Minor Emergency with SWG

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L

lkae4

0
Jul 26, 2011
82
Monmouth County, New Jersey
We had torrential rains here yesterday with crazy blowing wind. It seems the Hayward Aqua Rite SWG door was closed but not latched and all kinds of water got in there.

When I checked the chlorine this afternoon is was very low - like 1 or 2 where I keep it more at 6 or 7.

It seems the swg is not working. The top green power and the generating light will go on for a few seconds when I turn the power on to the whole pool equipment set up but then they immediately go off.

We took the faceplate off and it seems dry in there now, at least no standing water we can see.

My manual talks about a fuse - a 20 amp mini ATO fuse located on the circuit board above the cell connector. We did locate that and it about 1/2 inch wide flat thing with a yellow cap that says 120. If that fuse got wet, is that the end of it? Do we have to replace it? Where would I get one? Is that the kind of thing I could get at Home Depot or Lowes?

We didn't take it out because it didn't just pull out so I thought I should talk to the experts first.

The check cell light was on this morning and I just held the button in for the three seconds because I know the cell should be clean because the pool isn't open that long and it was checked when the guys opened the pool in May. Our pool guy said he hasn't seen one yet in our town that needed to be cleaned. Maybe it has to do with our water?

Any direction you can give will be helpful. Thank you so much in advance!

Nancy F.
 
Just added enough chlorine to get the level up. I think I got it in time, especially because I usually keep it fairly high to begin with.

We just added salt last week so the range is fine. It is 3200 so that should be good.

I just went out to turn on the filter system so I could add some chlorine and what I noticed is that when I turn the power on the first thing that came on for the SWG was the No Flow light which stayed on for maybe a minute. Then the generating light came on but not the power light. That only stayed on for maybe ten or 15 seconds and then all the lights went out.

Does this point to the problem not being the fuse being tripped? Maybe something else.

I have never checked the cell myself because the PB does all that when he opens it. But, I am thinking that he sent workmen to open the pool this year and they might not have checked it. Am I correct in thinking it is a fairly easy thing to do - check the cell?

Thanks.

Nancy
 
OK, I don't think it is the fuse thing. I went out again and opened the box and now that it is getting darker the lights are easier to see. What is happening is that the lights - power - generating - and super chlorinate - come on for about the count of ten and then go dark for about the count of 20 and then come on again.

This sounds more like what happened with our heat pump once. It was a resistor or something similarly named. What do you think? Should I just call the repair guy.

Nancy
 
lkae4 said:
My manual says the acquarite is warranted for three years. The PB said he thought it was one year but would check. Anyone know which is accurate.
If it is still under warranty do the still charge you to come check it?
Click to expand...

It seems to me like the electronics are hosed. Water exposure is never good for electronics and I'm quite surprised the AquaRite drive electronics is not more fully sealed against weather. Is the electronics panel meant to installed outdoors?

Anyway you can call the manufacturer. Sometimes parts are covered for three years but service and labor are only covered for the first year. This is something your PB should be doing for you - tracking down warranty info and dealing with the supplier.


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I got some pictures if the suspected part. Mine has soft plastic around the wires as it goes into the board.

The plastic is very dis colored. I can't really see a crack or anything in the black disc.

What do you think.
 

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That could be a high voltage capacitor or varistor. Usually you isolate legs on components like that to avoid arcing.

Could be rain water fouled that component or caused other conductive paths to develop. It's often very hard to visually diagnose these things and it is rarely worth the time and effort to replace components on a circuit board.

You should contact Hayward or your PB and ask them to replace the circuit board if it's under warranty.


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jblizzle said:
I think that black part is the current limiter that is a known problem and can be DIY replaced for practically nothing. See this post I think: http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/17562-Aquarite-Not-generating-lights-not-on

There are a lot of threads troubleshooting and repairing the boards.
Click to expand...

One has to wonder if Hayward just has a really bad design here or if they're using cheap, under-rated components. I skimmed that thread and surely sounds like lots of folks had burned out current limiters. Lots of folks reporting charred and cracked current limiter which means rather than acting as a safety device to protect against excessive current from a transient surge, the limiter is turning on a lot or continuously shunting current. Limiters are meant to be an additional form of circuit protection since fuses can be too slow to react to fast transients.

I guess if you have a soldering iron and the time, one can fix it. As for me, I'd just give Hayward Customer Service an earful and demand a new board to be FedEx'd out to me ASAP!


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If the board is still under warranty as our manual states then we will get a new board from Hayward.

If it isn't, then I will be ready since I was able to read the exact number off the part in our swg and then order the correct part from DigiKey as suggested on this forum. I got two of them just for good measure and with shipping it was under $20.00.

It is certainly worth a try before buying the entire board.

There is so much information on this forum. Amazing! I believe that if I have a pool problem there must be other people who have written about the same problem before. You just have to dig to find the thread sometimes.

I am out of practice with this adding bleach to the pool and I have a renewed fondness for the swg which has kept my pool sparkling since day one. It still looks great with the bleach but takes a whole lot more time.

Thanks for all that took the time to answer and send videos. I will let you all know what happens.
 
YOU WERE RIGHT!!!
I hate when people post a problem and then never come back and tell the resolution to the problem.

My SWG was still under warranty. The PB said they had told him it wasn't but he called and asked them to check again because I was not the first person to claim the paperwork said three years. Well, it was three years and he was able to get us a new circuit board.
His guys came today to install the new board and everything seems to be working beautifully. (I have been putting bleach in so now I will stop that and will test frequently to make sure the swg is generating properly. The guys gave me the old board and when I looked at it - guess what - the current inrush limiter was split down the middle. You couldn't see it when the board was in the panel but as soon as I touched it you could see the slit. It looks like two metal circles that should have been touching but are now split apart by about 1/8 of an inch.
I am going to keep this board as I already have the new current inrush limiter from Digikey. If I have another problem then I will be all set.
So, thank you all for your advice and for linking to videos and making me understand this whole issue so I could deal with it intelligently.
 
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