Jandy Aquapure 1400 cell not generating chlorine

[northshore]

I have a 35,000gal Salt Water Pool inground with plaster surface that was built in 1983. It was a chlorine pool until about 10 years ago when it was converted to salt water. I replaced the cell at the end of last season.

No service codes. According to the control center everything is working fine, but the first problem is the up chlorine production button(arrow) stopped working. It makes no sound when pressed. All other buttons/lights work. The switch on the circuit board under the button looks fine and clicks when pressed. I can turn chlorine production on by using boost function, and light says cell is on but no chlorine is being generated. No obvious burns/breakages on circuit boards.

While I was troubleshooting the backboard code 170 appeared for 10 minutes then disappeared.
I did the assessment on the backboard, transformer, and front board with my multimeter.
The only readings that were out of line were 4-5 120mVAC was 0 and the Cell Voltage Output to the cell was non existent also.

Transformer voltage reading (1-8) was 81V, (2-7) was 72V, (3-6) 21V, and (4-5) was 0.
I was not able to test front board because i needed help to hold everything. I will as soon as I get an extra set of hands.
I would prefer not to have to replace everything in the unit and wanted to know if anyone had a similar problem and what the solution was for them.

How do you know if the backboard is bad versus the transformer or front board?


Thank You,
Northshore

 

[Rossterman]

Follow the complete troublshooting guide in the repair manual to pinpoint the specific problem. It could be front or back board. There's a guy that repairs jandy pcbs in northern California that may be able to fix whichever board is bad.

I've had multiple problems with the earlier design (plastic cover version) and recently replaced the complete unit with the version that comes in the more robust metal enclosure. It was more econimical to buy a complete unit then just the power center separately fwiw As you get a new cell, flow sensor, cables, for ~$250 more than just the power center.

 

[robl45]

Did you check the voltage at the cell with it running. It should be some where around 20 to 30 volts.

 

[northshore]

Hi, an update on my situation. Yesterday I did the complete aquapure troubleshooting guide. My results were:
Back board:1-8=81vac, 2-7=71vac, 3-6=21vac, 4-5=0mv, DC volts going to cell=1.4vdc
volts at cell=1.1vdc
Front board: k-h=1.1mvdc, a-c=21vac,
Test buttons on front board: sal+R-temp+salinty(C)=2.7gpl, sal+R-temp+pool temp(D)=74F, H-temp+salinity(C)+chlorine down(A)=92F

So everything was in acceptable ranges except DC voltages. There was no power leaving the back board and going to the cell. I removed cell and cleaned in muriatic acid solution, and scrubbed tri flow sensor with green pad. Neither the cell or sensor showed any signs of buildup or visible coatings. When everything was reinstalled I was getting error code 145(high salinity), and the salinity displayed was 4.8gpl, and temperature was 97F. Both these readings are false and much higher then I know the correct measurements are. I believe this was from hooking up flow sensor with power still on. Today I hooked up spare older tri flow sensor, the type with a small circuit board relay inline, and it gave me error code 170 upon power up, and would not do anything but display error code. I disconnected old sensor and reinstalled original sensor and all codes cleared and correct salinity and temperature readings returned. So I figured I was back to where I started. Just to try it I turned the Boost function on again and the cell on light came on as it had previously, but this time when I checked voltage at the cell I got 31.2vdc. I checked DC voltage leaving the right side of the back board going to the cell and got 31.8VDC. I checked test points 4-5 on back board and got 121mvdc. All these voltages had been pretty much nonexistent with cell on until now. The voltage going to the cell is a little high, but should be ok. I have NO IDEA what happened, but I think the cell should be working for now. At least it is getting current. If anyone has any thoughts on this scenario let me know.

 

[Whodahellisbobby]

is this unit still working? I'm having the same issue.

Hi, an update on my situation. Yesterday I did the complete aquapure troubleshooting guide. My results were:
Back board:1-8=81vac, 2-7=71vac, 3-6=21vac, 4-5=0mv, DC volts going to cell=1.4vdc
volts at cell=1.1vdc
Front board: k-h=1.1mvdc, a-c=21vac,
Test buttons on front board: sal+R-temp+salinty(C)=2.7gpl, sal+R-temp+pool temp(D)=74F, H-temp+salinity(C)+chlorine down(A)=92F

So everything was in acceptable ranges except DC voltages. There was no power leaving the back board and going to the cell. I removed cell and cleaned in muriatic acid solution, and scrubbed tri flow sensor with green pad. Neither the cell or sensor showed any signs of buildup or visible coatings. When everything was reinstalled I was getting error code 145(high salinity), and the salinity displayed was 4.8gpl, and temperature was 97F. Both these readings are false and much higher then I know the correct measurements are. I believe this was from hooking up flow sensor with power still on. Today I hooked up spare older tri flow sensor, the type with a small circuit board relay inline, and it gave me error code 170 upon power up, and would not do anything but display error code. I disconnected old sensor and reinstalled original sensor and all codes cleared and correct salinity and temperature readings returned. So I figured I was back to where I started. Just to try it I turned the Boost function on again and the cell on light came on as it had previously, but this time when I checked voltage at the cell I got 31.2vdc. I checked DC voltage leaving the right side of the back board going to the cell and got 31.8VDC. I checked test points 4-5 on back board and got 121mvdc. All these voltages had been pretty much nonexistent with cell on until now. The voltage going to the cell is a little high, but should be ok. I have NO IDEA what happened, but I think the cell should be working for now. At least it is getting current. If anyone has any thoughts on this scenario let me know.