Air Temp = 197 degrees F?

[PhotoEd]

Goldline system, air temp sensor either reads, "Short" or most of the time a reading near 200 degrees. Looking at where the sensor connects to the board, I see no short.
Water temp sensor is accurate.

How do I troubleshoot?

 

[Poolsean]

switch the two sensors (which should be similar) at the circuit board and see if it flip flops the displayed temperatures.
If so, I would say that your air sensor is bad.
If not, and it still shows the water temp as short or high, then you've most likely got a problem on the circuit board.

 

[PhotoEd]

Copy. Thanks!

 

[PhotoEd]

So I did the swap yesterday...

Before the swap:
Air = 197F
Water = 72F

After the swap:
Air = 68F
Water = -11F

Here are some interesting observations:
Both sensors use red/black wires. One sensor was arranged with red on top, the other black (Possitive/Negative neutral?).

And here's the biggest kicker. According to the words on the circuit board, the sensors were wired into the wrong
position!

 

[JasonLion]

Curious. The problem followed the sensor, but switched from a near short to an open circuit.

Which wire from the sensor goes to which side doesn't matter, i.e. red and black are interchangeable.

 

[PhotoEd]

Curious. The problem followed the sensor, but switched from a near short to an open circuit.

Could you explain further? What I did proved that the air sensor is bad, no?

 

[JasonLion]

No, unfortunately. You have proved that the originally wired to the water connection, and now to the air connection, sensor is working correctly.

A bad sensor will show as either consistently too high, or constantly too low. Yours switched from too high in one configuration to too low in the other configuration, which suggests a problem with the wiring. The problem could be a bad connection where the wires connect to the main unit, or an intermittent connection somewhere along the length of the wire, but is unlikely to be a problem with the sensor it's self.

 

[PhotoEd]

Interesting. What next?

 

[maxepr1]

PhotoEd, these are the values for pentair temp probes. Measure the resistance of the probe, use the air temp. as your known value. If you can't read it let me know.

 

[Poolsean]

I do agree that it proves the original water temp sensor is working correctly, as well as the pcb terminal connections.
how do the wires look? frayed? discolored? perhaps cut the wires back about a foot to get a fresh contact point on the wires.
otherwise, I would replace the air temp sensor and call it a day.

 

[PhotoEd]

I inspected the full length of wire and it looks unharmed. How does one spec. out a new sensor, or are they all the same?

 

[maxepr1]

Ed, did you measure the resistance of the sensor?

 

[PhotoEd]

Not yet.

 

[maxepr1]

Is it a Goldline sensor? Usually black probe with tan wire. I've had 2 go bad on me doing the exact same thing as yours.

 

[PhotoEd]

Yep! That's the one!

On line supplier? I'll check with ohm meter before buying.

 

[maxepr1]

I'll check tonight Ed and see if I still have the number. Measure it first though to make sure it is in fact the sensor. I believe it was a little spendy? $35-40 if i remember? I would cut off the stripped ends and strip new ends and measure from there.

 

[maxepr1]

Ed, I've looked high and low and I can't figure out what I did with my sensors! Did you ever get it fixed?

 

[PhotoEd]

Hoping to look into it today, thanks for checking!

 

[maxepr1]

Ed, found it! This is the number for the kit!