Aqua Solar Control Install

[krupper]

I have purchased a Aqua Solar Control for my solar panels and need some with the installing the 2 senors that came with the unit. In the installation manual it doesn't show where or how to install the sensors. I know that one sensor should be by the solar panel and the other one by the pool. What I need to know is how to install the sensors. Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Krupper

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

The pool sensor is typically installed on the plumbing in the pump area, anywhere that always has water flow when the pump is on and is before the heater and the solar return. The solar sensor gets installed up on the roof next to the solar panels, so it gets sun on it just as the panels do.

 

[krupper]

JasonLion thanks for the quick reply I did find some info on the web last night about installing the one sensor into the plumbing and other next to the solar panels but not into the plumbing and wasn't sure if this was correct but I see from post this is correct install.

Thanks,
Krupper

 

[amjohn]

1. We are in the middle of the same issue- same parts. Does anyone have a picture that shows the install? I called goldline tech support and talked to someone who told me basically the same thing as Jason Lion, but am still having trouble with the specifics. Attached are some pictures of the sensor parts.
2. Also, What are the little black cap-looking things? The goldline tech support people had no idea. They have the part number UB-875 on them. I had a hard time getting a good close up of one.
3. I did get a good close up of the sensor itself, and am confused how it is able to measure solar radiation- it looks more like a temp probe. And even then, it is plastic, not exposed copper. If it is measuring air temp next to the panels and water temp in the pool, and we are having a cloudy day, but it is still 85 degrees and windy outside, but the pool is 76 degrees (today's conditions) would not the sensor tell the panels to run, thus possibly cooling the pool?
We are doing this tomorrow- so info would be very helpful. We have a reasonable guess on how this is going to work, but would like to know for sure before we destroy something expensive.

 

[JasonLion]

The black caps go in the holes in the controller case to prevent the wires that run through the holes from getting scraped on the metal edges.

The solar probe doesn't measure solar radiation directly, it measures the temperature inside a plastic case of similar thickness as the surface of the solar panel. The design inherently takes both the wind and solar heating into account.

 

[bizzyguy]

What are the orange and white earbud looking things. I,m about to install the same controller with my solar system

 

[JohnT]

What are the orange and white earbud looking things. I,m about to install the same controller with my solar system

Those are Scotch Lock wire splices. Good quality connections.

 

[bizzyguy]

oooh! Thanks. I guess I was thinking way to hard about the install.

 

[amjohn]

We never did figure those out, and have them left over. I will tell my husband what they are so he can slap himself on the forehead for not getting that part worked out.
We have the AQ-SOL-LV-TC.
We are having a problem with the controller that maybe someone knows something about. We have the solar heating running, as well as the timer, and now we have the cooling jumper activated. When the pump is running and the water is cooler than the desired temp, the heater light on the panel clicks on and the actuator turns the valve on- good. When a cloud comes over the point that it makes the solar panel sensor cooler than the water, the heater light on the panel turns off and the actuator turns the valve off- also good. When the water gets to the desired heat, the actuator turns off the valve, but leaves the pump running on our desired timer settings. Very good.
Now the problem: When we run the pump at night to cool the water (as it is now full on summer in Texas) the same thing should happen. I was out last night trying to get it to work. The water sensor was seeing 89 degrees. The solar sensor was seeing 83 degrees on the panels. My desired temp was 86 degrees. But the actuator would never turn to run water through the panels. The cooling light never came on. I waited the normal 15 minutes (the system has a cleaner interlock on it- it is capable of running a cleaner that requires a booster pump, like a robot, and waits fifteen minutes after the pump is turned on before it actuates the solar system to keep the two from interfering.) Then I waited another 15 minutes. Nothing. Then I turned my desired temp down to 83 (same as panels and 6 degrees less than water temp). Still nothing. I turned the desired temp back to 86, still 3 degrees less than water temp, just in case it did start to work during the night.
An hour later, my husband went out to check on it- still nothing.
NOTE that may or may not be relevant: We also have the solar override function turned on, but discovered that it does not work quite like I would have expected. It is designed to turn on the pump if heat is needed and the pump is not already running from the timer. That sounds good in theory, and I have witnessed it happen. Then after 15 minutes, the cleaner interlock turns off and the valve actuates. Good there too. If a cloud comes over and cools the panels too much, it turns the actuator and pump off. That sounds good. The problem is that unit is programmed to wait 2 HOURS before it turns the pump on again to prevent "rapid cycling of the pump". I can see 15 minutes, but 2 hours? So we use the pump timer to turn it on during the times when we expect to have sun. We have not turned off the solar override.
In theory, by running the pump for a few hours during the night, we should get the same effect with cooling. But nothing is happening. Any one have any suggestions? Could the solar override be preventing the cooling from happening. The manual does not say that it could, but the manual is very confusing.

 

[amjohn]

Well, it turned out to be a bad jumper. We used the jumper that had worked on the solar override and put it on the cooling pins. Turned right on, did just what it was supposed to do. At least one thing went right today.

 

[amjohn]

ARRGGHHHH! The cooling has stopped working again. And we are having record high temps. I know the jumper worked for at least 2 days, because I watched it. Then I decided that I did not need to watch its every move. This last weekend, we were using the pool for a "warm tub" for some stargazing. I stopped cooling at night and the cooling feature has not worked since. I am wondering if the jumper is burned out? They are the flimsiest pieces of thin plastic with a tiny wire embedded in it.
I have been wondering all week why I cannot get my pool to cool off at night below 89 degrees, even though nights have been around 80. Finally, I manually overrode the valve actuator last night and ran the panels with the pump on the timer all night, and with the fountain going all night. That got me down to 86 degrees. The sun is so intense, I have to run the fountain all day to keep the pool at 90 (which is too warm, but will have to do). Several more nights of this, and I should have the temp more under control, but I am literally burning through water, chlorine, and electricity.
So, any thoughts about the cooling jumper? We already had one bad jumper. Could this one have burned out after a few days? We are going to try another one tonight (only two left), but this is getting ridiculous. Could we improvise with something a little sturdier? My husband is going to put a voltmeter across the connection tonight- not sure what we should be looking for? Any thoughts?

 

[Wolfmarsh]

Im an electrical engineer, and I have never seen a jumper "burn out".

They dont work like fuses.

It is possible that the jumper got mechanically broken, but I would imagine that would only happen if you were actively removing/inserting it a ton and were using a 50 pound wrench to do it .


Having said that, its easy enough to test. If you dont have any laying around, you can either go to a local computer store (or maybe even radio shack) and ask them for a jumper. If they arent jerks, they should just give you one. Alternatively, you could PM me your address and I would be willing to drop a couple in the mail for you.

Something has to be telling your controller not to activate cooling mode. Have you tried contacting the company?

 

[amjohn]

Last evening at about 7:45PM my husband put a voltmeter on all the jumpers and on the pins they connect. We know for sure that the solar override and cooling have worked in the past, as we have witnessed it. There are two other jumpers that we have not used- freeze protection (not really an issue in July) and Celsius display. All four of the jumper pin sets registered 5.05 volts.
He also checked the resistance of all of the little plastic jumper pieces, and they were all the same, so that seems to negate the "burned out" jumper theory. So he put a jumper back on the cooling pin- the water was reading 90 degrees, the solar array 86, and we set the desired temp to 80 (not that it will get that cool this time of year). Nothing. He used a screwdriver to bridge the pins (as a conductor)- nothing. Waited a while. Nothing. So we put a jumper (by now we had forgotten which one was which) back on the cooling pins, still nothing.
So we turned off the actuator and manually turned the valve to let water through the panels to cool and got in the pool. The water coming out of the return was palpably cooler.
About an hour later, 10 pm, we got out of the pool, and I checked the panel. What do you know?! The cooling light has come on. We reactivated the automation on the valve, and sure enough, the cooling function was working again. The collector temp was down to 80, pool still 90, desired temp still 80.
Being real brave, I turned the desired pool temp up to 90, and the light went off, and the valve actuated off. I turned the desired water temp back to 80, and the light came on and the valve actuated to let water through to cool again. Yay!
But how long will it last?
I am going to call Goldline, but their tech support is pretty clueless, and my guess is they are going to tell us to rip it all down and send it in so they can look at it (heavy, big, expensive postage), so we were hoping to figure this out ourselves. In looking at the manual, the Control Logic section says:
Heat diff: 4 degrees F on, 1.5 degrees F off (we have actually see it turn on to heat with only 2 degrees diff, so I am thinking this is kind of approx)
Cooling diff: -8 degrees on, -3 degrees off. I am wondering if the required 8 degree differential for it to come on is what is getting us? But, we have seen it with more than 8 degrees diff and do nothing. Last night it took a 10 degree differential for it to finally kick on, and the nights previous it was not even doing that.
We are kind of aggravated here. It is HOT, HOT, HOT so we need every fraction of a degree of cooling we can get during the night. The manual is very vague, and there is not even a trouble shooting option for "Cooling won't work"- only for solar won't work. The Cooling jumper setting says it will send water through the panels to cool when the pool temp is warmer than the desire temp setting AND the solar sensor is cooler than the pool water.
Any other thoughts?