My Solar is Gone from my Jandy RS8

[chris_r11]

Hi All, I have not posted in a while. I have a problem and was hoping you can provide some guidance. I have a 13-year-old pool that has had solar on it since day one. I just noticed that the option for Solar is gone from the Jandy One Touch. I have an RS8 controller.

I did not touch anything other than to turn the power off to the pool to open the heater and blow out the dirt that was in there.

When I look at diagnostics, it says the solar is Open. The valve is closed though. The pool equipment shows the orange light near the solar indicator, but again, it is not on nor is there an option to turn it on or off. Every other setting is still in the controller still shows the different speeds we set for the variable speed pumps so it does not seem like it reset to defaults. When I goto system setup, assign JVA's there is nothing listed for solar. The top two options show "used" though and when I click on solar, it gives me options for Aux 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 7.

Any ideas or should I call the pool person?

 

[PoolGate]

"open" usually means a temperature sensor is not detected.

 

[chris_r11]

I think I have 2 temperature sensors... one on the roof and one in the supply to the solar. Is there a way to see which might be having the issue?

Thanks for the reply. Chris

 

[mas985]

The one on the supply to the solar is probably for water temperature. The one on the roof is for the solar temperature. That one should not be installed in the pipe but so that the sun can directly hit the sensor.

 

[PoolGate]

Have you tried power cycling everything? Also try removing and re-seating the temp probe connections. If you have a known good probe you could try swapping the connections one at a time to see when it works.

 

[chris_r11]

I have turned the power off again. That might have been what triggered it in the first place, but I am not sure. I can re-seat the temp probes, but is there a way to know if a probe is good? I still have a water temp showing on my controller. I forgot a have another outside air temp sensor but that is also showing on the display. I misspoke, the one on the roof is a sun sensor, I think, and no other wires go to the roof. It is odd that the light is "on" in the equipment, but not showing as an option on the One Touch and it does not trigger the valve to turn when in service mode and I toggle the solar switch. I will try reseating the temp sensors later today and see if that changes anything.

Anyways, I do appreciate the ideas.

 

[ajw22]

I have turned the power off again. That might have been what triggered it in the first place, but I am not sure. I can re-seat the temp probes, but is there a way to know if a probe is good? I still have a water temp showing on my controller. I forgot a have another outside air temp sensor but that is also showing on the display. I misspoke, the one on the roof is a sun sensor, I think, and no other wires go to the roof. It is odd that the light is "on" in the equipment, but not showing as an option on the One Touch and it does not trigger the valve to turn when in service mode and I toggle the solar switch. I will try reseating the temp sensors later today and see if that changes anything.

Anyways, I do appreciate the ideas.

If temps are showing on your controller then the probes are probably good.

The probes are 10K thermistors. They will test at 10,000 ohms at 77 degrees. You can disconnect the probe wires at the panel and test it with a multimeter. Here is a Temperature vs Resistance Conversion Chart for 10k Thermistors

 

[chris_r11]

Well, I just loosened and retightened all the sensor wires. Still not showing solar as an option and the Diagnostics show the solar as opened. I don't have a meter to test the temp sensors so maybe it is time for a call to the pool company. I appreciate the help.

 

[ajw22]

You can buy a multimeter at any hardware store. They cost $10 and up.

 

[chris_r11]

turns out my sun sensor in the roof was bad. In the diagnostics, the item that said "solar" and "Opened" meant that the sun sensor was bad if that helps anyone else.

 

[PoolGate]

All's well that ends well! Glad it was something simple. Usually when I get something like that go out I buy a spare to have on-hand in case it goes out again. I have 2 spare heater igniters.