Aqualink WiFi Antenna Cut

[PoolGate]

My wife accidently cut the WiFi antenna when she was weeding around the equipment pad. Is this just a simple 4 wire cable meaning I can just twist it back together and tape it? Or do I need to replace the entire wire?

 

[ajw22]

Show me a pic of the cut cable.

This the coax cable to the antenna or the 4 wire RS-485 cable connecting the antenna board to the Aqualink?

If it is the 4 wire cable then you can splice it together and see if it works.

 

[PoolGate]

It is just the RS-485. I spliced it and it works great. Crisis averted!

 

[ajw22]

At some point put a new wire in place.

 

[PoolGate]

At some point put a new wire in place.

I took the antenna apart and it appears the antenna end is soldered. So that's a negative.

 

[ajw22]

I took the antenna apart and it appears the antenna end is soldered. So that's a negative.

I expected you would find a screw terminal block in the antenna with the wire connected.

 

[PoolGate]

I expected you would find a screw terminal block in the antenna with the wire connected.

Me too I was hoping for that since I have plenty of RS-485 cable. One thing I noticed when I was splicing the cable, before I turned off the power, jiggling the cable caused "interesting" things to happen with Aqualink. It beeped a couple times, the pool lights went on, etc. When I was done splicing, I noticed a little further down the cable there was what looked like an animal bite in the cable. For sure it was through the insulation because it had tarnish on it. I am going to go out tomorrow and splice the cable again and remove that cut part. Dare I say this could be my "ghost" issue?

 

[ajw22]

Can you cut the wire close to the antenna board and splice in a new wire where the splices are inside the antenna case?

You may need to thank for wife for finding the ghosts. Everything happens for a reason.

 

[PoolGate]

Can you cut the wire close to the antenna board and splice in a new wire where the splices are inside the antenna case?

You may need to thank for wife for finding the ghosts. Everything happens for a reason.

No there is no room at all. I will take a pic of it tomorrow when I am removing that other cut. The installer left around 20 feet of slack in the cable too all outside the Aqualink cabinet.

 

[PoolGate]

Here is what it looks like. I am not sure actually maybe there is a connector behind the circuit board. The other pic is the cut that has been there for awhile. I just went out and clipped that off too. We'll see if my ghost comes back. Those crimp connectors suck though so I will replace them with something better.

 

[generessler]

Rain infiltrating that splice will take down the RS-485 bus. It shouldn't be hard to solder new wires to those pads if you or a friend has any experience with the process.

 

[PoolGate]

OK bad news the cable is soldered to the board. So I put a proper splice with waterproof splices. Hopefully this ends my ghosts!

 

[ogdento]

I like @generessler 's idea... but I'd raise with maybe your friend could solder in a screw-terminal block - or even one of the removable Riacon/Metz connect blocks provided there's room in the case, but it looks like there might be based on the plastic chassis stand-offs?

 

[PoolGate]

I like @generessler 's idea... but I'd raise with maybe your friend could solder in a screw-terminal block - or even one of the removable Riacon/Metz connect blocks provided there's room in the case, but it looks like there might be based on the plastic chassis stand-offs?

There isn't enough room in the box for a removeable connector. I was hoping to find that when I took the board out. It would have to be soldered again. Or I could just get a new antenna. It is ok now. Those connectors I used are water proof and I will further seal them to ensure they remain that way. For now, I am hopeful that the ghost-in-the-machine goes away. So far, so good.

 

[PoolGate]

Well it for sure didn't fix anything. The pump turned itself off. The heater tuned itself on and the light turned itself on. I'll try reseating everything tomorrow. I've been looking for a 2.0 antenna to replace mine with.

 

[PoolGate]

Still no joy. The biggest issue I am having is finding the pump off. That happens every 2-3 days. Really annoying because that means the SWG is off too. I still turn the gas off when not using the heater as that turns on every couple days too. I still haven't reseated everything I really need to do that. I am considering biting the bullet and just getting the full 3.0 upgrade since that replaces the boards and the antenna. I am holding off because we might be moving next year though.

 

[ajw22]

I am holding off because we might be moving next year though.

So the ghosts stay with the old house?

I would be generous with the buyer and sell them a ghost free house.

 

[generessler]

For better or worse, an RS-485 is a bus like old "party line" phones. All the devices sit on the same wire. A consequence is that noise injected anywhere can cause weirdness from any device. Noise can come from many sources: fractured conductors, loose connections, injectd signals: very close lines voltage power, home network CAT-n cables, highish-power radio signals like a garage door transmitter. Using the right wire is important, too. For noise resistance, it should be a twisted pair with impedance close to 120 ohms. (OEM pool equipment wire will be that. Random telephone wire not. CAT-n network cable is close enough, not perfect.)

 

[excelmart]

Just a foll up on the above post. Years ago I had oyr house wired for tochscreen keypads for whole house audio. These would not work but at night worked fine. Turned out I live close to a AM radio station antenna. This signal is turned up at dawn and down at sunset..

 

[TinFoilHat]

Hey, @excelmart, you're living up near South Mountain, I presume?