Heater Question

[halefmly]

I have had a Jandy LAARS LT Pool/Spa heater for about one year, and now the "hi limit" light has come on for the second time. The manual states that this requires the attention of qualified service personnel. Has anyone had similar problems with this model?

It seems like every time I want to use the heater I have to reset it, but this condition won't reset.

[Sully]

Sounds like a possible water flow problem.

[waste]

Larry, if you have the owner's manual for the unit, I'll wager that you can handle this yourself. (As I understand it, " (a)Qualified service person" is one who can turn a wrench and read the manual - I got certified 13 (+/-) yrs ago at a trade show - we looked at the heater and recieved the trouble shooting guide and a week later had a nice certificate (suitable for framing) saying that we were factory authorized to work on them) Now these were the old 'dumb' microvolt units, but it should be the same set-up. The computer is telling you what the problem (probably) is, however it's always nice to double check before replacing parts.
What you want to do is determine where the hi- limit switch is (the manual should tell you - it should have a trouble shooting section in the back (* if you can't understand a word of it, flip the manual over to see the English side :p ). Once you know where the swich is, TURN THE HEATER OFF and take a peice of wire to 'jump'/ bypass the switch and turn the unit back on (turn the thermostat to it's max to be sure that you have a 'heat demand') so the heater will try to fire. If the heater fires and runs with no other problems, replace the hi-limit switch.
There is a chance that there is a problem with either the 'fenwall' (firing control wall - it's gotta be a Brit term) or the control board and it's showing a 'hi-limit' problem as default, that's why 'jumping' the switch is a good idea BEFORE buying a new one. If it turns out to be the fenwall or control board, please post back as there is some further info I will share with you.
I wish you well with this and if I can be of further help, let me know and I'll do what I can from afar - Waste

[halefmly]

Waste,

Thanks for the encouraging advice. I have located the set of three hi-limit switches on the owners manual schematic. I also learned that I have a two-year warranty, so I think I'll take the easy route and call the PB tomorrow to get the warranty service. Beats breaking something else and having to get a new heater.

If the problem continues to reccur after the warranty expires, I'll be asking more questions in the forum.