ARRRGGGGHHH!! Used heater flawlessly Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun. Did not swim yesterday and heater was off. Came home at lunch to turn on heater and get pool ready for kids for this evening. Turned pump to high, opened second suction, removed eyeball. Turned on heater and set to 89 (water is at 84). Heater came on and fired. Kicked off to looking for heat within a few minutes. Re-fired itself, ran very short time, went to Service Heater. I killed power to it for a minute or two and then tried again. Same thing - when it went to Service Heater i went in for a screwdriver to access the back of the board - when I came back out about 2 minutes later, it was cycling itself again with Service Heater light off and amber heating light flashing -- it fired, then within a minute or so went back to Service Heater. With the Service Heater light still on, I used a mirror to see the back of the board and the same three red lights were on again.
I am at a loss. Can any of you pool techs who know how the unit works answer any of these questions:
1. Does the fact that it intermittently works without a hiccup mean it CANNOT be the gas or gas/air mix side of things?
2. Does the fact that it intermittently works without a hiccup mean it CANNOT be a water flow or pressure issue or daisy wheel on the water pressure switch issue? If it can still be water, why doesn't Service System light go on?
3. Does the fact that it intermittently works without a hiccup mean it CANNOT be a clogged *whatever* I read about that can get clogged by mice nests, wasp nests, spider webs, etc. And, what would that part be that would get clogged?
4. Does the fact that it intermittently works without a hiccup mean it CANNOT be a chemically abused or otherwise damaged heat exchanger?
Thanks for any input. I will keep my ticket open with the Lincoln-based Pentair-approved pool tech and hope that he will take the time to thoroughly review the history and thoughtfully troubleshoot what can work sometimes but not always. Pentair phone support has been plenty nice on the phone (although the wait time is often greater than 1/2 hour) but at some point nice isn't good enough -- this is getting to be a lost season
I am at a loss. Can any of you pool techs who know how the unit works answer any of these questions:
1. Does the fact that it intermittently works without a hiccup mean it CANNOT be the gas or gas/air mix side of things?
2. Does the fact that it intermittently works without a hiccup mean it CANNOT be a water flow or pressure issue or daisy wheel on the water pressure switch issue? If it can still be water, why doesn't Service System light go on?
3. Does the fact that it intermittently works without a hiccup mean it CANNOT be a clogged *whatever* I read about that can get clogged by mice nests, wasp nests, spider webs, etc. And, what would that part be that would get clogged?
4. Does the fact that it intermittently works without a hiccup mean it CANNOT be a chemically abused or otherwise damaged heat exchanger?
Thanks for any input. I will keep my ticket open with the Lincoln-based Pentair-approved pool tech and hope that he will take the time to thoroughly review the history and thoughtfully troubleshoot what can work sometimes but not always. Pentair phone support has been plenty nice on the phone (although the wait time is often greater than 1/2 hour) but at some point nice isn't good enough -- this is getting to be a lost season