Pentair Electronic Valve Actuator CVA-24 not working anymore, help!

[AMG]

March 2014, I had roof thermal solar installed. The installer installed a Pentair Solar Touch system along with the Pentair CVA-24 electronic valve actuator. I recently noticed that even when the solar isn't set to ON, the valve is open and water is attempting to go up to the roof (it can have a tough time if the speed for OFF is too low as the roof is high).

I am not certain if there is something that I could try in order to determine if the actuator is bad, or if the issue is with the Solar Touch. The whole system is pretty new, but I am guessing the warranty from Pentair is 1 year. I remember when I bought my Pentair IC40 (salt), Pentair Intelliflow pump, and Pentair DE filter, that I was told I would receive a 3 year warranty. I wonder if this extends to my Solar Touch and Actuator? I guess if I could identify where the problem is, maybe Pentair would be helpful, we can see...

Even operating the switch on the side of the actuator does nothing. Nothing moves.

So how can I know where the problem may be?

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Trace the wires and make sure they are not chewed up.
Use a multi meter to see if 24V power is being supplied from the control to 2 of the wires.

 

[AMG]

Thanks, first time here. I feel I have read some stuff on poolspaforum though over the years when people talk about this. I think there was a TFP article written by someone about chemistry I read... well anyhow, glad I found this place today !

it's pretty hard to get my multimeter connector to touch those tiny tiny pins that the red/white/black are pushed through.
I wonder if I should just power it all off at my master switch, then unplug that little white plug (see pic above) where the Actuator plugs in. The pins there left to right white-red-black should supply power the entire time, right? It is all AC though, right? so not 24V DC? depending on the direction of the actuator supposed to go, would it be white supplying one time, then red the other? It should be easy to check if I unplug the connector and just touch the pins on the socket there.

Welcome to TFP!!!

Trace the wires and make sure they are not chewed up.
Use a multi meter to see if 24V power is being supplied from the control to 2 of the wires.

 

[jblizzle]

It is DC. I think red to black or white to black.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Maybe not... My CVA-24 valves are marked at "24 VAC, 50/60 Hz, 0.65 amps". Also my Easytouch manual says it supplies 24 VAC to the valve actuators. As Jason says .. Voltage between the Red wire and Black wire will cause the valve to move one way. Voltage between the White and Black wire will cause the valve to move the other way.

I just looked closer at your picture and the motor is labeled as 24 VAC.

Jim R.

 

[jblizzle]

Oops yup, should be ACC.

 

[AMG]

Manually switching actuator from the advanced menu 28v on red then 28v on white. No movement on the actual unit. Checked voltage on the unit, same gig.

I wonder how can I manually move the valve? The switch ON1 ON2 OFF of course is non functional.

I did get 11v on the non active color.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Jimrahbe]

A search of this site found a number of people with CVA-24 failures caused by bad micro switches. Replacing the switches fixed their issue.

http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=ss-5t

I would suggest ohming out each switch. I "assume" but do not know for sure, that the mirco-switch opens when the limit of travel is reached, removing power from the motor. Applying power to the other micro switch moves the motor the other way. But if one of the switches does not close, then once the motor drives one way, it can never get power to drive back. Should be easy enough to check.

Jim R.

 

[jblizzle]

There are procedures to turn it manually, you might need to download the manual since different brands work differently.

 

[AMG]

I think you are on to something with that. The lower microswitch was fully depressed. I used a tiny tool to lift it up and the motor started moving. A little bit after that the top microswitch depressed, but the motor didnt stop. It just kept going around 360-degrees until the bottom one depressed and the motor stopped. So my short-term fix is I let it go around till the top one depressed, then i hit OFF on the side switch. I set Solar to DISABLED and now I think I order 2 new switches.

Thanks!

 

[rphpool]

Great thread for future reference with pic's! Are the micro switches located in pic#3 on bottom left side with the white wires?

 

[AMG]

Jbizzle: Any help here? I dunno whats up, I cant even upload another photo of the microswitches highlighted because of my quota or something? I tried even deleting photos above that were not too helpful and resizing some.

Anyhow, basically look up top to post #7. You see in the bottom left side the two white wires going to both sides of the actuator? Those are the microswitches.

 

[jblizzle]

I don't know anything about the micro switches.

Best to host pictures elsewhere and post links. There is a tutorial in the forum issues section.

 

[AMG]

100% the fix. I checked with the volt meter before ordering and only one was bad , but I bought 6. Replaced both today in about 5 minutes. Easy cheap fix.

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