Tips for Troubleshooting Your Pool Heater
Tips for Troubleshooting Your Pool Heater
Your pool heater is a powerful thing. It keeps your pool warm and comfortable and can allow you to swim until fall or, depending on where you live, even winter. Unfortunately, though, pool heaters don’t last forever. Like everything else, they sometimes break. In some cases, they may even stop working without warning. If that happens to you, don’t panic. There are a few things you can do to try and get your heater working again.
When Your Water Won’t Get Warm Enough . . .
When your heater is working, but not as well as you’d like it to, start by checking your thermostat settings. Yes, it sounds simple, but sometimes the dial or other controls might have been changed by accident or by someone else. If you’ve tried that and your problem isn’t that simple, there are a few possibilities. One is that your heater isn’t working as well as it used to, which will mean having a professional diagnose and repair it or getting a replacement. The second is that it’s too cold outside for your heater to do its job properly. This might mean that your heater isn’t equipped for a pool of your size or the outdoor temps you’re facing. If that’s the case, you’ll need an upgrade.
When It Won’t Power On . . .
A non-working pool heater is even worse than a lukewarm one. If your heater won’t power on at all, it may be broken or damaged. But, if you’re lucky, there’s just a problem with the power supply. Check all connections carefully. If you can’t find anything wrong, try resetting your pool heater or flipping the breaker. More advanced electrical troubleshooting is not recommended since there is a risk of electric shock or further damage to the heater.
When it Powers On and Immediately Goes Off . . .
It’s very frustrating when your pool heater turns on . . . only to immediately power off again. If this happens, go through all the power checking steps described above. If it’s not a power problem, then your filter may be to blame. The filter sends the water to the heater. If it’s too clogged or dirty to do its job properly, this can bring the process to a standstill and cause your filter to turn itself off.
As you can see, there are many possible reasons for a non-functioning heater. If the problem is simple, you may be able to find and fix it on your own. However, remember that there’s no substitute for pool professionals. You should have a company or person you can call on when issues like these occur. That way, you can get the problem fixed quickly so you can go back to enjoying your pool.