# Lochinvar



## bct p&h (Jan 19, 2013)

Mentioned I was having a problem with a water heater in another thread but now I have a solution to it.
I had a brand new Lochinvar 100 gallon 299,000 btu heater that was coding out. The error code was because the Delta T was way out of range. Checked the internal circ for power and it felt like it was running. That's as far as I took it before getting the rep out because I had more than enough other things to do and I wasn't really happy about having to troubleshoot a brand new $10,000 water heater.
The rep went through all the settings, which I never touched, and made sure they were all set at factory spec. He left without any solution. He called me a couple times with things to check. First was to see if the pump was obstructed. It wasn't but it was a pain in the ass to get in and out because it is sealed with o rings that would roll out because the space between the flanges seemed to be a little tighter than they needed to be.
Next was to make sure the board was sending a constant signal to the pump, it was.
Today they sent a factory tech out to look at it because the rep and everyone he talked with this about had no idea what it could be aside from a clogged heat exchanger. The tech figured it out fairly quickly. The factory wired the pump wrong. They put one wire on the wrong terminal. Apparently it would get the pump to spin but not as fast as it should.
If anyone runs into a new Lochinvar water heater with a similar problem, check the wiring. I'm not happy that this happened in the first place but their tech was great.


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## rwh (Dec 17, 2014)

Sweat stops didn't prevent this issue?


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

I've had boilers wired wrong. The last time I had a Lochinvar code out on me, the factory tech suggested I replace the flow valve which didn't do diddly. Had a rep come out and he was stumped. Finally got someone who knew what he was doing. He right away said my circ pump was air locked. Funny, because the only noise it made was a hum and it wasn't overheated. Changed out the pump and seriously bled the tank, all good. My plumber swore he bled the crap out of is. Evidently not.


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## bct p&h (Jan 19, 2013)

rwh said:


> Sweat stops didn't prevent this issue?


Maybe that was the root of the problem, I didn't have all of my stops soldered on when I fired up the heater!


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## saysflushable (Jun 15, 2009)

I guess I'm confused about a pump on a water heater? Is it a tank unit or what. Is the pump integral or was it added for a recirculation line?


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

The pump circulates water between the boiler and the tank.


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## bct p&h (Jan 19, 2013)

saysflushable said:


> I guess I'm confused about a pump on a water heater? Is it a tank unit or what. Is the pump integral or was it added for a recirculation line?


This heater is more of a boiler with a tank attached to it.


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## JimmyMac (Nov 4, 2015)

Not a huge fan of those heaters, have had multiple issues with them. Worst one was on an sla400-125 that we installed next to an old 100 gallon atmospheric heater. It kept going into fault but randomly, was no rhyme or reason. After multiple parts replacements etc...we found that only while it was running and when the atmospheric heater beside it either kicked on or off (I can't remember which, several years ago) it would send a "shockwave" through the gas line and screw up the lochinvar. We had it piped in correctly on the gas line, but ended up adding about 5-6' more of gas piping to reduce the "shockwave" that fixed the issue. Of course couple months later the atmospheric heater failed and we replaced it with another lochinvar. To add on to that the 2nd Lochinvar we installed, failed within 10 months under warranty and we got to replace it again...


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