Aquarite Not generating - lights not on

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THANKS to everyone for posting the info on how to replace the "little black round part" which says SL32 2R025 on the back and is an Inrush Current Limiter.
My Aqua Rite was not generating chlorine and the salt level always read at the default of 2800 no matter how much salt I added.
The Power and Generating lights would not stay on longer than 15 seconds.
If you turned it from Off to Auto, the No Flow light would flash for about 45 seconds, then the Power and Generating green lights came on for about 15 seconds and went off.
My pool guy here in Richmond, VA (who is an authorized Aqua Rite service man) said the whole circuit board needed to be replaced for $350. I found one new on Amazon for about $175, so I was going to order it instead,
BUT then I found out here in this forum that this little black round part is sort of like a fuse. It was tough to see it when the board was mounted, but when I took the board off, I could see the black burn marks around it, especially on the back of the board.
I ordered the 570-1062-ND part from Digi-Key.com, as recommended here. $2.69, plus about $4.50 to ship it priority mail.
I had a friend help me remove the old one and solder this new one in. Yep, it took about 15 minutes.
And sure enough, it WORKS.
So if you're having this same problem with your board, try the $2.69 part before investing in a new circuit board.
THANKS AGAIN so much everyone. :) :)
Now I have saved about $340 to spend on fun things instead!!
 
Bend128- my aqua rite system is about 4 yrs old so was no longer under warranty. You could check the fuse too. It's easy to remove the board. Basically 2 hex screws and some wires. Take a picture first.
 
They offer a limited warranty so if a power surge or lightning blows the current limiter or burns out the board I doubt they will replace it. Best to install a surge protector for your whole house. that way you also protect your other valuable electronics.

we get a lot of power surges down here on the islands and can't warranty boards. cells we give 1 year.... 3 yrs if we manage the pool. I've also been thinking about offering rental of the cells.
 
Someone mentioned drilling vent holes in the cover to keep the current limiter cooler and prevent it from failing. My entire system is under a shed completely out of any direct sun light, and mine failed last week. I do not think it is a problem due to external heat. The edge of the board where it was mounted was scorched and pealing a bit.
Ben D.
 
bend128 said:
Someone mentioned drilling vent holes in the cover to keep the current limiter cooler and prevent it from failing. My entire system is under a shed completely out of any direct sun light, and mine failed last week. I do not think it is a problem due to external heat. The edge of the board where it was mounted was scorched and pealing a bit.
Ben D.
Click to expand...

There's really very little you can do to prevent this failure. It is a chronic problem, and has been pretty much from day one. It's traceable to components that are not quite robust enough to handle the current fluctuations. Especially in larger pools where the unit is being pushed to it's limits :hammer:
 
I noticed my pool turning green about a week ago and opened the Aquarite door to check the salt level and lights. Well - to my surprise none of the LEDs were lit up. The LCD display was working. I thought ut-oh - there goes another $500 or so. I thought this because back in 2003 when it failed, they sent me a new control module and cell "under warranty" for about $500. I guess it was a good deal considering it was brand new and those units were running about $1000. It was also a better unit than what I had - this one had the LED display on it.

Anyway, it's been 9 years since the unit was replaced and the first one only lasted 4 years so I thought that was pretty good. Anyway, when I Googled the symptom, I found this thread and the issue with the current limiter. I thought it was worth a try and ordered 2 of the limiters from a supply company (DigiKey had them back-ordered).

Anyway, I have done soldering before but it made me a little nervous to do this since it's such an expensive unit. But I figured, worst case, I may have to order a new board anyway and that would be about $250 from Amazon. So I took the board out and proceeded to first try and unsolder the limiter from the back. It didn't seem like the solder wanted to melt. Perhaps my 20 year old soldering gun wasn't getting quite hot enough. So then I thought I'd try snipping the leads from the front and "stubbing" it - then I could solder the new limiter to the stubs. Using a piece of electrical tape to hold the limiter in place with the stubs positioned in parallel to the new leads, I was able to solder it solidly in place.

Reconnected everything and turned on the power. Everything seems to be working fine now! Fixed for about $10. One last note - my old resistor/limiter didn't look too bad. It crumbled slightly but didn't have a crack and wasn't burnt. I do have a whole house surge protector though - perhaps that allowed this part to last 9 years vs 4 or 5? Also noted that when I put the old limiter on the digital multi-meter - it didn't register any reading on resistance. The new part did read .003 K ohms.

Thanks to this board and the posters who gave the information on the part and how to fix this. Saved me at least $250!
 
Just started having the same issue everyone else has been reporting so I have just placed my order with Digi-key. I see a few photos have been posted of the part but has anyone done a DIY video while replacing the current limiter?

Thanks,
u2gator
 
There are some videos posted on youtube. I watched one and it was of marginal help. You can probably just search for it. Unfortunately, I haven't see a video that shows ALL the steps including the soldering. But I did this job a weekend or so ago and it's not hard. You have to take the board out to do the job. So I recommend you take a still pic of the board before you take the wires off. They are color coded though and labeled well.

Of course - before you do anything, please be sure to cutoff the power at the circuit breaker first! Then take out the two screws holding the faceplate on the front of the unit. You then need to pull out the power wire (big white cable that plugs in at bottom right - just pull it straight towards you. Then reach underneath the case and unplug what looks like a phone jack wire - same principle as a phone jack, it has a little plastic piece you squeeze to release it. Then, disconnect all the wires to the board (again note how they are connected first). There are two screws to loosen at the bottom of the board - just loosen them as you just need to be able to slide the board up and out toward you.

I then laid the board on a table (with some newspaper under it) and clipped off the limiter leads at the front leaving short stub that I was then able to solder the new part to. Note you have to clip the leads on the new part or else it will stick out too far and you won't be able to place the faceplate back on the unit later. Some people prefer to unsolder the old part from the back - that's up to you. That's probably the most professional way to do this job - but it is a little more difficult.

Then just carefully align the leads on the new limiter to those sticking out of the board (I used some electrical tape to hold it in place) and then solder the leads together. Be careful not to glob the solder - a clean solder joint is essential for a good strong connection. You are basically done! Just reassemble the unit in the reverse order and flip the power back on. Once you have FLOW - then I would turn the Aquarite to generate and set the dial to whatever is the norm for your pool. The lights should then work correctly - i.e. power light on and generate light on. If not - be sure to check the fuse just in case that blew too.

Hope this helps. Sorry if I skipped anything. I wrote this completely from memory.
 
After reading the many posts about no power to the Aqua Rite Chlorine generator, I ordered an AMETHERM NTC THERMISTOR SL32 2R025 SL32-25 AMP CIRCUIT PROTECTION SL32 2R025 on eBay to replace the one that was cracked. With a little soldering, the problem was fixed for $7.49

The Thermistor is at the top of the circuit board, it is black in color with 2 wires soldered to the board and about the size of a quarter

:-D
 

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After replacing the Thermistor (black thingy!!) in my Aqua Rite (standard), my power light stays on all the time even when the pump motor timer is off. Is this normal? I know I connected all of the wires exactly how they were removed. Now my No Flow light stays on when system is in Auto or Super Chlorinate. Should I try replacing the Flow Switch before replacing the PCB?
 
jfcrump said:
After replacing the Thermistor (black thingy!!) in my Aqua Rite (standard), my power light stays on all the time even when the pump motor timer is off. Is this normal? I know I connected all of the wires exactly how they were removed. Now my No Flow light stays on when system is in Auto or Super Chlorinate. Should I try replacing the Flow Switch before replacing the PCB?
Click to expand...


Power light staying on all the time is normal, according to technical support. I replaced the flow switch and still reads "No Flow" so I guess my next option is to replace the circuit board. Hate to spend the money but don't know of any other options

:(

10/11/2012 - replaced the PCB and all is well. Posts on TroubleFreePool.com gave me the hints and ideas about my problem. Pool company wanted $500 to repair. I paid $7.49 for the Thermistor (black thingy!), $58.73 for the flow switch and $198.94 for the PCB for a total of $265.16 including tax and shipping. Saved $234.84 and each step was simple to install
 
10/11/2012 - replaced the PCB and all is well. Posts on TroubleFreePool.com gave me the hints and ideas about my problem. Pool company wanted $500 to repair. I paid $7.49 for the Thermistor (black thingy!), $58.73 for the flow switch and $198.94 for the PCB for a total of $265.16 including tax and shipping. Saved $234.84 and each step was simple to install
 
I too am having the same issue to an extent. I had a no power light problem at first so I replaced the thermistor for 6 bucks including shipping which was great since it did work for the duration yesterday, but today when the pump turned on there are now no lights including no led display. Any ideas? I soldered in the new piece in yesterday. Worked fine when initially turned on. Now a day later seems worse then before fix.
 
There is a fuse you should check. Depending on your model it could be underneath the box and it would be the older glass style (you have twist the casing to open it) or it could be more like the automotive type plug-in fuses in which case it in the box and below the resistor you replaced if I recall correctly. I would try that first.
 
All,

This past Sun 10/14, my Aqua Rite generator died -- exact same conditions as reported on this board. After reviewing the excellent posts and recommendations from this string, I ordered the part from Digi-Key (3 actually). They arrived today and within 20 mins i had completed the "black quarter" swap. Reinstalled the board and it worked like it was brand new. Thanks to you guys I saved $230+. BTW, my wife was not impressed....

Thanks a million.

R
 
Hello, I have the same problem that you guys have with my Aquarite but with one more wrinkle. Some background: my salt reading were crazy even though I checked them manually and knew they were ok. Not producing chlorine so I bought a new T-!5 cell. Installed it and it was great for a few days-maybe a week. Then, while checking the pool, no lights were on in my control panel plus no readings on the display. I mean nothing, like there was no power at all. So, I too replaced the digi-key thing and still have nothing. Anymore ideas? And, yes, when I turn on the breaker it makes a sound and the power unit in the top corner behind the board gets warm so it is getting power.
 
Just did the same repair as described by many - first solder (and desolder) job for me too.

For me it started late July when my T-15 cell went bad. Researched and purchased the compupool generic, taking a chance. http://www.titaniumcells.com/t-cell-15.html
I also purchased the current limiter from digi-key just in case. Installed the replacement cell and has worked great, until green algae noted about 2 weeks ago. Realized not generating - from the forums and a pool place I was told that often the circuit board goes within 3 months after replacing cell, as it did. His solution then of course was to replace the system (not even the board - I no longer go to his pool place).

Tested my new cell just to be sure - had to convince Pinch-A-Penny rep that the generic would fit and work in the Haywood tester and it tested fine. Week later down to no chlorine so bought some tabs few days ago and today decided to do the circuit surgery.

Read this thread again, reviewed you tube vids. I took multiple pics of the wire positions just in case, and put black tape on 1 of the 2 left (power?) wires that were same color. Removing the solder wasn't easy but it happened. Trimmed the long limiter wires to fit better. Soldered, repowered and saw the flow light was steady red for a long time - I remembered it blinking so I thought I overheated the board soldering. Soon it started blinking, and the green generate light came on. Had to adjust the salt reading, as it eventually indicated 1800 low salt and stopped generating.

I had bought a salt tester online (SALT-3000 - TDS4TM-3000) http://www.tdsmeter.com/products/tds4tm.html - maybe ebay and I think about $25? - works well and and it reads 3240 (I previously confirmed its accuracy at pool store). For some reason the unit displays 3700 (I had to reset it and it wouldn't go lower) but it's generating. I'm guessing it will average back eventually.

I hope the extra info i gave is not distracting from the main problem - I appreciate other's comments and suggestions and want to give back any helpful info I've obtained.

Hopefully this will stay off my to do list for a while now :-D

Steven
St. Petersburg, FL
 

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