Osmolator question

[maffs]

Roger,

I have a Osmolator 3150U which I bought second hand. It was all working fine, but has recently stopped altogether. The green light is on and the pump is fine (I have a spare and tried replacing it- no difference). But the pump never comes on.

Reading thru old threads, I noticed that someone posted a picture with the floats at the top- my floats are at the bottom of the unit. Has my unit been set up wrong by the previous owner and if so, can I simply turn them around. I've siliconed the holder to the sump and so would rather not have to remove this if possible. Also arrangement will put the part of the lead that goes into the sensor under water- is this normal?

Thanks. I'm so confused with all this I would really appreciate any light you can shed on it.

Matthew.

 

[rvitko]

If it was working fine the same way then it is unlikely that there is a problem with the install. A float could be bad and you can check that with an ohm meter on each pole of the float- for the RCA jack the shield is one pole and the tip is another for the mini phono jack the black line seperates the poles. The floats can be run in either orientation depending on the direction of the float ring, it can be removed and flipped around. Generally the 3150U died because the relay failed or a short developed in the sockets or plugs. You can open and check both the sockets and plugs for corrosion and if you know the floats are working you should be able to feel and hear the relay move.

 

[maffs]

Thanks Roger. The ohmmeter gave no reading on the safety (RCA) jack and when I looked at the sensor, it had a brown tinge which looks as if its shorted in there. Can I buy a replacement (5000.30 I think) and is this likely to have caused any other damage?

Also, the green light on the control unit continues to be lit. Is this normal or should it have done something to warn of this?

Thanks,

Matthew.

 

[rvitko]

This would indicate another problem as the light should either blink red indicating a problem or the other sensor should still be able to make it function. I do have one of the sensors in stock but look into it further, check the sockets.

 

[maffs]

Roger,

managed to check out the sockets tonight. It looks as if the operating sensor socket (jack plug) is OK. I'm not sure exactly how to check it, but I put one probe in the socket and the other on the outer ring and got a continuous resistance. The other socket (safety RCA) seems to be dead. There was no resistance at all when I touched one probe on the outer ring and put the other on the inner tongue-like part. So both the socket and the plug/sensor of the safety mechanism are dead.

The good news (if I can call it that) is that after playing about inside the 5016, the green light is now flashing instead of beign constantly lit. This is correct as it means "the safety sensor is defective or has not been connected". The other piece of evidence that has convinced me that the jack side is OK is that when I don't have the jack in, the green light comes on constant, but when I put the jack in, the light flashes green. It makes no difference whether the RCA is connected or not (which would explain the dead socket).

However, in spite of the operating sensor appearing to be functioning and the green light flashing, the pump still is not being activated. Previously, the pump came on when the water fell just below the top of the float- now it is about 3/4 of the way down the float, but the pump doesn't come on. Do I need to do something to reset the system? Or could the operating sensor be defective in some other way? Should I fill the water level above the normal level and watch to see if the pump is activated when it falls below the level of the float? Is there a way I can test that the pump is working (although it si the new one I recently bought, so it shouldbe OK)? Or do I need to give up on this and buy another one:mad2: ?

Thanks,

Matthew.

 

[rvitko]

You can connect the pump directly to the transformer- one wire to the center one to the outside, the order doesn't matter. It sounds like the relay is toast and in which case it isn't worth fixing but test the pump and if you want you can send the unit and sensors to me and I'll see what I can do but I make no promises.

 

[maffs]

Thanks Roger.

Pump is fine. I live in the UK- would you still be happy for me to send it to you or is there is support over here I should try.

Thanks,

Matthew.

 

[rvitko]

I would suggest calling Tunze then. 49-8856-2022. Paraquatics may be able to help you but likely the only person who can do it is Mr Micheile at Tunze. Just call and ask Monika who usually answers the phone if they are still repairing Osmolator 5016 and if so send it in by post.