Aquarite problems

[PatL34]

The heat will be coming from the transformer and probably from the heatsinks used to cool the microchip. Had this problem on the Autopilot, and it was fixed by adding a fan internally.

If you can find the amps used to supply the transformer, this will give you an idea of the heat being generated. On the PoolPilot it eaquates to a 200 watt bulb inside the control unit.

Hope this helps.

Pat

[Ozzzz]

sw_stupid,

I also received my replacement cell yesterday. Just in time too because my cell totally went out, instead of flashing low salt/inspect cell the lights were full on, and not generating any chlorine (CL was fine on Sunday, all gone on Tuesday). I added some bleach on Tuesday night to tide me over till the cell arrived.

Installed the new cell last night and it almost immediately tripped out on Hi salt error, and wasnt generating CL so I dumped about 8" of water out and then topped it up over night. This morning the cell was reading about 4100ppm, and I too noticed that the top of the control unit was pretty warm after about 30min of use, I dont remember it being hot at all before the new cell. From memory the amps were reading up in the 7 range, not sure if this is the source of the heat. The manual also says that the enclosure acts as a heat sink, so I guess the heat is to be expected. Maybe no heat means its not working.

[cschmelz]

sw_stupid,

I also received my replacement cell yesterday. Just in time too because my cell totally went out, instead of flashing low salt/inspect cell the lights were full on, and not generating any chlorine (CL was fine on Sunday, all gone on Tuesday). I added some bleach on Tuesday night to tide me over till the cell arrived.

Installed the new cell last night and it almost immediately tripped out on Hi salt error, and wasnt generating CL so I dumped about 8" of water out and then topped it up over night. This morning the cell was reading about 4100ppm, and I too noticed that the top of the control unit was pretty warm after about 30min of use, I dont remember it being hot at all before the new cell. From memory the amps were reading up in the 7 range, not sure if this is the source of the heat. The manual also says that the enclosure acts as a heat sink, so I guess the heat is to be expected. Maybe no heat means its not working.

One would wondering if very high internal resistances in the old cell caused the power draw to plummet, thus making it cooler before the new cell...

[PatL34]

The amps you are seeing are direct current amps, coming from the transistors and the associated heat sinks. The main source of heat should be coming from the transformer. If you measure the amps to the supply leads individually, you should get an idea of the heat generated by the transformer alone.

Pat

[Arizonaoldman]

O.K. So here's the skinny. Yes, I have a waterfall and I have an auto-fill. I'm running a bucket test as I type and, since 7AM this morning I have lost 2" out of the pool and 7/8" out of the bucket. The pool is 16 x 41 fiberglass and 21,000 gallons. I have no idea what the surface area is (nor does the manufacturer - I called) so assuming that the surface area is 67% of the 16x41 I lost about 260 gallons in 12 hours. If that's my loss, then I do a complete change every 80 days, which dosn't include evaporation.

I Had the water checked today and my salt reading is right on.

Tomorrow I'm going to re-run the test after turning the waterfall off.

I'll report back.

Ralph

[Arizonaoldman]

O.K. so the leak is in the water feature. Evaporation the same in both pool and bucket yesterday. I have two "spitting" cranes in the water feature. I turned them off this morning and turned the water feature back on.

Ralph