[katumab]

Hi! My husband and I just installed a fireman's safety switch for our pool heater. However, instead of the heater turning off about 15-20 min before the pool pump, it is turning off at exactly the same time. Can someone tell me what we did wrong? Thanks!

 

[joecaption]

#1, Where on the planet are you?
I'm a fireman and have never heard of a "fireman's switch".
Gas or electric heater?
Any breaker would shut off as soon as the breaker was shut off, what good would it do to shut off 20 min. later?

 

[Jim Port]

Is this a disconnect?

You would need a timer to sequence the running of the heater and the pump.

 

[Msradell]

I've never heard of a Fireman's Safety Switch for a pool heater but my thought is it should operate how it is operating. If you have a safety problem you want to kill everything immediately, not wait around for 15 or 20 minutes to have everything shut down.

 

[Oso954]

I've heard the term for gas pool/spa heaters, but as a shut off for the gas in case of a fire in the heater. It wouldn't take much to rig one to kill the pump as well.

The other place I've heard the term used it as an external disconnect for a solar system.

 

[jreagan]

I've only seen the reference for oil burners when I lived back in New England. You always saw a red-plate switch that turned off the oil burners without you having to go into the basement (or even open the door to the basement).

 

[George6488]

The fireman's safety switch is designed to be an add-on option on your pool / spa timer. It is designed to shut down the heater 10 to 20 minutes before the pump shuts off so the heater cools down before water flow stops. It is a micro switch that attaches to the timer and the cam trips the micro switch that is wired to interrupt the heater circuit.

The newer pool heaters are more user friendly and these switches are rarely used today.

Question........why was the switch installed?

 

[herdfan]

The newer pool heaters are more user friendly and these switches are rarely used today.

That was my thought. Mine has a pressure switch that when the flow of water stops, ie the timer shuts off my pump, the heater stops heating. Been going 11 years now with no issues.

 

[katumab]

George6488 and herdfan are right. Our heater turns off once it reaches temp. So as long as we have it running long enough to do that, there isn't a need for the safety switch. Thanks everyone for your help!