Lectrasan mystery

[bestfriend]

This is my last ditch effort to fix this thing before I fork out a grand for a new, inferior, unit. I have the original instructions with troubleshooting and have been in touch with Raritan too.
With the breaker on, I tested all the wires, relay, timer, fuses for voltage and they were all correct and flowing. When I turn the timer knob, nothing happens, except the timer ticking down. No lights, no meter reading on the unit, no motor running. The next step is to check the leads with the timer running, there is no power anywhere, not through the relay, not the timer, nowhere. The guide says that the relay and/or timer is bad. I replaced both. Nothing happened. I should note here that Raritan does not make parts for my unit. The timer came from Holt Marine, its made for this unit. The relay is your standard coil that you can get at any marine motor shop. Also I ran jumper cables directly to the tank and the motor runs fine.
I am at my wits end with this thing. It seems like there is something so basic that I am overlooking. Your just supposed to turn on the breaker, turn the timer, and start flushing. It should work and the PO said it did!

[sailingdog]

Sounds like you've got a broken wire somewhere in the system. If the relay and motor are both good... and test good...then you have a broken wire in the system. Power is good up to the box... but the system doesn't work. Test the major power wires in the box with an ohm-meter.

[bestfriend]

Yeah, wire, thats what you would think. But, I get power through the whole unit when the breaker is on, 12vdc steady. But when I turn the timer on, zappo, no power. The unit contains in order, the relay, the fuse block, the timer, and the meter and LED board. I will post the diagram in a few minutes.

[sailingdog]

Have you checked the fuses? Have you checked the wires between the components? Have you checked the voltages with the timer both on and off?

[bestfriend]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Have you checked the fuses? Have you checked the wires between the components? Have you checked the voltages with the timer both on and off?

All fuses and all connections work with the timer off. I checked everything, including what is listed on the Raratin sheet. Its when I turn the timer on that nothing works and there is no voltage at all. The sheet says replace the timer, so I did that, then it says, replace the relay, so I did that. Nothing.

Update: Here is part of Peggy Hall's (the head mistress) response over at SBO:

"If NOTHING happens when you push the start button
There's no power to the system. I'm guessing that either the controller is wired incorrectly or defective. You proved that when running jumper cables directly to the the treatment device started it...the treatment unit motors run, the controller just won't start 'em. I'd have to be psychic to know exactly what you haven't wired correctly, but I'm betting you're right that it's a simple "Oh DUH!"

She also said that I can just replace the control unit and not the whole thing. Oh, and that the new ones are superior, not inferior.

[sailingdog]

Then do that.. and trouble shoot the old one in your spare time...when you get it working, keep it as a backup—one that you'll know works and how it works.

[denby]

May I ask a stupid question? did you clean all the connections? I had a problem with a 12 volt system that drove me nuts, similar to yours, went back to all connections and cleaned them with fine sand paper (even if they looked clean) and the system worked. I went through the same thing your going through

Dennis

[bestfriend]

No, I didn't clean them. I figured that since I got voltage through everything that I didn't need to. I will do it. Thanks.

[denby]

You can read volts through a dirty connection but it may not let a amp loud through. Also what size is the power feed wire?

Dennis

[gc1111]

Sounds like a high resistance connection somewhere. As soon as you try to draw significant current (and the lectrasan is a very high current draw) the voltage goes way down. I think the advice to clean and check all connections in the high current path is good advice.