No power to iaqualink-Need to fix wiring

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NewPoolGirlTX

NewPoolGirlTX

Bronze Supporter
Sep 5, 2021
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Austin, Texas
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13050
My pump is no longer leaking but the there doesn't appear to be any power going to the iaqualink. I'm guessing I pulled the wire accidentally when contorting around my tight equipment space

These wires appear to be the problem. They are very weathered so I labeled what I believe the colors to be.

in the close up of #3 area, it looks like maybe the wires were coated with something blue? maybe to protect from the weather? Because if I look close left to right, it looks like black, green, red, yellow. the red wire is broken

So it looks to me like
Green to green
Yellow to blue
Red to orange?
Black to brown?

And I have no idea what the terminals (or if that's the right word) circled in green are called. or how the wires get put into it.

EDIT they are cable butt splice connectors on amazon
I'm not sure how to tell which work for this particular wire set up, wire gauge and any other parameters. Trying to figure it out!
EDIT #2 The blue cable goes to the control panel. The almond colored wire is wired to my house. Why couldn't I wire the almond cable directly into the harness that goes into the panel? Picture three. Using the colors paired above? So the red wire would go into the terminal at the #1 spot? Is there a reason the wires in the blue cable have white wires twisted together? Does the terminal at the control panel need two wires in each spot?

Advice? or pointers to help?



Thank you
Marci
 

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You need to open it up and see what the colors are labeled on the board. They should match with the red connector for the other end. Green, Yellow, Black, Red (left to right) is the correct order.
 
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PoolGate said:
You need to open it up and see what the colors are labeled on the board. They should match with the red connector for the other end. Green, Yellow, Black, Red (left to right) is the correct order.
Click to expand...
Thank you.
They aren't labeled

But I think I get what you're saying

Do I need the blue cable at all, or can I just use the almond colored one right into the red harness in the control pad?
Assuming I get the colors right

I mean is there a reason for the blue cable and its white wires that are twisted with the colored ones (that have orange and brown instead of red and yellow, and blue instead of yellow)?

Does that make sense?

And thank you!!
 
PoolGate said:
Yeah someone used cat 5 cable instead of correct 4 wire cable. Do yourself a favor and get some 22 gauge 4 wire alarm system cable.
Click to expand...
sorry, still confused. Are both cables the wrong type?

and if I get new wire, I understand connecting at the box, and then I still have to splice them to my existing cable that is wired into my garage?

Apologies for the endless questions.
 
First of all, wire is wire. The actual colors don't matter. For whatever reason they used two different types of wire. Probably what the installer had at the time.

You said:
  • The blue cable goes to the control panel.
  • The almond colored wire is wired to my house.
  • What is in the garage?
What is at the other end of the almond wire? Do you have an indoor control panel?

What wire is connected to your iAqualink antenna?

I suspect you have three connections which is the reason for the splices:
  1. Aqualink panel
  2. iAqualink antenna
  3. Indoor control panel
So tell us what devices you have and what is at both ends of each wire?
 
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I'll let the experts (of which I'm not one) discuss the details, but the big picture is that these 4 wires are called the RS-485 bus. It's a communication line (although it also carries a small amount of power). It connects all the parts of the system: both controller (like iAquaLink antenna) and controlled (like Aqualink RS boards, SWG, VSP) functions, carrying the 1's and 0's that make up commands and sensor information.

The installer is supposed to use Red connected to plug pin 1, Black for pin 2, Yellow for pin 3, Green for pin 4 throughout.

There will generally be several plugs all wired this same way. Since the bus runs from plug to plug, you'll see some plugs with two conductors of each color, two per pin, but they will be from two separate cables running to different devices. Not like your arrangement with the 8-conductor wire. Or you might see one of these gizmos if your system is complex.

See the iAqualink Quickstart Guide attachment, para 1, for a picture of what I'm talking about.

(A slight curveball is that the 1's and 0's actually move on pins 3 and 4. 1 and 2 are for power, which some devices don't need. So you'll sometimes see plugs with just Green and Yellow connected. Your iAqualink needs all 4 wires.)

It looks like your installer (or maybe a prior owner) got creative and spliced in a piece of CAT-5 network wire, which has other colors and twice as many conductors as needed. Yes wire is wire, but not using the standard colors makes fixing things more complicated and error prone as you're learning.

To determine how to reconnect the broken bits, you'll need to open up whatever you need to in order to determine which colors are connected resp. to pins 1, 2, 3, and 4. Then match them up to 1, 2, 3, 4 at the other end by re-doing the broken splices.

As @PoolGate mentioned, if it's possible to replace the 8-conductor CAT-5 junk with 4-conductor alarm wire that has the right colors, you'll be ahead if another repair is ever needed in the future.
 

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ajw22 said:
First of all, wire is wire. The actual colors don't matter. For whatever reason they used two different types of wire. Probably what the installer had at the time.

You said:
  • The blue cable goes to the control panel.
  • The almond colored wire is wired to my house.
  • What is in the garage?
What is at the other end of the almond wire? Do you have an indoor control panel?

What wire is connected to your iAqualink antenna?

I suspect you have three connections which is the reason for the splices:
  1. Aqualink panel
  2. iAqualink antenna
  3. Indoor control panel
So tell us what devices you have and what is at both ends
Click to expand...
I was mistaken, sorry
There is a really old wire that goes into my garage attic but it doesn't look used anymore, I thought it was the almond wire

So the almond wire is into the iaqualink with the antenna.

It is spliced with those red button connectors to the blue wire

The blue wire is into the red harness that plugs into the control panel

No other pool control panels inside.
Sorry, I was trying to research in short spurts all day and wasn't correct on that

Both cables are plenty long so I don't get why they are spliced together.
 
If the almond wire to the antenna will reach to the red block then wire it like shown below.

8B92F52B-A0C5-4279-B03B-C6FDB6E0E3C4.png
 
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generessler said:
I'll let the experts (of which I'm not one) discuss the details, but the big picture is that these 4 wires are called the RS-485 bus. It's a communication line (although it also carries a small amount of power). It connects all the parts of the system: both controller (like iAquaLink antenna) and controlled (like Aqualink RS boards, SWG, VSP) functions, carrying the 1's and 0's that make up commands and sensor information.

The installer is supposed to use Red (connected to plug pin 1), Black (pin 2), Yellow (pin 3), Green (pin 4) wiring throughout. There will be several plugs all wired this same way.

See the attached iAqualink Quickstart Guide block 1 for a picture of what I'm talking about

It looks like your installer (or maybe a prior owner) got creative and spliced the proper wiring to a piece of CAT-5 network wire, which has other colors and twice as many conductors as needed. Yes wire is wire, but not using the standard colors makes fixing things more complicated and error prone as you're learning.

To determine how to reconnect the broken bits, you'll need to go to the _other_ end of the wire, open up whatever is connected there, and determine which colors are connected resp. to pins 1, 2, 3, and 4. Then match them up to 1, 2, 3, 4 at the broken end.

As @PoolGate mentioned, if it's possible to replace the 8-conductor CAT-5 junk with 4-conductor alarm wire that has the right colors, you'll be ahead if another repair is ever needed in the future.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I appreciate the additional info

Is the almond cable with its four wires a correct type of cable? One end is into the iaqualink antenna station and the other is spliced into the blue cable. The other end of the blue cable is into the red harness plugged into the control panel

So, control panel ->red harness ->blue cable->button splicing->almond cable->little iaqualink with the antenna

Do I really need different wire or can I wire the almond cable's 4 wires into the red harness (matching the colors) and do away with the blue cable entirely?

The two cables and splicing seem unnecessary to me as the almond cable is plenty long to go from the antenna into the control panel.

No previous owners but I think some pool guys who didn't always know what they were doing.

(And I was concerned about the electricity so thank you for the explanation. Ones and zeros I understand. Believe it or not, my degree is in computer science😂. Don't feel very smart on this site tho!)
 
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This is low voltage wiring. Just be careful around the high voltage section when you have the front plate of the cabinet off.

Power off the Aqualink cabinet before touching any wiring.
 
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NewPoolGirlTX said:
Do I really need different wire or can I wire the almond cable's 4 wires into the red harness (matching the colors) and do away with the blue cable entirely?
Click to expand...
Right. If you can connect 1,2,3,4 to 1,2,3,4 with fewer splices and odd pieces of wire, go for it. Fewer connections, neater, and more standard are all good.

DEFINITELY be careful if working in a box where there's high voltage. Breakers off for sure. But RS-485 itself is all low voltage.
 
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