My Jandy system goes wild around 12pm on sunny days

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asquare

asquare

Bronze Supporter
Sep 6, 2016
56
Lake Mary, FL
Hello,
I recently got my Jandy iAqualink PCB repaired by <name deleted> because all my temperature sensors were showing open on my Jandy controller, when the sensors were actually working fine. Bob fixed the PCB and all went back to normal, until just before Christmas when I saw the water in the spa bubbling and I realized the blower was on. I actually found that the board had switched 2 activators and triggered one other relay. I have a non-working spa-side remote but it is disconnected from the PCB. The pool works fine except that on sunny days, around 12pm, the system goes crazy (it stayed normal on a cloudy day). Here is the exact sequence:
- Pump starts normally in the morning
- For no obvious reason, the system starts acting up (relays and actuators activated). On some days, the relay for the blower is being switched on/off repeatedly, and on some days, it stays on [Note: the programming for the solar heat starts later]
- All LED lights on the PCB are off, except "Pool Mode"
- Controller is showing "Solar Heat" and Diagnostic says that all temperature sensors are OK (aka things are normal from the controller side)
- I then switch off the breaker to the PCB and the breaker to the pump. I wait 5 minutes and then I restart both
- When restarted, the pump goes on as programmed and the other relays are not activated
- All LED lights on the PCB are on
- The controller is showing “Heat Pump” instead of "Solar Heat" and the diagnostic is not showing the Solar Sensor at all (it’s not saying “Open” – it just does not show the line)
- I wait until the sun is not shining on the panel. I switch off the breakers, wait 5 minutes, switch the breakers on, and my system starts normally
- Only the "Auto" and "Pump" and "Pool Mode" LED lights are on
- On the controller, "Solar Heat" is back, and the diagnostic shows the Solar Temp sensor.

The next day, the same thing happens again. At Bob's request, I set dip switch #5 to "on", so I will be able to read the solar temp probe temperature when it happens. Curious whether anyone has experienced anything similar. The "All LEDs on" on the PCB is usually a sign of trouble but the troubling thing is that the PCB is OK, then not OK, then OK again.
 
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Did they verify that the PCB was fully functioning Before it was shipped back to you or did just temperature sensors repaired and returned without checking the whole PCB?
You may want to try to clear all settings and start fresh with a new schedule, new speeds for VS Pump, etc.
 
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hi Herman - thanks for the info. I actually do not know the answer but I assume it was tested by Bob before shipping back, and it did work like a charm for 30 days. At Bob's advice, I cleared the memory on my system and re-entered the settings. This action did not help. I did not do the reset on the PCB itself but will do over the week-end.

Today, it happened again at 11:30am. I turned the breaker off, left the panel open for 15-20 minutes, then restarted the system, and it started normally. At 12:15pm it was acting again. I turned it off and waited until 2:15pm until the system was in the shade. At that time the system started normally and remained stable. At the time the issue happened, the temperature on the solar temp sensor was normal (95 - it's sitting on a dark shingle roof in Central Florida). From today's information, it does not look like the issue is caused by a temperature sensor going crazy - all temperatures looked normal. I disconnected the temperature connector and will see whether that makes a difference tomorrow. The "good" news is that it happens every sunny day so I can test different things :)
 
Is it possible to place a sun shade (tarp?) or umbrella over your Automation box? If it can be shaded throughout the day, then let go for 2-3 days to determine if the system works without issues. If it acts up, then maybe we can dig into other causes.

Alternatively, reverse your schedule so all the pump activity is during the nighttime. Now if you are running your pump 24/7 that won't help but need to try to isolate this issue with "sun". That is very unusual.
 
Could it be a connection problem at the board? I had a weird intermittent heater problem once that turned out to be just a slightly corroded Molex push connector on the heater control board. Spraying it down with CRC contact cleaner fixed it. I'm guessing maybe your control box is outdoors and the bright mid-day is when it gets warmest, so normal thermal expansion might be causing electrical noise.
 
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When the board is not acting up use a heat gun or blow dryer to heat up different areas and components of the board and see if you can get it to fail.

Or when the board is acting up use some cans of compressed air which will cool whatever it is sprayed on and spray it on various areas of the board and see if cooling something fixes it.

This may let you identify an area of the board or component that is failing when heated.
 
OK - the plans could not be tested this week-end because we had overcast weather. For the past several days, I was out of town and all LED lights were on. This evening (temperature was cool), I noticed that the pool light was not on. I went to the panel and shut down the breakers. I waited 5 minutes and when I turned the system on. The LED lights were lit normally (only "Auto" and "Pool Mode"). However, within 2 minutes, the blower went on. When it did, all LED lights were off, except pool mode. I tried to press the reset button on the card, and all LED lights went on and stayed on. Tomorrow I will remove the battery and re-do a reset. So it looks like it's not linked to temperature. The plot thickens....
 

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I would unplug the connector to the main PCB. Check the contacts if they all look OK. I would also unplug the relay sockets from each of the HP relays. Check those as well. Something is shorting out and turning on equipment. It could be on the PCB itself but unplugging each of the relay sockets will confirm they are seated properly when you plug them back in.
No guarantee this will solve it but trying to give you some ideas to easily do.
This is similar to what @generessler noted in post #5 above.
 
Here is what I did today around 11:30am. First, I removed the coin battery and pressed reset -- it did not seem to do much (all LED lights were red before and after the reset). I then switched off the breaker and used CRC electronic cleaner on each of the connectors and made sure they were seated correctly. I waited a few minutes and then restarted the system. The panel booted normally and then in less than 10 seconds, the blower went on (it was even faster today than yesterday). I turned the breaker off and then on, and the panel again booted normally, and the blower went on within 10 seconds. I pressed the reset button which stopped the blower very briefly but it restarted each time. I then pressed the reset button for 30 seconds, and the blower did not start, but all the LED lights on the panel are on. As it looks like, I cannot maintain a stable state when the LED lights are normal (the blower starts immediately). When the LED lights are all on, the blower does not start unexpectedly and the programming still works. When the whole situation started, the system was stable when LED lights were normal, then something was triggering the issue and then the LED lights were all lit.
Other note: I changed the programming of the pump last week, so that it does not run between 11am and 2:30pm. By doing this, the blower did not initiate during the day (aside from the post-reboot situation described above).
What I did not try is a full reset without the battery, followed by a memory clear on the Jandy controller. I will try that next. It looks like the PCB is defective, and that being in error mode for several days made the situation worse, and now it goes into error as soon as it starts.
 
You could just unplug the relay to the blower and then go through a reset. See if the system goes into normal state. Then try to turn on lights, cleaner, change pump speed, etc to ensure it is responding to your inputs.
if all works, leave like that for a day and see how it performs.
Then, if you wish, you can switch off the system and plug in the blower relay. if it acts up as is now, then you have isolated the issue or the connector.
 
hi Herman - unfortunately, I know that when it happens, everything is activated. I turned off 2 actuators and my chlorinating pump, because if the issue was happening when I was not at home, it would add way too much chlorine, or empty the spa. I just tested it right now, and after the system booted correctly, the blower went on, as well as the pool light and spa light. Interestingly, the pump does not get activated. I have asked the person who repaired my PCB what he thinks, but it looks like the PCB itself is defective.
 
asquare said:
hi Herman - unfortunately, I know that when it happens, everything is activated. I turned off 2 actuators and my chlorinating pump, because if the issue was happening when I was not at home, it would add way too much chlorine, or empty the spa. I just tested it right now, and after the system booted correctly, the blower went on, as well as the pool light and spa light. Interestingly, the pump does not get activated. I have asked the person who repaired my PCB what he thinks, but it looks like the PCB itself is defective.
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Agreed. I know you stated originally that you had the board repaired. Will they take it back and do another system check?
Or maybe it is just better to purchase a new PCB. Keep us posted on how this is ultimately resolved.
it is a very unique issue.
 
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