Aquatrol SWG no power

[C0d3Sp4c3]

NO, the TP's on the schematic diagram does not match the actual TP's on the mainboard. The TP-1 on the schematic diagram is referring to the output voltage of the 24V regulator which is pin 3 of U7.
Please ignore the schematic for now to avoid confusion.
If 5 Volts DC (not mV) is present on TP13 on the mainboard but TP14 is 0, then the U13 chip failed. If U13 is good, expect 5 Volts DC on TP14 as well.
Please confirm you have 5Vdc on TP13, that's all I need to know for now.

 

[mjnorman]

Man so glad we got that cleared up, what a point of confusion! Thanks for your patience and help.

Yes confirmed TP 13 is 5 V (not mV), and TP 14 is 0.

 

[C0d3Sp4c3]

That's great! Replace U13 part# MAX809JTRG. Don't forget to take pictures of the wiring connections before removing the mainboard from the panel.
Source: (Digi-Key) MAX809JTRGSOSCT-ND or (Mouser#) 863-MAX809JTRG
You may want to remove U7 and C3 for ease of replacing the U13. Your call...

 

[mjnorman]

I ordered it off mouser, man 8 bucks to ship a 45 cent part. Better than 300 bucks to replace the whole board!

I have only ever soldered one thing before which were capacitors which go through the board. Any tips for soldering this chip? I have some thin solder on the way as well.

 

[C0d3Sp4c3]

It is what it is! Hope you can get your hands on this chip before the stock gets depleted. When the U13 identifier was finally revealed in this forum, the demand for such skyrocketed. Others in the repair industry started buying them in bulk, restoring uncollected dead AQR boards and sell. I know you guys and I think you owe TFP for your business. Pardon the rant!

Anyway, search youtube "on how to solder SMD" and you'll get a lot of hits. I use a pencil type ceramic tip for smd's but you can get away with just any soldering iron with a pointed tip.
The key is not to overheat the chip or it can be damaged. Also, you will need a solder wick to clean the solder pads as shown below. Lastly, try to bring up your soldering skill to a new level by practicing. I'm certain you can find junk electronic pcb's laying around.

 

[mjnorman]

Yes this forum has saved me multiple times. Best community I've ever seen! Mouser had 500+ in stock, digikey was back ordered with no estimate on when it would ship, in case anyone finds this thread later!

I'll for sure report back here when I get the part in. Thanks so much!!

 

[mjnorman]

After MUCH trial and error I finally got the new U13 part soldered in. Sure enough I now have 5vdc on TP 14! It looks disgusting but it seems to work.

I powered the unit up and have the LEDs! What else can I check to ensure normal operation? One time I plugged it in and all od the LEDs were flashing in unison with a clicking sound being heard. I haven't been able to reproduce that.

Riser pins left to right without display board:
1 - - 0.1 mV
2 - - 0.1 mV
3 - - .4V
4 - - 5V
5 - - 5V
6 - - 10mV
7 - - 5V

With display board on Auto timer off
1 - - 1.4 V
2 - - 0
3 - - 2.4V
4 - - 5V
5 - - 5V
6 - - 10mV
7 - - 4.7 V

 

[C0d3Sp4c3]

I would assume the christmas light display is caused by a poor solder bond. Improper soldering will form a bad connection and may cause intermittent issues over time. Hold your iron on the join for 2-3 secs or until the solder melt and flow into the joint then lift the soldering iron away.

The second set of numbers with the display bd in place is perfect. Good job, you just fixed your mainboard.

 

[mjnorman]

So after hooking this back up, the pump fired right up! However, now the issue is that the timer does not appear to work! The pump always has power no matter what position the timer switch is in. Any ideas?

 

[C0d3Sp4c3]

Looks like you may have a bad timer. Unplug the J1 timer connector from the mainboard (see pic). Switch your multimeter to measure resistance (Ω) and measure the continuity between the two brown wires. The resistance should open and close when you toggle the timer switch. Or simply disconnect the timer, plug in your aquatrol to AC power. If the pump did not run, the timer is bad. If it runs, check the K3 relay as mentioned in this thread Aqua trol won't switch off

 

[mjnorman]

Looks like I might have more problems, as I just checked and unit is reading no flow and is not generating chlorine.

Confirmed timer is good, continuity switched off/on depending on timer switch positions.

Removed two black wires and not picking up any resistance reading on two black terminals on the board.

 

[C0d3Sp4c3]

Verify the correct model # is displayed in the setting. AL-6 for HP units, AL-7 for RJ units. Press the diagnostic button 6 times from the default screen to display the model #.
See page 21 > Aquatrol Troubleshooting Guide
If you have a HP model, inspect the flow switch. Is your pump running while the timer is unplugged?

 

[mjnorman]

It displays AL-0. Yes pump runs when timer not plugged in. I see no visible damage to either cell port, plug or cord.

 

[mjnorman]

Also this is an RJ model, no flow switch.

 

[JamesW]

The regular aquatrol uses a flow switch. The RJ (Return Jet) model doesn't use a flow switch.

The model number should be inside the door.

In diagnostics, AL-6 means regular aquatrol, AL-7 means return jet.

Sometimes the boards get stuck on the wrong setting and it won't work. Unless you can change the setting, it's not going to work. Hayward probably knows how to change the setting, but they might not want to tell you.

 

[mjnorman]

All the diag guides say if this reading isn't correct to replace the PCB

 

[JamesW]

Unless you can get Hayward to tell you how to change the setting, you will probably have to replace the board.

How old is the system?

 

[mjnorman]

2 years

I'm going to go ahead and order one and call around to some local pool shops that have been helpful in the past and see if they have any suggestions. I'll report back if I get lucky.

 

[C0d3Sp4c3]

Thanks James for chiming in.
I don't have experience in the Aquatrol models. I didn't know the AL settings cannot be changed? I would re-flash the software if that is the case.

The pump running without the timer in place is quite complicated. Going by the trace path from my aquarite bd, the timer switch when in closed position pulls down pin#23 of the mirocontroller chip to negative and send out instruction to the latch driver U5 chip to energize the K3 relay and turn on the pump. Need to look deeper into that but perhaps reflashing the software is the fix. But I think this is too much for the OP to handle.

@OP, either you send out the mainboard for repair or consider a replacement.

 

[JamesW]

For regular AquaRite, the setting can be changed from AL-0 to Al-5.

For Aquatrol, the AL setting is either set to AL-6 or AL-7.

I'm sure that there's a way to change the setting, but Hayward isn't releasing that information.

It is the name sent to an automation system.

AL-0 is AquaRite.
AL-1 NatureSoft.
AL-2 MineralSprings.
AL-3 SmartPure.
AL-4 This changes the default display from average salt to percent output.
AL-5 This is used with Jandy automation.
AL-6 and AL-7 are used on the AquaTrol, which is an AquaRite with a timer for above ground pools.

AquaRite, naturesoft, mineralsprings and smartpure are essentially the same unit with different branding. Hayward does private labels for certain companies. Al-0 to al-3 are basically equivalent other than a superficial name change. AL-4 is not about the name, it just changes the default display. AL-5 needs to be selected for the Jandy automation to control the unit properly.

Sometimes an AquaRite will get stuck on AL-6 or AL-7 with no way to switch back and sometimes an Aquatrol will get switched to AL-0 through AL-5 with no (known) way to switch back.