New to forum - question about Jandy Aqualink RS8 6700 REV C with solar heating

Hello,

I am new to the forums. I have a Jandy Aqualink 6700 REV C with RS8 controller. I recently had solar heating panels installed and had a JVA installed that is connected to the outdoor Jandy Aqualink box. When I put the system in service mode I can actuate the solar JVA by pressing the Solar button. My problem is that I cannot actuate the JVA from the inside RS8 controller. When I press the solar button inside the LED turns green, but will not turn RED (heating). I have searched all over the Internet and even read the entire programming manual and can find no mention of how this system controls the solar JVA.

The only things connected to the Aqualink RS as a result of the solar install were a JVA that connects to the 3 prong SOLAR connecter for JVA control and the 2 wire solar temp sensor that goes to 3 and 4 on the green bus bar. I ran diagnostics on the RS8 and the solar temp sensor passes.

Can anyone please help me understand how to get the JVA to actuate from the RS8 controller. Thanks.

PJN

I should add that on both occassions that I tried to get the solar JVA to actuate from the RS8 controller the outside temperature was probably in the 70s and later in the day. Since I know that the solar temp sensor is connected to the system I assume that the system must only actuate the valve when a certain temperature threshold is met. Can anyone shed some light on how these systems work with Solar? Since I do not have any other option to set Solar temps in the programming this is the only thing that would make sense. Thanks.

Hi Pohoda;

With electronic pool equipment, the process is
1. Read the manual, and go through the check list, learning Jandy vocab as you go.
2. If that fails, call Jandy, and use the knowledge you have of the checklist (which tends to be what the level 1 techs know) to try to go to level 2.
3. If that fails, post back with what you've experienced or learned. Jandy's national service manager is registered here, and will probably respond if I email hm.

But . . . trouble shooting electronic system tends to be a 1-off job; what you've learned on OTHER electronic systems doesn't apply. So, we usually can't help, unless one of the team members have YOUR specific system in their pool.

Thanks for your response Pooldoc. I have read the entire 36 page Installation manual several times and have gone through the troubleshooting guide as well. As I said, the JVA is connected and works when being controlled at the power center bezel in service mode. If someone could explain how the Jandy Aqualink RS system in intented to work e.g. The system activates the solar JVA when the solar button is active and when a temperature threshold is met etc. I have factory reset and re-configured the entire system and meticulously went through each program setting. Everything works as programmed and per the manual, but the solar portion just isn't well described in the manual. I appreciate anyone giving some feedback on this system if they are familiar. Thank again.

Paul

Level 2 techs at Jandy are somewhat familiar with your equipment; I'm not.

In further reverse engineering the system I determined that the Solar heat actuator does in fact go to active (red LED) once a certain temperature threshold is reached at the solar panels (temp as of yet unknown). Now that I have had a chance to work with the system during the peak of the day the solar actuator does in fact go to active and actuates the JVA as expected. In case anyone else is ever curious about this there are a couple things of note:

- terminals 3 and 4 on the green terminal bar in the power center are where the solar panel temp sensor connects. As a troubleshooting step you can connect a 2k ohm resistor (3 red bars) to these terminals instead of the temp sensor to test if the actuator works from the controller. With the 2k ohm resistor connected the solar button works as an on/off switch without regard to the temp reading so long as the pool pump is active.

- If you want to check the temp reading of the solar temp sensor connected to terminal 3 and 4 you can toggle dip switch #5 to ON according to the programming manual. I did not try this, but it could be a good troubleshooting step if you think your sensor reading may be incorrect.

- On the 6700 REV C version that I have there is no solar priority programming as is the case with newer revisions of the RS. This can become a problem for those that have a single pump for spa/pool because if solar is active then the water still pumps through the panels. In my case I programmed my solar to activate at the same time as my pool pump, but if you want to use your spa during this same time you have to manually disable the solar heat if you do not want to pump through the solar panels.

These notes only apply to the Jandy Aqualink RS 6700 REV C. Newer versions have additional options. I hope that my efforts can help someone else to avoid spending so much time to figure this out.

Paul

Paul,

It may help someone -- Google has this indexed and if someone searches for an "Aqualink RS 6700 REV C", it this will appear on the first page of results.

But the extreme specificity of your information perfectly illustrates why it's so hard for us to be helpful with them.

Thanks for sharing what you learned!