We Know Pools
Mastertemp bt Pentair 400k BTU Natural - 10 months old and calcium buildup?
Hi All,
After less than 100 hrs estimated run time over the past 10 months our service guy claims that calcium has clogged the heating elements (and suggests a $500+ repair).
Waterbalance has been in acceptable ranges all the time and we recently cleaned the large (clogged) filters.
Could there be other reasons for the SFS to report 450+F and shut off this unit?
Txs.
Views: 57
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Pentair Product Technician-Ben on -
He would only know this for sure if he removed the header and looked in the exchanger tubes. Remember that water is inside/flowing even if the heater is off.
A high SFS temp can be caused by low water flow too. The first thing I'd check would be the thermal regulator.
-
Permalink Reply by Peter Schulte on -
The tech took the inlet/outlet pipes off and disassembled the manifold... the lower 2 openings to the heater showed a fine white discoloration, the other openings were black as new.
There were bits of calcium loose inside the manifold (wondering if they could have washed into there from the cleaning we did a week before).
This is from the service report:
PULLED THERMAL REGULATOR AND CHECKED BYPASS OK, THERMAL REGULATOR HAD CORROSION AND PIECES OF CALCIUM ON IT
-
Permalink Reply by Pentair Product Technician-Ben on
-
I would think you'd see evidence of calcium elsewhere in the pool, but that doesn't mean it's not possible. Were those cartridges clogged with dirt, or clogged with calcium?
Other things that could cause your error:
Low gas supply has caused sooting inside the chamber (causes poor heat exchange).
Water in the chamber (tech would have seen this).
Insulation not positioned properly (would have caused issue prior to this).
Thermal regulator not opening properly (I'd check this next).
-
Permalink Reply by Peter Schulte on
-
Thank you so much for your help.
The filters were clogged with a white, mushy substance. We had neglegted the cleaning since pressure barely got to 25 psi.
The pool water looks excellent, no cloudiness or other matter.
Gas pressure was just checked when I was there and was perfect.
-
Permalink Reply by Pentair Product Technician-Ben on
-
That could be plaster dust from a new finish if the pool is of that type, or it could be calcium. High Ph, alkalinity, or calcium hardness can cause calcium build up. This is more common in gunite pools.
-
Permalink Reply by Peter Schulte on
-
It is a gunite pool with white plaster, 10 months old... we brush weekyl and also run a vaccuum daily.
Water balance bounced a little bit over the summer, but all stayed within accetable levels per the pool store.
Alkalinity was generally on the lower side, PH only went high when we added Borates and came down after a few days.
Having browser trouble?
If you're experiencing problems when viewing items in Internet Explorer, we recommend switching to another web browser such as Mozilla Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome.
Content
Photos
Events
-
World's Largest Swimming Lesson
June 14, 2012 from 11am to 12pm – Multiple Locations
Recent Pentair Facebook Posts
© 2012 Created by Pentair.
