Wire or board failure on Mineral Springs SWG?

MeghanB

Member
Jun 7, 2022
6
Morganton, NC
Hi all,
I have an ancient Mineral Springs SWG (circa 2005), though I've replaced various components over the years. This year when opening my pool, the control box was doing all sorts of odd things I hadn't seen before--all lights flashing at once, the readings on the screen changing on their own (a constant rotation between the different values, without me pressing the button at all), the screen rapidly flashing off and on, bringing up a value then counting up or down, among other weird combos of lights and screen going off and on. I thought the daughter board (I think that's the right term...the smaller board attached in the front) might be loose or not connecting properly, so I tried removing that and replacing it, and that seemed to resolve things for about a month. Also at that time, for good measure, I cleaned the cell.

Over the weekend, I noticed the water looked off and checked the box--sure enough, the 'generating sanitizer' light was off and the 'check minerals' and 'inspect cell' lights were lit. I checked the salt level and it was actually high (3800), so I tried removing the smaller board again. Well, when I put it back on this time, all the lights and screen started flashing and ultimately went off altogether. Upon closer inspection, I noticed this red wire in the photo--right next to the current limiter--is corroded where it joins to the circuit board. I'm thinking this may have been my problem all along? (I'll note the discoloration around the current limiter was there from previous dead limiters that had to be replaced, but the scorched looking area around the red wire is new.) What do you all think? If that's the culprit, can I get away with just replacing the wire--and is there anywhere I can get one that won't break the bank or try to sell me 1000 other things with it?
 

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Welcome to TFP.

You seem to know your way around the electronics. The Mineral Springs SWG is just a relabeled Hayward Aquarite system. It has all the same failures.

I am not sure what you are asking but the red wire can be replaced by a piece of wire of the same gauge.

 
Welcome to TFP.

You seem to know your way around the electronics. The Mineral Springs SWG is just a relabeled Hayward Aquarite system. It has all the same failures.

I am not sure what you are asking but the red wire can be replaced by a piece of wire of the same gauge.

I really don't know much (just what I've learned from fixing things myself over the years), but thanks :cool:

I'm asking if this corroded wire would have caused all the weird flashing lights and numbers I was seeing, or if my control board is shot and has to be replaced (as in, maybe the wire issue is unrelated). Also any info on replacing the wire (what it's called, where to buy one).
 
It looks like there is some slack in that wire. What I would do is measure the size of that spade lug crimp connector...there are a few standard sizes. I'd cut back the red wire (shut off all power first), strip enough wire & crimp on a new connector. Clean the terminals & plug it back in, see if the problem goes away. The concerning thing is why are you getting overcurrent there?

You said your salt was high, and I'd bet that's the reason.

On my ProLogic, I forgot to turn off the cell when adding salt once. The resulting high salt/amps from the localized rise in salinity was enough to blow the fuse for the chlorinating circuit...and not just pop the fuse, but completely melt the plastic overmold of the fuse. I found a completely fried in half fuse with plastic blobs melted off.
 
It looks like there is some slack in that wire. What I would do is measure the size of that spade lug crimp connector...there are a few standard sizes. I'd cut back the red wire (shut off all power first), strip enough wire & crimp on a new connector. Clean the terminals & plug it back in, see if the problem goes away. The concerning thing is why are you getting overcurrent there?

You said your salt was high, and I'd bet that's the reason.

On my ProLogic, I forgot to turn off the cell when adding salt once. The resulting high salt/amps from the localized rise in salinity was enough to blow the fuse for the chlorinating circuit...and not just pop the fuse, but completely melt the plastic overmold of the fuse. I found a completely fried in half fuse with plastic blobs melted off.
I will definitely try that, thank you! Should be enough slack for it. I'll drain and refill a bit to lower the salt too.

Also--wow, I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know I was supposed to be turning off the cell when I added salt :eek: Amazing (and lucky) I haven't had more issues before now. I'll be sure to turn it off first from now on!

Thanks again!
 
As a general rule, you should turn off the salt cell before adding salt, and leave it off for 12-24 hours. My typical procedure is:
1) Turn off salt cell (either dial back percentage to 0, or just unplug the cell)
2) Dump the salt and brush it around with the pump running
3) Let the pump run overnight
4) Test salt, then turn on cell in the morning as long as salt is in range of cell. For Hayward, you want to keep it 2700 - 3300. You can theoretically go up to 3500, but I wouldn't risk it. Some of the Hayward boards have narrower traces than they really ought to & the fuse doesn't always protect the board. I had to replace my K1 relay (as have many other ProLogic folks) and added an auxilary wire on the back of the board to supplement the trace.
 
As a general rule, you should turn off the salt cell before adding salt, and leave it off for 12-24 hours. My typical procedure is:
1) Turn off salt cell (either dial back percentage to 0, or just unplug the cell)
2) Dump the salt and brush it around with the pump running
3) Let the pump run overnight
4) Test salt, then turn on cell in the morning as long as salt is in range of cell. For Hayward, you want to keep it 2700 - 3300. You can theoretically go up to 3500, but I wouldn't risk it. Some of the Hayward boards have narrower traces than they really ought to & the fuse doesn't always protect the board. I had to replace my K1 relay (as have many other ProLogic folks) and added an auxilary wire on the back of the board to supplement the trace.
Thanks so much! Really good info. All these years of owning a salt pool, and I had no idea. Will definitely follow this procedure in the future!
 
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