Heater Question

[CanuckPool]

I have a Pentair Mini Max 300 Nt heater.. only 4 months old. About 4-5 weeks ago I turned it on for 5-6 hours to heat up the pool, we went out came back and I noticed that the pool temp had not moved and that the heater was not on.. it was in the on position but it was very cold to the touch. I turned the thermostat to full and it still didnt come on. So I decided to take off the front panel, as I did so, it came on... interesting. Anyways fast forward a few weeks now, the pool temp is 60 and we havnt swam for about 2 weeks and obivously havnt been using the heater. I decided to do some vacumning and cleaning and decided to turn the heater on to test it. Well... nothing nada doesnt come on no matter what I try. I was doing a little reading and it appears there are about a dozen safety switches that could have tripped. water pressure/gas pressure ignition etc etc.

On a side note, I mentioned on the forum a while back that my Jandy deck jets have developped a pulse to their squirt that wasnt there before. Could it be I have a blockage somewhere that is affecting the heater too? Everything else seems fine, i have 17 lbs on my sand filter which is about normal.

oh, and more of a trivial question... apart from the gas line to the heater, there is no other "wires" or "power" that goes there. How does it get the power to run the electronic ignition and thermostat etcetc.

[Poconos]

Don't know anything about that heater but I can answer one general question. The heater uses what is called a millivolt system for power. If you look near the pilot light, usually right in the flame, there is a thermopile that looks like a cylinder with a wire coming out of it. Actually the wire may look like a skinny pipe. It generates a small voltage from the pilot heat to operate the gas valve and the thermostat system. If the pilot goes out or a breeze comes along or it isn't positioned right, no or low voltage. Your problem could also be one of the safety switches as you suggest. One of those switches could have a bad contact and the vibration of pulling off the panel could have tripped it. Check all connections are tight and you could try tapping on things. Best I can do.
Al

[CanuckPool]

ahhhh, the ole tapping and shaking routine. So what you are saying.. if my pilot light is out (due to wind etc) the whole system would shut itself down? is it the same as lighting the pilot on my gas fireplace?

[Poconos]

Don't know about gas fireplaces, I heat by coal. But yes, if the pilot dies for whatever reason, no heat, no voltage, no function. I have a Hayward propane heater that is a millivolt system that I don't use anymore. Was tough to see the pilot but once you knew where to look through a peephole it was easy to see if it was lit.
Al

[MaryLee]

I have a Pentair Minimax heater...

This summer my heater wasn't firing up at all. After having the electrician and gas company look at it, I finally called the pool company who sold it to me. It turned out to be a faulty ignitor. They said they have been replacing alot of them this summer in the Minimax heater. It's a cheap part...although they replaced it free of charge...

Hope that helps...

[CanuckPool]

Thanks Mary, I called the pool guy and he said it may be the pressure switch as they also have had problems with those.

Interesting that the gas guy and electrician couldn't figure out the problem.