Jandy JXi problem

[SDor]

It's been raining here a lot. This morning I noticed my pool filter wasn't running, and upon further investigation, my 240v GFI circuit breaker for the pumps and heater had opened. After the rain stopped, and things dried a bit, I turned off everything and reset the breaker. I then turned on my pump, and heard a fairly loud "pop" in the general vicinity of the heater (heater and pump are on opposite sides of the pad) and the circuit breaker opened again. I opened up the heater and looked around for something charred or melted and didn't see anything. There was some dampness in the bottom of my heater, but as far as I could tell, none of the electrical components were wet/damp. Long term, I'll need to figure out what is going on there. Put everything back together and waited a few hours for things to dry more. Now, my pumps run, but my heater is dead - no display, no power.

The heater is ~2 years old. Is there an internal fuse that might have blown when I heard the "pop"? Any other ideas? I'll most likely get a professional involved, but I'd like to hear some ideas before I start talking to repair people.

Thanks in advance...

 

[SDor]

Further research makes me think the transformer may have blown. Any idea if this usually takes other components with it?

 

[ps0303]

There is always that possibility. Do you have a meter to check for power coming in?

 

[SDor]

I do have a multi-meter. I guess just go through the schematic from incoming power to control board/ignition system and find where power stops?

For now, I'm holding off because it *might* still be under warranty. I will probably find out on Monday. At least that's my excuse for not working on today...

 

[ps0303]

If you are sure it is less than 2 years old it might be covered.

 

[SpringPool]

If a pool builder or store installed your Jandy equipment it has a 3 year warranty on it. Give Jandy a call

 

[SDor]

It was installed by a Jandy pool installer/store. They originally said 1 year, but I pointed to the 3 year warranty mentioned on the Zodiac web site (when installed by them), and they said they would contact Zodiac and find out. It being the weekend, I probably will not know until Monday.

 

[SDor]

Update: According to the installer, I only get the 3 year warranty if I buy more than 1 product - usually 3. I tried calling Zodaic but got fed up with the menu system. The warranty was just for parts. I'm pretty sure the labor would have been more than what I've spent on parts so I'm not too salty about that. Although, I wish I knew what would cause this in a 2 year old heater.

I checked the voltage going into the heater, and it was fine, but no voltage was coming out of the transformer. Replaced the transformer. As I was hooking everything back together, I noticed the power distribution board had some burn marks (looks exactly like the board in this thread (Re: Jandy LXi heater has no power...) so I did not connect the transformer, and ordered a new power distribution board. Comes tomorrow.

 

[ps0303]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Power surges or storms can cause this issue.

Yes 3 year warranty is if you buy three or more pieces of equipment.

 

[SDor]

After replacing the transformer and power distribution board, my heater is heating again. Just in time for the heat wave .

I spent about $160 on parts. Not too bad for a "pool repair" (any time something breaks in my pool, I expect the worst).

 

[SDor]

Well, I'm back. I realize that this is an old thread, but I thought the following information could be helpful to others: My transformer / power interface board blew again... almost exactly a year to the date of the last time (according to my Amazon order history). No rain, no lightening, no obvious external cause...

This time, however, instead of blindly clicking "re-order" on the parts, I took some time and reviewed the Jandy JXI parts list and realized that I had been using the wrong transformer. When I search for R0456301 (the JXI part), Amazon gives me R0456300 (the LXI part). Somehow this escaped my notice 2 times (or maybe the first time, I said "what the heck, a transformer is a transformer"). Anyway, I'm hoping that this is the root cause of these things dying every year. Ordered an actual R0456301 this time (my fingers are crossed).

 

[setsailsoon]

I hate to be negative but I do not think the problem is the part number. I think both of the transformers are very similar and it is more likely that the fuse which is supposed to protect them is undersized. I have seen this happen once before. The transformer was doing a great job of protecting the fuse. Get a good fuse that is known to be the right size. I think that should be 2 amp but you should double check. Also you should look for any loose wires in the 24 Volt AC circuit or any damage to insulation on one of the wires that could accidentally short out. Also check each component in the 24 vac circuit including the gas valve relay to be sure that you have no shorts. Wiggle the wires when you were doing this to be sure.

I hope this is helpful.

Chris

 

[SDor]

Thanks Chris... it did occur to me that the only difference might be the length of the connecting wires, but I was being optimistic . I will definitely look into your suggestions... although I may not get around to fixing this until next year. Not sure how much swimming we have left in NE IL this year. I was hoping to do some swimming today, but alas...

 

[swamprat69]

Actually an undersized fuse would blow more quickly than a correctly sized or oversized fuse and would protect the transformer. In order to correctly size a fuse for the transformer secondary ( load side ) you divide the transformer VA rating by the transformer secondary voltage ( in pool heaters it is normally 24 VAC). As an example a 40VA transformer with a 24 VAC secondary would be (VA) 40 divided by (secondary voltage ) 24 VAC for 1.66. Since the fuse size can never be larger than this number you would use a 1.5A fuse. You can replace a transformer with one that has a higher VA rating, but the fuse size needs to remain the same as it is sized for the load. If you know 2 of the 3 numbers in the equation you can always figure out the third as (fuse size in amps) x (secondary voltage) = transformer VA rating.

 

[SDor]

I installed my new parts today and the heater is heating again. I can confirm that swamprat69 knows what he's talking about because the new transformer labeled as providing 1.67 amps. I plan to pick up a 1.5amp fuse shortly.

I traced most of the wires and didn't see any cracked insulation or loose wires. I also wonder if the problem isn't on the 240V side of the transformer as it's the power distribution board that is getting fried, and none of the 24V components have shown any issues (aside from, perhaps, shorting out about once a year, but then curing themselves after the damage has been done). See the picture below. I also noted that this new one appears to be a 'K' whereas the one that was replaced was a 'J'. I've included pictures of the old and new transformers as well. In case anyone was wondering about the differences between a Jandy R0345300 (gold) vs R0345301 (silver). Here are the pictures. I also included a picture of the burned out board in case anyone wants to speculate on where this problem originated.

I also have a feeling the old transformer was remanufactured or something as one of the screw down fins was bent badly and its covered with the gold stuff. I bought it at the end of last season, but didn't look at it until this spring when it was too late to return. The box looked legit, but comparing the old vs the new makes me think the old one wasn't brand new.