Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

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markwimbush

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby markwimbush » Thu 21 Feb, 2013 19:36

alanf_45 wrote:My Minimax NT problem is that I must cycle through the start-up 2-4 times before I get ignition. I turn it on, wait a few minutes, turn it off, wait, turn it on, wait, turn it off, and THEN on the 3rd try, I get ignition and it heats the spa just fine.
Two separate repairmen listened to this story and both told me the repair would be too costly, compared with the cost of a new heater. Both told me to replace the heater and not waste my time and money on repair attempts. I am adding solar water heating panels for the pool, and plan to replace the heater in a few months.

Anyone have a short term solution I can do myself? Pushing a few buttons on an X-10 keypad is NOT all that difficult.
Alan



fyi

there was a problem with gas valves not opening when powered. I rreplaced a few of them under warranty last year and the year before


Ronf16

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby Ronf16 » Mon 18 Mar, 2013 18:25

Bottom line, replacing the capacitor on the fan motor seems to have fixed the issue. Three years ago I had to replace the transformer. Heater worked fine for a while then started throwing E4 codes. At first occasionally until recently about every 2 degrees of heating. Then it started throwing an occasional E5 code. Read the post on here and ordered a $7 capacitor. Just put it in and it went all way through heating the spa. I am ready to declare it fixed. Thank you very much for the very insightful help.
Ishinc

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby Ishinc » Tue 19 Mar, 2013 17:08

Great information going on here! I have a question, I took off the vent plate on top, but all the see is the metal ducting to where the air is blown out. Where is the capacitor? Anybody have a picture??
Ronf16

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby Ronf16 » Tue 19 Mar, 2013 19:41

The whole plastic top just pops off after you remove the metal vent cover. Once you do that you can't miss it.
Ishinc

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby Ishinc » Tue 19 Mar, 2013 19:42

Figured it out! You have to removed the entire top cover (pops right off after removing the middle 2 screws of the vent) to see the blower motor and the capacitor. Looks like a easy replacement. I ordered my capacitor at Home Depot for $3.50 and it should be ready for pick up in a few days. I hope this works.
Ishinc

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby Ishinc » Tue 19 Mar, 2013 19:44

Thanks Ronf16! Looks like we were typing the at the same time!
Ronf16

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby Ronf16 » Tue 19 Mar, 2013 19:57

Good luck. I hope it fixes your issue.
wimbushmechanical
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Location: pool service

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby wimbushmechanical » Wed 20 Mar, 2013 08:32

The capacitor is part of the motor cicrcuit and usually fails due to problems with the motor. As a motor slows down (slips), due to overloading the capacitor sees a greater current as it works harder and harder to offset the motor slip. This will cause the capacitor to fail first. This does not correct the conditions that caused the failure and will not prevent the capacitor from failing again.
On pool heaters the usual problem is rusted bearings on the motor. These motors are constantly exposed to corrosive elements which can affect their lifespan.
Simply changing the capacitor will mean that at some later time, usually when it is most inconvenient, the motor will fail.
Mgeorge
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My Pool: 17000 gallon, indoor, salt water system, pentair pump and heater.
Location: Nashville TN

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby Mgeorge » Wed 27 Mar, 2013 17:30

I have a Pentair 25000 BTU heater that will not stay on for more than 1 hour. So far the ignitor and 2 sensors have been replaced but still the same problem. Now I'm told that it is an air flow problem due to the blower motor heating up therefore decreasing the fan speed. They said that a new blower motor will cost 400 to 600 and due to the age, 5 years, and amount of corrosion inside, I may be better off replacing the heater. This is a hotel pool which is getting lots of use and the heater sits outside. Also it's a salt water system, so does that come into consideration if I purchase a new heater?
On The Square

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby On The Square » Fri 29 Mar, 2013 12:05

Pentair 400 pool heater.
I have a in ground pool with attached hot tub.
The heater will start and burn while the water flow valves are on the pool side.
When the valves are switched to the hot tub the heater will come on for approx. 2-3 minutes and go off and in a few minutes it will come back and then off ect.
Help me
TxAg

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby TxAg » Sat 30 Mar, 2013 06:06

It sounds like you aren't getting enough flow through the heater in spa mode and it is tripping from over temperature. I would check the system pressure to see if it is unusually high in spa mode to see if there is restricted flow.

My blower motor went out and I decided to replace the whole thing so I'm parting out the rest of the unit if anyone wants some used mini max nt parts.
joe v

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby joe v » Sat 27 Apr, 2013 10:02

ndllana wrote:I ahve a Pentair minimax NT . The heater starts and heats for about 30 minutes or so then just stops. It will kick back on several times, then fi nally stops and shows and e05 messaage. Anyone have a fix to this.

Thsi is the second time this has happened since I bought it back in 2003. The first time Pentair came out and replaced the ignition module and DDTC controls.



possible fan failure. leet system run for a few min the put your hand on the fan motor. if its very hot to the touch it going bad and needs to be replaced.
Guest

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby Guest » Sat 25 May, 2013 13:48

To: Not a heater repair guy

Excellent post! Really helped me save a lot of money. I was able to pick-up a run capacitor at the local Electric Supply outlet and the blower now runs better than new!

Turns out the old capacitor was leaking oil.

Thank-you again.
Kluk

Pentair Minimax NT Problems?

Postby Kluk » Sat 03 Aug, 2013 07:54

My mini max is kicking the breaker after fan runs for about 30 sec
Napa Eric

Pentair Minimax Staring problem repair

Postby Napa Eric » Sat 26 Oct, 2013 19:07

I have a roughly 7 year old Pentair Minimax. It is used for both the pool and spa. It became gradually harder and harder to start until finally it would not start at all. It would try several times, and I could smell gas, but it just wouldn't light. I found this thread and saw the suggestion about cleaning the jets. I bought some wire brushes but then decided a more complete disassembly was warranted. I first verified that the blower was running, the ignitor was getting hot and I knew that I had gas. I turned off the gas, turned off the power and then pulled the gas jet assembly. Lo and behold, when I looked back up into the gas jets, most of the jets had cocoons, or spider silk in them... this include the jet closest to the ignitor. I cut the end off of a Q-Tip and cleaned out the jets. After reassembly everything works fine. The silk was fairly tenacious and I'm not certain that it could be properly cleaned without being able to look into the jets. In my unit I needed 1/4 and 3/8 box wrenches and sockets to remove the gas jet assembly. After the jet assembly was loose, I rotated it and the valve/regulator for access and cleaning of the jets.

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