Hayward Heater And Jandy Aqualink Rs. And Jandy Valve Actuators. Will Pay For Resolution!

[mysticalice]

Hi,

We have an Aqualink Jandy RS control system (with an inside panel), and a Hayward H400FDN heater. Moved into the house about 2 years ago, and had to have the heater installed (to replace an old heater that didn't work).

Since getting the heater installed, the procedure for heating the spa has been, on the RS panel inside the house, to press 'spa' (2nd button) which puts the pump on and starts the two jandy valve actuators turning for intake and output from/to the spa. We then press the middle bottom button "Heaters: Spa". The light turns green initially, but after a minute, once the valves have turned, the light turns red as the heater has fired up. At the end of the night we reverse the process.

The heater sits in 'standby' mode outside, and we've noticed we can't turn 'pool heat' on (by pressing the pool heat button on the panel inside), as it doesn't do anything. Times we've wanted to heat the pool a little, I've had to go outside and turn the Hayward from 'standby' to 'pool', and it works great. Never been an issue as we very seldom use the heater to heat the pool, only the spa.

This winter we went to use the heater and the 'heat - spa' light on the RS panel inside stayed green, it never turned red. Went outside and the heater was still in 'standby' mode. I switched it to 'spa' and it fired right up; so the heater worked fine but the panel inside the house didn't turn the heater on/off. Noticed at the same time that pressing the 'heater' button in the main aqualink control panel didn't do anything (light didn't come on, etc). Did some basic troubleshooting (connected a new/different water temperature sensor, etc) but couldn't figure it out.

Called a technician to come out, who said the heater should NEVER have fired up without being in 'bo' mode. Told him I swear it was never in that mode since the day it was hooked up two years ago. Even in 'bo' mode, the heater still doesn't fire. Was told the Aqualink board needed to be replaced, for $1400, and at the same time I should upgrade to the 'iaqualink' (currently I have the RS ALL BUTTON). I decided not to do this, as not only could I not afford $1400 right now, but it wasn't that big of a deal having to go out and turn the heater on manually when we wanted to use it.

A week later (today), just for the heck of it, I decided to try to turn the heater on from the RS panel inside the house. Pressed the 'spa' button then 'heat', and voila! it worked. Fired right up. Went outside, and the heater was humming away.

Here's where it gets weird. So went inside and turned everything off. The panel said it was waiting on the heater cooldown, and would run the pump and valves until the cooldown process completed. This was good so far. After a minute or two, the pump kicked off, and the jandy valve actuators started turning. I had noticed one of the valves seemed to be about 1/8 of a turn too far, but it seemed to be working so thought nothing of it. When they started turning, the outlet valve actuator stopped correctly, but the intake actuator kept turning a full 360 degrees, and kept on going. I watched it turn twice, then decided to intervene by playing with the toggle switch at the back of the actuator. As soon as I turned the toggle switch back on, it would keep on turning. Wouldn't come to a stop. So for now I have it at the right position, but turned 'off' at the switch, as I know it could be devastating (I'd imagine) if it turns 270 degrees blocking the inlet, with the pump running (in the past I haven't been too concerned about the valve actuators running when I have the control panel in 'service mode', because even at the halfway mark, the valves never block the intake or output - they're either feeding one, the other, or both (hope that makes sense), but with this issue, the valve could block the input completely).

So I'm at a loss. Not sure if the issue with the heater not working is related or not. What tells the Jandy actuator where to stop? I'd assume it's IN the actuator, and the control panel either activates the actuator or doesn't activate it, which determines what position it's in by default, and when actuated. So it could just be coincidence and I need to get a new jandy actuator to replace the existing.

Also on the heater; anyone have any idea why this would be happening? According to the pool tech, the heater shouldn't have been functioning without being in 'bo' mode, but I don't buy that. This heater has a 2 wire control by the way.

Willing to pay whoever can get me a final resolution to this problem. I'll paypal the money if necessary, but I figure it's better than paying hundreds of dollars to pool technicians that are just trying to sell me something.

[mysticalice]

Anyone?