Solar Temperature Sensor

[FlbrkMike]

This is similar to another recently posted inquiry, but not quite the same so I'm starting a new thread.

Long story short, is there any way to disable the solar temperature sensor on a Compool 3800? In other words, I would like the solar to be controlled solely by water temperature and the thermostat setting (along with on/off from the control panel). If I just disconnect the sensor at the controller I get an Err 2 message and it doesn't accomplish what want.

Longer story -

Due to leaks discovered during the heavy winter storms in SoCal in the winter of 2016-2017, we had to replace our tile roof last year. This necessarily included demoing and replacing our rooftop pool heater. When they removed the panels they also removed the solar temperature sensor. Unfortunately I had not, until now, really educated myself on how the solar controls work and didn't make sure that as much of the wiring, etc. was preserved.

When we had new panels installed, they located the solar sensor at the Compool control box by the equipment, and not on the roof where it should be. As a consequence I can't calibrate the solar temperature high enough to enable the heater to heat the spa. The only way to do this now is to calibrate the water temperature sensor to read 10 deg lower than the actual water temperature.

I've installed a new sensor on the roof and have a conduit and wires left from the old system. I cannot, for some reason, figure out where the conduit comes out near the equipment. It is a total mystery. I've been digging around the equipment to try and figure this out but with no success. I'm convinced that the solar installer completely mucked things up.

So, I'm going to have to re-run the wire from the roof to the equipment, which involves going underneath a concrete walkway. In the meantime I'd like to just disable the solar sensor, which really is not necessary for me to properly operate the system this time of year.

I'll try and post some pictures shortly.

 

[FlbrkMike]

Relative location of equipment to solar panels




Closeup of supply and return lines to solar, and conduit with wiring

 

[FlbrkMike]

Went over my quota trying to post this third pic, so I had to reduce the resolution



The two pipes on the left, going into the low voltage side of the box, connect to the spa side controller and the indoor control panel. Other low voltage wires enter behind that junction box. All other conduits are 120/240V. The sensor connected to the solar temp terminal is mounted on top of the box. I can't find anything that connects to the conduit shown in the picture above in my previous post. The solar supply and return lines are on the right but there is no conduit coming up anywhere around there. I guess I need to either dig up the 17 year old trench going under the sidewalk, or just bury another conduit. For now, I'd like to be able to heat my spa without messing around with the calibration of the water temperature.

 

[pooldv]

I'm not familiar with how Compool works but most solar controllers require two pieces of information, water temp and air temp. It won't turn on solar heat unless it knows that solar heat is available. Turning on the solar panels when solar heat isnt available will quickly cool the water. For now, I would try installing the solar temp sensor somewhere near the pool equipment that has similar sun exposure to the solar panels. Maybe even mock up a small section with a couple of roof tiles to mimic the conditions on the roof until you can get the conduit sorted out.