff valves, one in the front yard near the meter, and one in back near the heater. That was another thing that got me when I first started it up. I only opened the valve near the heater.
 
I am surprised you are getting no LED indications for the reason for shutoff if the temperature set point is showing greater then the water temperature.

@ps0303 @Pool Clown @swamprat69 ideas?
 
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When it comes on for about a minute, I do get hot air from the exhaust vent, both my valves are on, first one will turn on the bbq and pool, second one is right next to the heater.

LED comes on for less than a second when I turn it on, but noting when heat goes off. I don't think it's the temperature set point, it tries again a minute later, stays on for a minute, and shuts off again. The blower stays on the entire time, and I do feel the hot air during the minute heat is on.
 

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While you are trying to run the heater observe the voltage between "TH" and "GND" on the ignition control. You should have 24 volts when the heater is being asked to run. If the 24 volts at "TH" and "GND" on the ignition control drops out at the same time as the burners drop out, then the problem is upstream of the ignition control most probably in the operating control or its associated safeties.
 
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Thanks, will give it a try.
swamprat69 said:
While you are trying to run the heater observe the voltage between "TH" and "GND" on the ignition control. You should have 24 volts when the heater is being asked to run. If the 24 volts at "TH" and "GND" on the ignition control drops out at the same time as the burners drop out, then the problem is upstream of the ignition control most probably in the operating control or its associated safeties.
Click to expand...
.
 
swamprat69 said:
While you are trying to run the heater observe the voltage between "TH" and "GND" on the ignition control. You should have 24 volts when the heater is being asked to run. If the 24 volts at "TH" and "GND" on the ignition control drops out at the same time as the burners drop out, then the problem is upstream of the ignition control most probably in the operating control or its associated safeties.
Click to expand...

I am getting 26V when not calling for heat, and 25V when calling for heat. Never goes out completely.
 
If you are getting a constant 25-26 volts to TH-GND at the ignition control and the heater is dropping out this would point to a problem with sensing the flame. This could be due to the ignitor (surface dirt/degradation), poor ground ( dirt/corrosion at grounding connections ) or the ignition control itself.
 
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The igniter did not do the trick for me.

I called Pentair support and was told to try to run the unit without the thermal regulator (which I tested before with hot water and it looks fine). He said if the unit still fires up and shut down in a cycle like it does, to check on the Manifold bypass valve (Part number #77707-0001).

What do you guys think?
Should I just order one and replace ($39 on Amazon)?

Any other recommendations ?
 
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Check the flame current. Make sure that you use a good "True RMS" multimeter.

Heater Flame Sensing - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

You might need to add an extra ground wire.


If it was a problem with the thermal regulator or the internal bypass, you would be getting a HLS (High Limit Switch) error LED on the back of the circuit board.

MasterTemp 400 Failure To Ignite Issue - SOLVED

I wanted to document this on the forum threads since this issue got diagnosed and solved via PM. First, let me give total credit to our esteemed forum expert @JamesW for helping me to diagnose, test and fix this heater issue. James' help saved me from calling in a "pool service" guy and...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Pentair MasterTemp Heaters - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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