Jandy Aquapure Issues ... Yet Again

[poolneophyte]

I have had a Jandy control system with an Aquapure SWG since August 2009 when my pool was built. I can sum up my experience with Jandy (now Zodiac) as "overpriced garbage with terrible customer support". A year hasn't gone by without replacing various circuit boards and sensors. Some parts have been under warranty but most is conveniently "just past the coverage period". I opened the pool yesterday to clear water thanks to this site. But, once again, my Aquapure SWG is not working. I have done some troubleshooting thanks to this document and have determined that the power interface board is bad...again. I am getting error code 145 which is high salinity (above 4.0 GPL) with additional letter code of HH which means "High-High". I own a calibrated salt meter and got a reading of 2.15 GPL. Even though I do my own testing with the TF100 test kit, I sucked it up and brought a water sample to the local chain pool store (name starts with an L) and had them run their battery of tests just so I can get their salt reading. I don't trust any of their reagent-based test results but I figure how bad could they screw up a salt test using a digital meter. It turns out that they got a salt level of 2.1 GPL which confirmed that the Aquapure is not functioning properly.

I read a couple of posts about entering the calibration menu for the salt level but was unable to get anything but an H.H. on the screen. Tomorrow I will once again contact Jandy (Zodiac) technical support who will tell me after an excruciatingly long period on hold that they will not help me troubleshoot because I'm not a pool professional.

Does anybody have any suggestions on what I should do? Is anyone else having the same trouble with Jandy (Zodiac) equipment and support? I'm considering abandoning the Aquapure SWG and installing a Stenner pump instead. With that type of system, I'm not relying on expensive circuit boards, sensors and the yearly cost of salt to sanitize my water.

 

[kampout]

I have had an Aquapure for 10 years now. On my 3rd system, but only paid for 2 as the current system was totally replaced for free. Better, but not good enough and I will never buy one again. But, I make due by putting in a floatie in the pool with chorine tabs. Just enough to supplement the chlorine level appropriately. Still add salt when need to and maintain the SWG as it works part of the time. The feel of the water is still like it should be and very small hint of chlorine smell from time to time. I have just decided not to spend any more money on that system and make due.

 

[poolneophyte]

I just spent about 30 minutes trying to get a technical support chat session opened with Zodiac but finally gave up. I looked through my records and found that I replaced both the temperature/flow sensor and the power interface board in May 2013 at a price of approximately $265. These parts worked for exactly two pool seasons. I'm really concerned at sinking another $120 into a new Power Interface Board only to have it fail within a couple of pool seasons. If there are any Jandy experts on the forum, I would like to hear your suggestions on what I should do.

 

[robl45]

Honestly 120 dollars really isn't that bad, if its a combined system which it seems to be, you don't really have a choice if you want it to function together. You could try to pick up a used board. I got a used board and used transformer to fix mine recently as the big white connector had melted.