Need Help Troubleshooting a Circupool RJ-Classic Power Unit

[tom496]

I purchased an RJ-30 system from PoolBids in 2011. I replaced the original cell with one I purchased from the Salt Pool Store in 2017. I was happy with it until the end of last season. This season it is not working. My TroubleFreePool and Google searches have not turned up the symptoms I'm seeing.

All of the lights work and appear to be functional. When it powers up, it shows the time, %age power, and other information in the green window. Pressing the Salinity Test button puts it through the test and the result appears accurate. The Water Fault and Add Salt indicators light up appropriately. However, the cell does not generate the thick cloud of fine bubbles that normally stream off the cell elements.

Upon the advice of a Salt Pool Store person (the new cell is still under warranty) I bought a DC clamp ampere meter to test the unit. (For those new to these, be aware that many of the inexpensive clamp meters available online do not measure DC, only AC.) I put the clamp meter around the black wire and the red wire (with the clamp around only one wire at a time) and with the power unit set on 100% power, the meter showed no power on either wire.

By the way, I put a 12volt/6amp car battery charger across the two outer posts of the cell (the ones to which the black and red wires from the power unit are normally connected) and saw bubbles from the cell. I don't recommend this because several seconds after making the connection something tripped in the charger and the bubbles stopped. I hope the charger isn't permanently damaged.

The Salt Pool Store person indicated this is normally a sign of a damaged PCB, and I accept that. What I am hoping is that someone who has worked on these can direct me to which components on the PCB I should focus on. It seems like most issues I come across with nonfunctional power units involved in the indicator lights also being dead. With my particular set of symptoms, I hope someone can help me narrow down where this thing has failed. I am attaching a few pictures and can take more if it would help. Also, if anyone has ideas about someone I might be able to send this off to for repair, or someone here in St. Louis that I might have a look at at, I'm all ears. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[ajw22]

I have not heard of anyone here doing board repairs of a Circupool power PCB.

Lets see if @JamesW or @ogdento have ideas.

 

[ogdento]

I know nothing about those but based on your photos I would start with the 4 transistors that are bolted to the chassis. They're actually thyristors, which are basically silicon switches.
Yours look like Littlefuse S8065J parts (datasheet - https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/240/Littelfuse_Thyristor_Sxx65x_Sxx70x_Datasheet.pdf-1317329.pdf)

Also check the output of BR1 (the bridge rectifier - it's likely there just to supply the supporting electronics), and of course check the giant transformer too.
Best of luck!

 

[tom496]

Thank you very much for those excellent tips, @ogdento. I must be blind but I am not seeing the BR1 bridge rectifier. If someone could point that out to me I would appreciate it. YouTube videos are telling me I should be able to test thyristors, bridge rectifiers and transformers with my multimeter. I won't be getting to that until early next week, but will be back here with some results. By the way, if it did turn out to be a bad transformer, would that even be replaceable? Thanks again.

 

[ogdento]

hey you're welcome! in img_2880, br1 is immediately to the left of that big brown capacitor (c3), and directly above all of those blue resistors with the different color bands.

testing the transformer correctly requires knowing what current/voltage it's supposed to be able to provide... and then putting it under load to verify it's output (which will require you disconnect it and could be a real pain). But transformers don't fail that often, so if it's outputting the right voltage (sounds like this one is 12v?) it's probably fine. Replacing the transformer may be difficult... look for a part number and see if you can find one online, or contact the company who makes this thing to see if they can get you one. Otherwise you'll have to find a donor, or buy one with a similar output from an electronics supplier.

oh, and i'm not sure what the clear plastic relay does (below the blue resistors i mentioned above), but from what i can see it looks like it's only rated at 12v 1A - so it's likely not used to power the cell... i'd try and figure out what it's for and whether you hear it turn on or off (and if not, maybe check the transistors next to it if they're used to drive it).

 

[tom496]

OK, @ogdento, I see BR1 now. Thanks. Thanks also for the tips on testing the transformer. I will try to find the problem elsewhere first, but it's good to know all is not lost if the problem is the transformer. I am assuming I can test the thyristors without removing them? I am assuming the same with the bridge rectifier, although with that I can see it might be necessary to detach and lift the PCB off the housing to get at the contact points from beneath.

@ajw22, thanks for responding above. I have been a little surprised to find so little info about pool owners attempting to repair these things. My system cost around $800 in 2011. The equivalent setup appears to be upwards of $1200 today. It seems like there are many corners of the Internet where folks are spending a lot of time and energy trying to figure out how to repair things that are much more complicated and much less expensive than SWGs.

 

[ajw22]

Manufactures now are not under any obligation to make available repair information for their products.

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We stand on the shoulders of movements who have been fighting for working people for generations, and that's why we are proud to pick up the fight to protect repair rights and the definition of ownership in the 21st century. Get involved today.

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is trying to change that.