\n| Motor Output Stage Test<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Turn off the control module, using the isolation switch on the front of the module. Wait 30 minutes before proceeding with the following test.\u00a0 <\/b>If you do not wait long enough, your test results will be invalid, as if there is a charge stored inside the control module, it will interfere with the tests described below.
<\/span><\/p>\nThe following set of tests allow you to check the motor power output circuitry within the control module for internal short circuits. This is one of the common failure modes of the control module. If any fault is found while doing these tests, the motor will also need to be checked for short circuits in the windings.
<\/span><\/p>\nWith the multimeter set to diode (![\"\"](\"https:\/\/logisense.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/diode.jpg\") ) test mode, place the positive (+) and negative (-) multimeter probes at the locations shown in the illustration below. Wait for the reading on the multimeter to stabilise before moving on to the next test. It will usually take 5-10 seconds for the first test reading to stabilise.
<\/span><\/p>\nThe following tests should all read as \u201cOL\u201d (over-limit) on the multimeter. Readings of low values indicate an internal short circuit in the motor output circuitry within the control module.
<\/span><\/p>\nIf you believe you have a faulty control module, please contact us<\/a> to discuss having it repaired.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n| \n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/logisense.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/molex-3pin-107x300.jpg\") <\/p>\n<\/td>\n
| TEST 1<\/strong><\/td>\nTEST 2<\/strong><\/td>\nTEST 3<\/strong><\/td>\nTEST 4<\/strong><\/td>\nTEST 5<\/strong><\/td>\nTEST 6<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n+<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n\n+<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n\n–<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n| \u00a0<\/td>\n | \n–<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n| \u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n\n–<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n| \u00a0<\/td>\n | \n+<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n\n+<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n| \u00a0<\/td>\n | \n–<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| \u00a0<\/td>\n | \n–<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n| \u00a0<\/td>\n | \n–<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n\n+<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n\n+<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| \u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\n\n| Direct Drive Motor Tests<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n The direct drive motors in the Breezair evaporative coolers have been known to develop short circuits in the windings. This is particularly the case with the older green coloured motors.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen short circuits occur in the motor windings, it can also damage the control module.<\/span><\/p>\nThere are two methods described below to test the motor for short circuits within the windings. There\u2019s no need to do both tests, however the resistance test is recommended.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n| Motor Test 1: The Flick Test<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n This test does not require any test equipment.<\/span><\/p>\n\n- \n
Turn off the power to the control module, using the isolation switch on the front of the control module.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Wait until all LEDs on the front of the control module have turned off.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Disconnect the motor power cable from the control module. This is the round cable that plugs into the second connector from the left at the bottom of the control module.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Remove one of the cooling pads to get access to the fan blades.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Give the fan a modest flick.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nYou should get approximately 1-1.5 revolutions out of the fan fairly easily. If there\u2019s a short circuit in the windings, the motor will stop very quickly, usually within \u00bd a revolution. The fan motor should spin freely, but will feel heavy. You can confirm whether or not you have a short circuit in the motor windings by checking the winding resistance, as described below:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n| Motor Test 2: Check Winding Resistance<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n This test requires a multimeter.<\/span><\/p>\n\n- \n
Turn off the power to the control module, using the isolation switch on the front of the module.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Wait until all LEDs on the front of the control module have turned off.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Disconnect the motor power cable from the control module. This is the round cable that plugs into the second connector from the left at the bottom of the control module.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Using a multimeter, measure the resistance between pins 1-2, 2-3 and 1-3 at the plug on the end of the motor power cable.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nThe resistance between all pins should be about the same and within the range of 15 \u2013 25 ohms. Lower values, such as 2.5 ohms, would indicate a short in the motor windings. This would mean that the motor needs to be replaced.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n \n\n\n| Water Solenoid Valve Test<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n When the cooler is turned on and set to COOL mode, the control module should close the drain valve and then supply approximately 24V AC to the solenoid valve, causing it to open and allow water to fill the tank. There is a small delay of around 15 seconds to allow the drain valve to close before power is sent to the solenoid valve.<\/span><\/p>\nBy default, the cooler will wait 8 minutes for water to be detected at the salinity probes, before shutting down. As such, if testing takes longer than 8 minutes, you will need to turn off the cooler and re-start it on COOL mode before continuing.<\/span><\/p>\nIn some cases, the solenoid valve may only open for approximately 10 seconds, and then shut off. If this happens, it is usually due to a fault within the control module.
<\/span><\/p>\nThe solenoid valve can become stuck in either the open or closed state or not open fully. It is common for the valve to become stuck closed, in which case no water can enter the cooler. If the water flow is restricted, this is usually due to the solenoid valve only opening partially, which requires that the solenoid valve be replaced. The solenoid valve is supposed to open fully and allow the cooler to fill up quickly.<\/span><\/p>\nTo determine if the solenoid valve is faulty, first ensure that the cooler has been drained of all water. You can do this by pressing the DRAIN<\/b> button on the wireless remote, or by turning off the cooler on the hard-wired remote and the pressing and holding the \u201cUP\u201d and \u201cDOWN\u201d buttons together, until dr<\/b> starts flashing on the display. Alternatively, you can turn off the power to the cooler for 10 seconds, then turn it back on, and the cooler should drain (when operating on default settings). <\/span><\/p>\nOnce the water has been drained, turn on the cooler and put it into Manual and COOL mode. After approximately 15 seconds, the solenoid valve should be energised and water should flow into the cooler. The cooler will generally fill most of the way within 30-45 seconds. If the cooler takes a long time to fill, the solenoid valve is probably faulty.<\/span><\/p>\nIf no water enters the cooler, then using a multimeter and with the cooler still turned on, check that there is 24V AC present at the solenoid valve terminals. If 24V AC is present, but no water is flowing into the cooler, then the water supply to the cooler may be turned off or the solenoid valve may have failed.<\/span><\/p>\nTo determine if the solenoid valve has gone open-circuit (burnt out), disconnect the wires from the solenoid valve and measure the resistance between the two terminals on the solenoid valve. You should see approximately 40 ohms.<\/span><\/p>\nIf 24V AC is not present at the solenoid valve terminals, disconnect the solenoid cable from the control module and check if there is 24V AC present at the solenoid valve connector on the control module. If there is 24V AC present, then the cable going to the solenoid valve should be repaired or replaced. If 24V AC is not present, then the control module is likely faulty, though this fault is rare.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n \n\n\n| Salinity Probe Test<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n The salinity probes are used to sense the presence of water in the cooler as well as how electrically conductive the water is. The cooler will not start the pump unless water is detected by the salinity probes.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen there is no water in the cooler, the \u201cSAL\u201d LED should be solid red.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen the cooler is full of water, the \u201cSAL\u201d LED should blink red once every 5 seconds.<\/span><\/p>\nIf the cooler is full of water, but the \u201cSAL\u201d LED is solid red, then the salinity probes are faulty or that the salinity sensing circuitry inside the control module has failed.<\/span><\/p>\nThere are currently two different versions of the salinity probes.<\/span><\/p>\nTest the 2-prong version by ensuring that the black and blue wires each have continuity to one of the metal contacts on the bottom of the probe assembly. Resistance would normally be less than 1 ohm. The brown wire is not used and can be ignored.<\/span><\/p>\nTest the 3-prong version by ensuring that there is continuity from each wire in the cable to one of the metal contacts on the bottom of the probe assembly.
<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n| Drain Valve<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n The most common problem with the drain valves is that the bucket inside the drain valve assembly continually moves up and down, rather than either staying in the up position (open) or down position (closed).<\/span><\/p>\nIf the drain valve exhibits this behaviour, firstly turn off the power to the cooler and then check that there is no debris caught in the bottom of the drain valve, such as leaves, small sticks, rocks, or other objects.\u00a0 If debris is found, remove it and see if this cures the problem.<\/span><\/p>\nCheck that the rubber bucket washer is still soft, and has not gone hard or brittle.\u00a0 If the washer is hard or brittle, it will need to be replaced.\u00a0 Also check that dirt or other debris has not built up on the bottom of the bucket washer.<\/span><\/p>\nYou can also try applying a small amount of grease (eg. water-proof grease\/tap lubricant) to the outside of the small plastic shaft that protrudes out of the bottom of the drain valve assembly when it is in the closed position.<\/span><\/p>\nIf none of this helps, the drain valve may need to be repaired or replaced.\u00a0 As the drain valves are expensive, it can be worth purchasing a kit to recondition the drain valve, however, in most cases, all you will usually require is a replacement motor for the drain valve and possibly a new bucket washer (the large washer on the bottom of the bucket inside the drain valve assembly).\u00a0 There are also two micro-switches\/limit switches inside the drain valve assembly, but these don’t usually fail.
<\/span><\/p>\nWe can currently supply replacement motors and bucket washers for the 24V AC drain valves used in the Breezair, Braemar and Coolair evaporative coolers.\u00a0 In late 2024, we will be supplying kits to recondition the drain valves at a reasonable price.\u00a0 Please contact us<\/a> for a quote.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen the drain valve begins to fail, you will usually see the bucket inside the drain valve trying to move down (into the closed position), and then contacting the bottom of the drain valve assembly and coming back up again, into the open position.\u00a0 This cycle may repeat a few times or go on indefinitely.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen the motor inside the drain valve assembly develops a mechanical issue, it can automatically reverse direction, which is what usually causes the drain valve to open and close repeatedly.\u00a0 It is almost never a fault in the electronics inside the control module.<\/span><\/p>\nThe motor has a bushing around the output shaft, which can collect dust and other grime over time, causing the output shaft to seize up inside the bushing.\u00a0 At this point, the motor may stop working entirely, or the bushing may begin to rotate, which it is not supposed to do.\u00a0 If this happens, the motor can become overloaded, causing the motor to automatically reverse direction, which in turn causes the drain valve bucket to return to the up\/open position.\u00a0 This is usually observable when the drain valve is closing and the bucket washer has just made contact with the bottom of the drain valve, as the motor is under the most stress at this point.<\/span><\/p>\nIf you are in need of cooling and this problem is occurring, you can wait for the drain valve to close and then disconnect the drain valve cable from the control module.\u00a0 This will leave the valve in the closed position and the cooler will be able to fill with water.\u00a0 Note that this will cause a code 4 fault when the control electronics eventually attempt to drain the cooler, but this can be ignored.\u00a0 The cooler will also need to be drained periodically, so that the water is kept fresh and doesn’t cause excessive mineral buildup on the cooling pads.\u00a0 Note, however, that if your cooler is under warranty, doing this will likely void your warranty if discovered by a service technician.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n| Pump<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n By default (standard cooler configuration), the pump will only start once the control module senses that water has been present at the salinity probes for approximately 30 seconds. If the control module is unable to sense the presence of water at the salinity probes, either due to faulty salinity probes or a fault in the salinity sensing circuitry inside the control module, the pump will not start.<\/span><\/p>\n | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |