No Flow indicator?

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As Sal said, the flow switch should shut the SWCG off if it doesn't see a flow. So there should be no way for your SWCG to generate with the pump off. If it is running with the pump off you have a problem with the flow switch. You may have installed it so it hangs up sometimes.
 
Well, I just looked at the switch and the arrow is perfectly aligned with the piping, so I think we can rule out a misaligned switch, but not a DEFECTIVE switch, right?

Right now the pump is running because it's 33 degrees out. As you can see from THIS PICTURE, the readings on 01-23-11 at 7:23AM are 3300 salt, and the "power" and "generating" lights are on. Looks correct.

Now I have to wait for the pump to shut off when it gets a little warmer this afternoon and see what happens. It's supposed to get up to 73 today and if the "generating" light is still on when the pump isn't running, are we looking at a bad switch or a defective circuit board? Can I just ohm out the switch and see what it's doing with the pump off?

Ed
 
Okay, I think I found the problem. The pump just shut off and the "generating" light was still on, so I took a closer look at the switch and HERE'S what I found! The wire was bent over and when I straightened it back up, the "generating" light went out and the "low flow" light turned on. Looks like the wiring inside the sheathing where it goes into the switch housing has shorted out. I should be able to epoxy this area and be on my way again.

Ed
 
Okay, I cut the harness, dug out about half of the rubber in the housing and soldered two male terminals to the two wires. I then filled the void with waterproof silicone. I'm still waiting for it to dry completely, but in the meantime, you can see my handywork HERE. (Ignore how it looks right now. It'll look much better when I clean it up a bit!)

My question though... When I place my meter leads on the terminals and ohm them out, I'm only getting a slight variation in readings. When the magnet is applied, I get a reading of (approx) .8k ohms. When the magnet is removed, I get a reading of (approx) 2k ohms. Is this normal? I was expecting a reading of 0 ohms when the magnet was applied and infinite with the magnet removed. After all, it's just a simple "on/off" switch, right?

Ed
 
Looks like I'm going to have to spend the money after all.

I installed the switch a few minutes ago and I'm still getting the "generating" light even if the pump isn't on, and if I disconnect one of the wires, it goes to "No Flow", so it appears the switch is bad.

My question is do I have to go with THIS ONE on ebay (an "okay" price), or can I go with THIS ONE? It's about $20.00 cheaper, but if it's not going to work, I don't want to waste the money, even though I like the idea that you can disconnect the harness.

Or, if anyone out there has a better solution (cheaper?), please feel free to comment.

Ed
 

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Thanks for the link. I just ordered one and it should be here tomorrow or Monday. The price is now $68.45 plus shipping which is a LOT better than I could find anywhere else. And the comments on the link were right, the lady on the phone couldn't have been nicer!

Ed
 
I'm back up and running!

The new switch arrived a few minutes ago and after installing, everything is working perfectly again. I want to give a big thanks to all that helped. I really appreciate it.

Now, let's see if I can go a day without having to pour more $$$ into this thing!!

Ed
 
I had the no flow problem on a Goldline system. Thanks to the folks on this thread and others at this site, I ordered it out of Oxnard and saved a ton of money over the usual costs. Then, I took the old one apart.

It had a magnetic reed switch inside potted extremely well to be sure no water got to it. The potting didn't fail and the wires were fine. I pulled the reed switch out and examined it under a microscope (yes, I have a binocular microscope for examining bugs and such). The contacts were burned. I carefully broke open the glass and sure enough, the contacts were burned to the point where they don't work anymore. These things have a 10 watt rating with 100V .5 amp switching. They should last forever.

I'm suspecting that the goldline controller is exceeding the rating or has no arc protection on the circuitry off the contacts. Since I'm replacing the pump in a week or so (when the temp goes back up) I'll be in there with a multimeter checking this out.

Those reed switches last a really long time if they're used correctly; heck the manufacturer rates them at a half million operations. I getting real unimpressed with Goldline controllers and accessories.
 
Burned contacts usually mean there was a nearby lightning strike that induced enough current in the wiring that the reed switch far exceeded it's rating. It is almost impossible for the SWG manufacturer to protect against that.
 
Not trying to be argumentative so please don't misunderstand. The flow switch is at the end of the circuitry far, far behind lots of other stuff that would go up in flames long before a couple of contacts burned due to lightning. I should have lost the controlling PIC, any one of a number of other components including the micro amp tolerant LCD display if lightning hit the power or any of the control circuitry to the system. I also have about 25 other logic based devices inside the house and they haven't had any failures. Much more likely is that they don't have a capacitor across the contacts to suppress the arcs or that they are putting too much current through the switch.

Granted, lightning does strange stuff at time, my neighbor lost a large cactus last year to it, but only this one component going out is too weird even for that.
 
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