Swimming pool heaters are very complex equipment that comes with your pool. It’s such a vital part of your swimming pool because it is responsible for the water purification process where water is pushed through the filter, and all the debris is trapped within the filter. The heater also handles the circulation of water current to prevent the formation and growth of algae.
One common problem with almost every pool heater is that they usually shut off abruptly. This is caused by many reasons which would be examined here. The situation where your pool heater shuts off abruptly is called tripping.
Causes of Pool Heater Tripping off
1. Insufficient voltage
This is a major cause of your pool heater tripping off. This situation occurs when the heater motor does not receive as much voltage as it does. Other causes of insufficient voltage include incorrect wiring, which can cause the heater to trip every five to ten seconds. Another cause may be a bad capacitor or loose wire. These are some of the causes of insufficient voltage to your pool heater. To fix this, you need to call in the professional help of an electrician to check the pump’s wiring for any faults.
2. Impeller complications
An impeller is a spinning tool designed to help the heater pull out water from the filter. When the impeller malfunctions and doesn’t spin the heater ceases to function and starts humming. This malfunction ultimately shuts down the impeller.’
The cause of this is when the impeller is blocked by debris or a piece of clothing. These causes would hinder the movement of the impeller from its normal duties. To get the impeller functional, you will have to remove the pool heater and clear whatever is making it stuck. If you cannot do this on your own, you need to call a professional.
3. Overheating Pump
The modern-day pool heaters are designed to shut off when pool heater running but not heating, causing overheating to the pump. This is the duty of the thermal overload switches. So if your heater keeps shutting off, you may need to look at your thermal overload switches and change the faulty ones.
It is also possible that the thermal overload switch is functioning just fine, and it’s the pump that’s just overheating. You’ll need to call in a technician to check the heater to determine the cause of the overheating. If you’re not someone knowledgeable in electrical issues, don’t try troubleshooting the pump.
4. Poor Priming
There are times when the pool heater hasn’t shut off, but due to lack of flowing water, the heater feels like it has. If you experience such a situation, then you need to prime your heater. Priming is the process of letting water flow through the filter and pump of the pool.
5. Excess energy consumption
Excess energy consumption is another cause of your pool heater failure. There are certain times when we run some appliances at home more than others, and these appliances take all the current to function, leaving very little for other home appliances to use. This can cause the power to drop at home, leaving very little current for things like your pool heat pump. And in this case, the pump would not start, or it would shut off abruptly.
To resolve this, you have to balance your home appliance power consumption for the heater pump to pick up. If the power drop is a problem in your local area, you may need to contact your area power company to complain about the shortage of power and ask for a quick fix.
Now, these are the problems that could make your heater pump shut off abruptly. However, suppose you’re knowledgeable about electrical appliances and switches. In that case, you could troubleshoot your pool heater pump yourself using the troubleshooting guide below, but you need to know the brand of your pool heater.
Hayward Pool Heater Troubleshooting
To troubleshoot your Hayward pool heater to keep it from tripping, you need to check if it’s properly installed from the installation manual. Check to see it the electrical hook-up was set correctly by ensuring the breaker is the size of your unit, and the wiring is based on the national electric code.
If you suspect the tripping cause to be from the circuit breaker, but the breaker off, then put it back on. Toggle the breaker switch to see if any of them is short-circuited.
If the pool heater is running but not heating, ensure the heater thermostat is turned high enough. If it’s not as high as it should be, tune the thermostat to a higher heating temperature.
Pentair Pool Heater Troubleshooting
To troubleshoot your Pentair pool heater to keep it from tripping, you need to check the pH level of your pool because incorrect water chemistry will damage your pool’s gas exchanger and cause the heater to trip. Ensure the water chemistry is balanced or get heaters that are less corrosive to water chemistry.
You should also maintain your pool filter because a buildup of debris in the filter can cause the Pentair pool heater to trip due to irregular flow of water. Also, check the pressure sensors too as they only function when the filter is clean, aiding the free flow of water.
Rheem Pool Heater Troubleshooting
To troubleshoot your Rheem pool heater to keep it from tripping, check to see if the control panel power lamp is on. If it’s not, you have to switch off the breaker to reset it then switch it back on. Ensure that the breaker is working properly before you call for service.
Check to see if the thermostat and the pool setting are correct. Ensure that both temperatures have been set properly and higher than the present water temperature. To know if they are set properly, the three lamps on the heater would illuminate, and the fan would start working.
Understand that this heater would trip if the remote position is not on the pool selector switch or there is no remote control system attached.
Jandy Pool Heater Troubleshooting
One of the major steps in troubleshooting your Jandy pool heater is to verify if the circulating pump is switched on. Also, make sure that there are no water flow restrictions to the Jandy heat pump.
Then let all important valves are open and placed in proper positions to allow normal water flow to the Jandy heat pump. Check and ensure the skimmers and filters are clean. When you’re done, you should also check for water level in the pool.
By following these steps, you can easily troubleshoot your Jandy pool heater without much stress.
Conclusion
Ensure that the necessary settings needed for the heater to function are set correctly, and different parts of your heater are not malfunctioning to ensure that the system does not trip.
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