7240.27 driver collecting charge

[jacobse1]

While doing some maintenance today I touched the housing box of one of my wavebox drivers and felt a slight charge. It must be pretty minor because my GCFI did not trip. Also the pump is working normally. I tried switching the transformers on the two units but the charge still developed on the driver box. I have not noticed any stray voltage in the tank but I have a ground probe in place so I might not have known. I opened up the driver box just to see if there was an obvious cause, but everything looks pristine inside. Most of the time there is no charge but if I bump or reposition the driver the charge comes back. I haven't tried switching the pumps connected to each driver to eliminate that source but the problem seems to be with the driver itself as repositioning illicits the charge. Also, when I had the top off of the box it wasn't developing any charge. I went ahead and disconnected the driver from the pump so I can send it in if you want to look at it.
Thanks

 

[rvitko]

The only culprits I can think of is maybe some salt creep or a leg of a component making contact to the aluminum box. Send it in, I will see if I can find it.

 

[jacobse1]

What address should I send it to?
Thanks

 

[rvitko]

Tunze USA
305 Victor St
Austin TX 78753


Please include a note so I know what I am looking for, a print out of this thread would be great.

 

[jacobse1]

I sent it with the printout on Thursday USPS priority from Utah.

 

[jacobse1]

I got the replacement driver today and I am having the same problem. I connected it to the same pump and to a brand new 7091 controller. I guess the pump must be the problem? I was just wondering what you found when you tested the old driver- I hope I didn't somehow fry this one.

 

[rvitko]

Yeah, I found nothing wrong with the one you sent in but just for the sake of argument I replaced it. We needed one for a new test panel we were building anyway. I don't see how the pump could cause this but I suppose it is possible especially if the insulation of the cord is damaged at some point. How is the driver fastened? Could it be that what it is fastened to is conducting current? The most likely culprit by my guess would be the transformer plug may be damaged or have some slat creep that is conducting current to the driver shell. Normally if a driver is shorted to the housing it frys out completely. The housing is aluminum for cooling purposes only, it acts like a heat sink.

 

[jacobse1]

Thanks for the response Roger. This is really confusing for me. Here are all the components in my setup:
1) Plug in GCFI with 3 outlets.
2) DJ style switch box plugged into GCFI
3) Both Transformers plugged into the switch box.
4) One 7091 and one 7081 controller

I thought that maybe there was some salt creep into the outlet on the switch box so I unplugged the transformer and plugged it directly into the GCFI and there was still a charge. I thought that the transformer might be the problem so I switched the two transformers to the alternate driver box but still had the charge on the same driver. I have both driver boxes mounted to a 2x1 wooden brace on the wall behind my tank. I unmounted the driver box and put it on the carpet floor but the charge persisted. There is one other possibility that I can think of. Before I plugged in the new 7091 controller I accidently grabbed my the old 7081 and plugged it in. I did not notice the charge before that. Maybe I introduced some salt creep through that plug. When I switched to the new controller, the charge was still there. When I removed the 7091 there was still a charge. Also I was never able to get the pulse effect to work. I don't see any damage on the pump cord, but I could try switching the pumps. I was afraid to do anything else in case I might damage my other driver.
Thanks for the help and for any further suggestions.

 

[rvitko]

I would suspect the controller socket in that case. I could imagine that the 8V out to the controller could be conducted to the shielding of the socket which is not used by the controller but could be the source of the stray current to the driver box. I would try cleaning the socket with isopropyl alcohol and compressed air but you must let it dry thoroughly before using it.

 

[jacobse1]

I will do that. I also got a a one prong grounding cable and screwed that on to the driver box and that took care of the charge issue. The pump performance is fine. Not a long term solution but I will probably leave it on after I clean out the socket just in case.

 

[jacobse1]

I cleaned the socket and did the compressed air thing but it didn't help. I'm going to just send the whole thing in this time.