Caretaker99

[daddydolge]

Hi everyone! I bought a house with a pool and it has an inground cleaning system called a Caretaker 99. The system worked great last year and I am suddenly having some problems. There is an electrical box with a knob on the side that allows you to change the amount of time it cycles through each cleaning station. All of a sudden the "Transition Indicator" light on the side of the box stays lit permanently and the unit was cycling through the stations and never stopping at a station. I have called Zodiac, which apparently purchased the CareTaker company and they sent me a new "UF- Sensor Plate Assy". I replaced the part and it did not fix the problem. Now the "Transition Indicator" light still stays on permanently and it's stuck at a single station. Any thoughts? My pool guy doesn't work on the units and no one in my area seems to work on them either.

 

[98landry]

Re: Ultraflex2 or Ultraflex?

ultraflex2 or ultraflex? valve has a motor plate assembly which includes a photocell that is used for indexing. did you replace photocell and/or motor asssembly? sounds like pressure sensor is OK which leaves valve assembly and controller. controller provides power to valve. LED is lit so I would start at valve. if you replaced motor assembly, did you align arrows? did you check for debris while valve was apart? did you have valve cover in place when you tested? here's the manual for ultraflex2. http://www.zodiacpoolsystems.com/Produc ... -1322.ashx if that doesn't help, call Zodiac back and ask for installer in your area.

 

[daddydolge]

Hi there! Thanks for responding....I believe it is the Ultraflex1, it has the grey canister with the mushroom handle on top of the lid? I did not replace the motor plate assembly, I only replaced the sensor terminal strip and the sensor plate assembly. Should I start by replacing the motor assembly? The led is lit and stays lit....I would replace everything if I knew what I was doing. I asked Zodiac if there was someone in my area and they called me back to say there was no one local that handled these types of units. I need to fix this on my own

 

[98landry]

did you check for debris? is the valve motor running (you should have 24VAC from controller at sensor)? here's a link for the older manual http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/yhst-914 ... manual.pdf sounds like your original problem may have been sensor- the new sensor is a switch that closes to operate a zone. some times you have to fiddle with alignment to get it right. one of the changes to newer model was alignment marks and position window. adjustments should be 1/8 inch increments.

 

[daddydolge]

Thanks so much for your feedback! I am going to take the whole thing apart and see what I can come up with. I am sure I will be back on here (since I have no clue what I am doing).

 

[98landry]

usually this controller uses 240VAC as a power source. with the breaker off, i would limit disassembly to lifting the motor plate to check for debris in the valve body. if the valve is clean, reassemble the motor plate. adjust the sensor so it's centered (factory). put the cover on and test. if it still is not indexing, using a volt meter, check the brown and green motor leads in the controller for 24VAC. do this test with the controller timer knob set at 15 seconds. you should see a quick up and down of voltage every 15 sec on terminals 1 and 2, refer to page 8 of the manual link. if there's no voltage on/off, the sensor isn't sending power to the valve motor.

when you installed the new sensor, did you maintain the wiring sequence? factory is white #4, black #5 and red #3.

 

[daddydolge]

Thank you for all your help! Yes, I made sure the exact wiring sequence was matched. When I called Zodiac, they said they have seen people with SEVERAL sensors that are bad from the factory so I purchased yet ANOTHER one and it's on it's way. Once I get it, I will do as you suggested, remove the motor plate, adjust the sensor and give it another shot.

 

[daddydolge]

Well, I took everything apart and installed the new sensor, NO LUCK! The "transition indicator" light still stays lit and the system never stops at a station. I don't know what else to do! I am going to follow your suggestion and use a volt meter and see if I can troubleshoot that. Any other ideas? What else could be causing this problem?

 

[98landry]

is it stuck at a single station or not stopping?

 

[daddydolge]

No, it doesn't stop at a station, it just keeps spinning and going through the stations...

 

[98landry]

motor is getting power- sounds like controller board (I'm assuming that sensor exciter/photocell are working correctly). you can check timing sequence with voltmeter at controller. if board is working correctly should see up and down 24VAC for the timing sequence selected. if voltage to exciter is constant, board is probably bad

 

[daddydolge]

Excellent, I will get a volt meter and check ASAP. Thanks for all your help!

 

[tomfinch]

I have been watching to see how you made out with the voltage meter and all. My LED lights blinks all the time. I just replaced the PCB, The main controller board and the sensor and the light still blinks. I am getting the correct 24VAC at the PCB, controller board and the motor in 15 second intervals. When I power on the system the circuit rotates for 15 seconds and then just stops. The motor is turning to e for those 15 seconds. Any ideas here 98landry?? Could it be the motor even though the stations cycle when powered up. The LED stays solid while it cycles and then starts blinking 15 seconds later and won't stop blinking while the motor won't spin.

 

[daddydolge]

Ok, well...I received my new UltraFlex PCB Replacement board (which is different looking than my old one) and wired it in per the directions, matched colors etc. I turned the untit back on and it started smoking. The brand new board is fried. I checked my wiring and I did it exactly how the diagram shows. They are going to send me a new board, but I don't know what to do? If I wire it in again as the diagram shows, I am afraid it will just burn up another $100 board!!!!! Any thoughts?

 

[tomfinch]

I am working on my system as well and might be able to help a little.... doe your unit look like this?[attachment=1:3cnldtvh]ImageUploadedByTapatalk1344549878.706456.jpg[/attachment:3cnldtvh]

If so, you should have received the PCB board and the controller board that goes into the electrical box. Did you get both? Secondly, look closely at that photo and see if your sensor looks the same. Is it black or grey? Does the metal wheel on the bottom have holes in it like this... [attachment=0:3cnldtvh]ImageUploadedByTapatalk1344550077.647561.jpg[/attachment:3cnldtvh]

 

[malcolmb5325]

if it is an Ultraflex2 make sure you have an orange 5 pin connector in both power box pcb and water valve pcb as they must be compatable. have you checked under the top plate to make sure there is no mechanical restrictions or damage to orings?

 

[daddydolge]

Tom, to answer your question....no, it does not look like that. It is the older model, the UltraFlex1...the sensor looks different and the plate does not have holes in it. I spoke with a pool company yesterday and they are going to send me another board. Apparently Polaris doesn't make the old boards anymore but they say the new board should work fine. I am VERY nervous on wiring in the new board because I don't want it to burn up again.

Malcolm, I have checked under the top plate and everything looks to be good, but I did a replacement kit anyway. Now it seems all of my problems are on the electrical side of the house.

 

[tomfinch]

When I called tech support regarding my UF2 equipment it appears that they are even confused as to what equipment to send out us pool owners. They sent me new boards and a new sensor by mistake thinking it was under warranty and when I explained that they sent me the wrong sensor they said "oh well", we weren't suppose to send you anything. I was asking about the holes because I have that kind of sensor which reads the holes in the plate. Some have the sensors that read where the plate passes through the sensor itself.

Anyhow, I have the troubleshooting guide in case you don't have it. I found this on the web and the last page is the UltraFlex1. I am unable to attach the file to this board because it is a 2.1mb PDF file. If you want I can email it to you? Your wiring is not suppose to be orange. You look as though you have the board wired correctly. I would definitely read the wiring part regarding which voltage your system in using and check that before you plug it in.

 

[daddydolge]

Thanks Tom! I agree, they didn't seem to know what the heck they were talking about (after almost an hour on hold). Mine has the sensor that reads where the plate passes through the sensor itself. I actually found that troubleshooting guide as well but I haven't found it very useful since everything says it's the board but I can't get a new board wired in correctly.

 

[tomfinch]

Well the good news is that your not going at it alone. I am right there with you. Bad news is that neither one of us has a working system at the moment. Haha.

Did they send you both the controller board and the PCB?