My Intex 56601 is dead

[tercero]

I went out yesterday to find that my Intex 56601 SWG is no longer working. The panel is not lighting up. I called Intex and they don't sell parts to repair it, and after lifting off the cover where the display is I see that all of the caps are intact and the fuses are still good. My only guess is the transformer is shot. I did a quick search on this site, but can't find any info on how to repair this. Any helps appreciated.

T.

 

[dmanb2b]

I know stupid question, but are you sure the outlet has power? Tripped GFCI or circuit breaker?

 

[tercero]

Not a stupid question at all. I'm a IT guy by trade and can't tell you how many times I've gone to fix something only to find someone didn't turn on a monitor, or had unplugged a system and forgot to plug it back in.

Anyhow, yeah. First thing I tried. I had it plugged into a GFI plug, and tried several different plugs including bringing it inside. No go. She's dead Jim. It's been acting strange most of this summer. I'd go out, and it would have stopped working. I just assumed the power had been interrupted or the system had a code 91, and I'd open the cells and clean them and I'd be back in business. The other day it went off and it was a matter of unplugging it for 10 minutes, plugging it back in and I was back in business. I assumed it perhaps overheated of something. Well. It's been unplugged for 48 hrs, and still zippo. No power to the display.

 

[dmanb2b]

Sorry to hear that....almost forgot too...welcome to TFP Unfortunately I'm out of ideas...I'm on year two with mine and I just picked up a spare for $129...just in case

Now if you decide to get another, we can help you with water chemistry that will prevent cell scaling...a TA of around 70 and PH always below 7.8 is my moto and our cell has been squeaky clean. Our fill water CH happens to be around 400-450 too

Hopefully someone else will have a suggestion.

 

[New2Me]

Well, if you've already opened it up, and you have a meter, you can carefully check for transformed power. The power cord connects the transformer to the wall outlet, so there is always AC power to the bridge rectifier/capacitor and small main-board connector (34 and 18 VAC, I think) when it's plugged in to the mains. The DC from the bridge rectifier/capacitor connects to the main-board screw terminals and is fed out to the cell by the power relays. The 18 VAC is rectified on the main-board, and feeds 12 and 5vdc regulators for the relays and micro-controller ( mine had a SONIX mcu.) You have probably had a component failure in the 5vdc circuitry.

Check the small fuse on the 18VAC in feed for continuity, if it opened, replacing it may allow it to work for a while, but probably not.

If the transformer and rectifier/capacitor are still good, there are several "hacks" that will allow you to power the cell and generate chlorine by bypassing the control board. Not for the feint of heart, as most will bypass the flow detector too, leaving open the possibility of a hydrogen gas build-up and possible catastrophic explosion, should a spark occur in the gas bubble inside the water filled piping. It has, apparently, happened before.

The easiest "hack" is to land the cell wires on top of the rectified output wires. Now, when ever the unit is plugged in, the cell is powered ON. Plugging into a lamp timer gives you some control of ON/OFF timing. If you want to reverse the cell polarity to "self-clean" (the unit did that every 20 hours, according to my manual) you can unplug the cell power cord and turn it over, every 5 days if you run it 4 hours per.

Or, just buy a new unit and keep the spare parts from the broken one.

I'm still waiting to hear from anyone that has plugged an "old" large Intex cell into one of the new units. I think that the controls will fault on a high or low salt measurement, do to the difference in cell plate area. If it works, that would be a sweet way to upgrade the controls and output.

Anyway, be careful, and good luck!

 

[tercero]

Thanks New2Me.

Ok, voltage in was good, zero voltage out. I take it there's a short in the windings? Dang.

 

[Bama Rambler]

It's an open. A lot of those transformers have a thermal cutout in the windings so if they get too hot it'll open to prevent a fire. Not that it will help your situation.

If you could find the data on that transformer you could probably find a replacement for it.

 

[MikeInNH]

It's an open. A lot of those transformers have a thermal cutout in the windings so if they get too hot it'll open to prevent a fire.

Yep, Bama has the right idea. If you can actually get to the transformer and look at the windings you should see a lump in one place under what is usually a tan paper-ish insulator. This would be where the thermal fuse is. They just put a fuse at the end of the winding and cover it up with insulator. You can read the fuse for the amperage and temp max and hit your local Radioshack for another. Google Thermal Fuse and you'll see what they look like. If you find this is the issue, make sure you get the correct max temp (or close) and that it's situated the same way so if the windings get overheated it will do it's job. You also have to be quick with the soldering iron because they are easy to burn up with the heat.

I have fixed many a transformer this way. My only concern is that you said it was intermittent although some types of fuses can come back when cooled. Does the unit sit in the sun when running?

 

[Grubincan]

Same problem for me, zero power coming out of the transformer.

I don't think I'm up for cracking it open to try to fix it (it is sealed with what looks like a melted in plastic base). It's over 3 years old, so It's probably time to retire it anyway.