Hayward Aquarite (t15) no lights after circuit board replacement?

[Ralph III]

Hello All,
The thermistor went out on my Aquarite SWG recently (again) and so I soldered a new one on. The lights came on as normal upon powering up the SWG. However, it was displaying a very low and inaccurate salt water reading and consequently not "Generating". Then the salt water reading went down to zero. My salt water in fact tests around 2800, btw.

Everything was hooked up properly and I began to fear my circuit board may be failing? Consequently, I found a great price on an identical circuit board off of Eb_y that was listed as brand new. The board arrived and does appear to be brand new but it does not seem to be working properly either? When I turn the SWG on the "No flow" light is blinking initially. It will then go off after a few seconds (as normal) and the "Generating" light will then come on briefly. It will then go off and at that point no lights are being displayed. No other lights ever come on with exception of the "No flow" and "Generating" lights, as noted. Whereas all of the lights will display (as normal) on my old circuit board. It just displays a bogus salt water reading and consequently won't generate.

Is there some sort of programing I am supposed to perform on the new circuit board first or is it just defective? It took a beating in shipping as the Seller did a poor job of packaging. Everything is hooked up properly. It has 240v power and the fuse is good. I am about to re-install my old circuit board.

Thanks,
Ralph

 

[C0d3Sp4c3]

Posting all the diagnostic readings would help us to help you better.
Going by your statement above, there is really nothing wrong with the old mainboard. A dying or a clogged salt cell is known to report false salinity reading, usually lower than the actual. How are you testing the salt level?
IMO, the new replacement bd is displaying symptoms of a bad Thermistor! Fyi, GLX-PCB-RITE with newest sw r1.59 is more reliable, hands down!

 

[JamesW]

What cell do you have?

Is the cell type set correctly?

Maybe post a picture of the board so that we can see if anything looks off.

Maybe a wire left off or miswired.

Post the readings.

 

[Ralph III]

Thanks for the replies.

I have included two pics. One shows the initial blinking "no flow" light which goes off after a few seconds, as normal. The second shows the green "generating light" which comes on after the "no flow" light goes off. It only stays lit for a few seconds though and then goes off. No lights are on at that point, only the display of salt which is depicted as "1500". I am testing my pool with a Taylor kit. Even if I had no salt though that wouldn't account for no lights showing.

How would you folks like me to test the unit or diagnostic codes? Lastly, I clean my T15 cell each year and I have never seen any scale or crud buildup ever. It is always clean. I haven't checked it this year yet but that should have nothing to do with the circuit board displaying no lights?

Thanks,
Ralph

 

[JamesW]

For AquaRite, move the switch from auto to off and check all of the readings by pressing the little black button.

Move the switch back to auto and recheck the readings.

Move the switch to off for a minute and then back to auto and recheck the readings.

Report all readings.

What are the first seven characters of the cell and box serial numbers?

What is the actual salinity and how are you measuring it?

What is the T-cell size?

 

[Ralph III]

Thanks for all the help!

I tried re-calibrating the salt water reading (from memory of course) and may have messed up the numbers? It seems I did this once before and it went into some metric mode? You may have to help me get it back to showing the 1500 salt water reading?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) Anyhow. I turned the switch to "off" and read the numbers. I then turned it back to "auto" and read the numbers. I then turned it to "off" (waited about 1 1/2 minutes) turned it back to "auto" and again read the numbers. All of the reading were the same no matter and as follows.

0.00, 32, 0.0, 0.00, 100P, -0.00, AL-0, r 1.58, L-15.

The L in the L-15 is actually more of an E with the top horizontal line missing. I think this just lists the salt cell.

Again, I may have messed up getting the readings so if you can show me how to get it back to displaying the 1500 salinity reading I will take the readings again.

2) I am using a Taylor K-1766 Sodium Chloride kit to test the salinity. I tested it a couple of days ago several times and I came up with 2700 each time.

3) I have a T-15 cell.

4) I am not sure what numbers you want on the cell or unit so I have enclosed a few more images, in addition to the ones above.

Thanks,
Ralph

 

[JamesW]

That's not a new circuit board. It looks like the thermistor is bad.

 

[Ralph III]

UPDATE:


So I re-installed my original circuit board and was able to re-calibrate the salt water reading to 2700. It appears to be working fine at the moment after having soldered a new thermistor in but I will keep an eye on it (see first image).

I purchased the listed "Brand New" circuit board just as a backup in case my circuit board finally failed all together. I had no problem installing and setting up the old circuit board. All the lights came on as expected. That is not the case with the listed "Brand New" circuit board though, as noted.

Is there any way to reset the new board or do you feel it is just defective? The board was quite shiny and clean so it did appear to be brand new. The last two images are closeups of the thermistor on the supposedly "Brand New" circuit board. Is there anything about the thermistor that makes you think it is damaged because I don't see an issue? I have an extra thermistor. Is there any way to attach it to the existing thermistor or just touch metal to metal to see if it would then work?

 

[JamesW]

Software revision 1.59 has been out for years.

The 1.58 revision indicates that the board is not new.

I don't know when the revision went from 1.58 to 1.59, but it wasn't recently.

I would send it back for a refund.

Edit - Revision 1.59 goes back to about 2014. I think that 1.58 was from about 2011 to 2014. That makes the board more than 6 years old.

Revision 1.55 came out on 5/8/2009.

Hayward Swimpure Plus readings help

I got my new SWG installed yesterday and have some questions on the readings. The manual stinks and I cannot seem to find anything on Hayward's site. Can someone please help me fill in what these reading are? They are in order as you press the diagnostic button. Cell Off | Cell on 2900 |...

www.troublefreepool.com

August 10 2014 revision 1.59.

 

[Ralph III]

James. My circuit board is version 1.55. So it is obviously really old.

Just FYI, I have an extra thermistor. Can I attach the extra thermistor to the existing thermistor on the newer circuit board somehow (alligator clips)? If the circuit board then started functioning then its only a bad thermistor. In that case I'd like to hang on to it as a backup as I only gave a little over $100.00 for it.

Thanks,
Ralph

 

[JamesW]

Just remove the thermistor and replace it.

Honestly, I would return the board for a refund as the seller obviously misrepresented it.

 

[C0d3Sp4c3]

UPDATE:
Is there anything about the thermistor that makes you think it is damaged because I don't see an issue?

Yes, I did see an issue. The Thermistor is cracked! Replacing the thermistor should restore the functionality of the so-called "brand new circuit board".
In case you are tired of replacing the thermistor, upgrading any r1.5x to the newest r1.59 is possible. Hit me up for a detailed walkthrough if interested.

 

[Ralph III]

That is a great catch Cod......!

Yes, it indeed does appear to be cracked and separating. It most likely got damaged in shipping as the Seller didn't do an adequate job of packaging it. That was the first thing I brought to his attention.

Can I somehow simply attach the additional thermistor that I have to see if the circuit board would then become functional, without removing the existing and cracked one? I don't want to remove the existing thermistor or make such a modification without getting permission from both the Seller and Ebay first. In case I elect to send it back.

What is the benefit in upgrading to version 1.59 and what is the best method of soldering these thermistors? When I replaced the thermistor on my old circuit board I simply snipped the legs on it and then attempted to solder the legs of the new thermistor onto it. The solder didn't want to stick though so I ended up having to heat the circuit board up and then completely remove the old thermistor. I could then solder the new thermistor onto the circuit board. Is that the proper method because I was concerned I may damage the circuit board by heating it up?

Thanks,
Ralph

 

[JamesW]

The circuit board is used. That's why the thermistor is bad. It's not new. It's obvious that the seller misrepresented that it was new.

The board is at least 6 years old.

Also, notice the little standoff spacers on the legs, they start out white.

The discoloration is caused by heat.

The crack developed from use, not from shipping. Physical damage would not look like that. Physical damage would have bent the legs.

I would send it back just on principle. The seller is selling used, defective goods as new.

If you want to keep it, clip off the old thermistor, heat the holes and pull out the legs, heat the holes while using a vacuum to suck out the solder.

Use a piece of tubing to connect to the vacuum on one end and use the other end to suck out the solder when it melts.

Try to find heat resistant tubing or at least make sure that the tubing doesn't melt to the hot spot.

The solder should not be hot by the time it gets into the vacuum, but check it to be safe so that it doesn't cause the dust in the vacuum to catch on fire.

 

[Ralph III]

I got you James. So I will be sending it back at this time. My unit is working perfectly fine at this time and I can get another circuit board later if needed.

I would like to know if there is some workaround with these thermistors though. They seem to go out fairly regularly?

God Bless,
Ralph

 

[JamesW]

Just get a good soldering iron, a desoldering pump and a couple of thermistors and replace as needed.

 

[Ralph III]

UPDATE:


The Seller, in a major hissy fit, went ahead and issued a full refund to me. He refuses to take responsibility and just resorts to name calling and blaming others. I will go ahead and attempt to repair the circuit board now. If I can get it fixed I will forward a partial payment to him even though he didn't ask for such. I think this would be a fair thing to do though.

Thanks for all of the help,
Ralph

 

[JamesW]

Deleted.