Who Repairs Sta-rite Control Boards?
Note: I've had many requests request if I have any of the parts (thermistor/Ametherm SL32 2R025 BigAMP current inrush limiter and the Littlefuse V150LA2P varistor) required for this fix. I at present have some! They are currently listed on Craigslist and Webstore (I took the listing off eBay because it gets prohibitively expensive for an cheap particular such equally this). I bought several and will ship them in the U.S. via first grade mail for free. If the links above don't work, search for "Ametherm." You lot should find the list. By the fashion, I don't repair pools for a living (I'm a calculator geek) and I don't make my living trying to sell current inrush limiters. I'thousand simply doing this to help others out.
We accept one of those salt water chlorination systems on our swimming puddle that works pretty well. It does need some help in the summer when information technology gets really hot here in Texas, because our pool is about twoscore,000 gallons (Texas sized)! This summertime (2009) we've been having some existent problems with algae, especially the black kind. If you've never had black algae, it's bad stuff. In one case information technology gets started, it attaches itself to the plaster and begins to eat it away. Besides treating the pool, yous have to manually scrub, dig, sand, option or chisel the algae out of the pores of the plaster. When you do remove it, y'all'll meet pitting from where it'south been attached. Bad stuff.
Nosotros've been fighting this all summer and, one morning I went out to visit the outside Aqua Rite controller and found that the light-green "generating" light was not lit. In fact, in that location was only one calorie-free on…I think it was the power calorie-free and, if I call back correctly, it was carmine instead of green. I may be wrong on this, but I do remember in that location was just one light on and I said, "Dang, at present I know why we've been fighting having enough chlorine in the pool all summer!" Yeah, the thing'south been disrepair all summer long. Probably happened in the spring during one of our thunderstorms.
I called technical back up at Goldline Controls (now function of Hayward) @ 908-355-7995. The helpful rep walked me through pushing the little exam push to the left of the LCD brandish and I read him the readings information technology displayed. 1 of them was 0.0. I think that was the i that immediately made him say, "You've got a bad board." I called the local repair facility and nearly had a heart attack when they told me it would cost $360+ to replace the board. Ouch. Doing some checking on eBay, I constitute that one could be had for a mere $180…about one-half the price. I thought information technology was worth a endeavour to attempt a repair (okay, I'm cheap).
Being an electrical engineer, I immediately opened the case and removed the front panel to expose the innards. It'south piece of cake to become inside. Just remove the two screws on the front panel and grab the pinnacle of the console in the hole provided. Of grade, you lot should do this with the power off!
When I removed the cover I looked carefully around and noticed that there was a brown spot on the printed circuit lath in the upper right corner virtually a big, black disc. From what I've seen (and done) in the past, information technology looked like a component had fried on the lath. So, I proceeded to remove the board. All yous need to practice is remove all the connectors fastened to the board and, if you have an Aqua Link, unscrew the four wires that provide the communication to the Aqua Link. Don't forget the lilliputian RJ-eleven (telephone) connector at the bottom of the board that is plugged in on the outside of the box. Non a large deal, every bit all the connections are conveniently identified past color on the PCB (printed circuit board). In this photograph I take the ability on…you should, of course, have the power off when you remove the board!
As I did some research, I establish that others have had like bug to mine. It turns out that the big black disc is a varistor. A varistor is normally used as a protection device that, at a certain voltage, changes its resistance to a low value. It substantially "shorts out" voltage spikes. The thought is to protect from things like ability surges caused by lightning strikes and the like. Turns out this one had given its life for the protection of the PCB. My hat's off to you, Mr. Varistor! Y'all saved my board. I'd gladly give you my Bud.
Additional enquiry (i.e. Googling) was washed to locate the the role number of the varistors…yes, at that place are more than ane! Notwithstanding, in my case, there was only ane that was a trouble. The other ii are much smaller. The large i is an SL32-2R025-B fabricated past Ametherm. The smaller ones (that I didn't supervene upon) are V150LA2P made by Littelfuse. They are the little crimson discs that flank both sides of the black terminal strip on the lower left of the PCB. I ordered the SL32-2R025-B from eBay from STI_Trade for the whopping price of $1.99 (plus shipping). I ordered ii, but actually got 4, because they came 2 to a bundle. I think the whole thing came to $seven.08. And so, I accept some extras. I might merely give one or two of them away if someone asks me for them (and proves that someone is reading my blog)!
When I removed the varistor from the board with a soldering fe, it literally vicious apart in pieces. Installing information technology was not a large deal if you're familiar with soldering…a fifteen infinitesimal chore. The moment of truth was when I re-installed the board and powered information technology all back up. Worked like a hose!
I told my married woman I saved $360 – $vii.08 = $352.92. That qualifies me for some brownie points!
I institute a post on how to calibrate the Aqua Rite. If y'all have a Jandy Aqua Link organization, make sure it is in service mode earlier attempting this procedure, else it won't really do much!
Move the switch to the Car position. If the switch is already in the Motorcar or Super Chlorinate position, motility it to Off then dorsum to Auto.
Wait for the relay to click, then push the diagnostics button 5 times to the instant salt level with the minus sign in front.
Wait for the instant table salt level to finish moving lower, brand sure it is inside the range of 2700-3400, then motility the switch upwardly to Super Chlorinate and then back down to Car. This saves the instant common salt level reading as the new default which, in consequence, recalibrates the unit to exist able to run commonly and chlorinate the puddle.
The values on the brandish for each printing of the button to the left of the display are:
Here are some more pictures.
Related links:
http://www.doityourself.com/forum/pools-spas-hot-tubs/355004-aquarite-chlorine-generator.html
http://www.troublefreepool.com/aquarite-goldline-controls-what-do-the-numbers-on-lcd-mean-t16707.html
Source: https://idoneitmyself.com/2009/08/23/repairing-my-aqua-rite-that-was-damaged-by-lightning/
Posted by: marshallforgual.blogspot.com
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