Swimming pool heat pumps and pool heaters should bring happiness and less stress into your life. You should be able to enjoy your warm tropical water without worrying about repairing your heat pump. It is a machine though and sometimes you have to have it serviced. Here are some tips if your pool heater is not heating.
1: Is your pool heat pump running at all? Look to see if the digital display is lite up and displaying a message. Many times the pool heater will tell you what is wrong. If you hear no sound and see no display then look to see that your circuit breaker tripped off and replace your fuse if you have one.
2: If you see low flow on the display then see if your filter is clean and all the valves are in the right position.
3: Sometimes you need to turn the breaker on and off to reset the heat pump if it had experienced multiple water flow failures.
4: The pool heat pump is running and the pool isn’t heating up then see if the discharge air temperature is about 10 degrees cooler than the outside air. That shows the compressor is running.
5: If everything seems to be working you might need to run the filter pump longer or put a blanket on the pool.
6: Text me at 360 348 7574 to tell me what is happening and I might be able to help troubleshoot.
7: If there is water draining from the heat pump and it is running that should be normal condensation. If you have any doubt then put a chlorine test strip in the water to see if chlorine. If chlorine then you have a leak. No chlorine then it is normal.
8: If also might have shut down to a cold night below 50 degrees. Give it some time to warm in the sun. Some low-temperature heat pumps will go into the 30’s.
We are here for you if you have any questions on how to troubleshoot your pool heat pump.
Best,
Marcus
Swimming pool heat pumps are an amazing reliable piece of machinery. They are designed to heat and cool for many years without service. As with all mechanical things at some point, it will need service or repairs. Judging on how much to invest in a repair is an art though. Before you call for service from an HVAC company you should do all the basic troubleshooting yourself to save the cost of a service call. Turn the circuit breaker on and off to reset the computer board. Check if the board lights up? If no display, then call an electrician to see why there is no power to the heat pump. Many display boards will tell you what is wrong with your swimming pool heat pump. 50% of the time when a heat pump won’t run it is because there is a water flow problem. The printed circuit board might tell you that. Then you should check your pool filter to see if it is clean. Check your filter basket and maybe the pump impeller for debris. Then check that the return jets in the pool are at full pressure. Maybe there is a valve in the wrong position not letting enough water flow through the heat pump? Maybe a valve has failed close but still looks open? That will fool most troubleshooters. At some point, you will need a service call to see what is going on. Keep in mind a swimming pool heat pumps life should be 10 to 15 years. You don’t want to put $1,000.00 in an old heat pump that is out of warranty and might even be using the old freon 22 that has been discontinued. You are welcome to text me at 360 348 7574 to run your proposed repair by me to see what I think.
I love keeping old heat pumps going, but at some point, it doesn’t make sense. I just sold a heat pump to a guy with a 17-year-old Focustemp. They were a simple heat pump with a rotary knob as a thermostat. The heat pump lasted 15 years after they went out of business. FYI I use one heat pump factory that is 36 plus years old and still uses a rotary knob on some of their models. So do as much troubleshooting as you can. Look through your manual for the codes of the display. Call me if you can’t figure it out, and get the pool up to temperature as fast as you can because it will be getting cold soon.
Have a great swimming season.
Best,
Marcus Miller
