Ginsan Spot Free in One Bay...Turns them all on!

[Bubbles Galore]

With the deep freeze we had last weekend, among the multiple problems I had to fix, I noticed that my breaker was blown for my spot free system. To make a long story short, I reset the breaker and checked the system and everything appeared to be fine.

Tonight I notice that when a customer is using the weep, it's running in all the bays. I did a little troubleshooting and there is nothing jumping out at me. Has anyone ever ran into this issue before? I have the GS-16D (Ginsan) controller that controls all the bays. The voltages all check out, but I'm not really familiar with troubleshooting a problem like this.

Can anyone toss some ideas at me? I have no idea what to do and I don't want to purchase a new controller if it's not needed!

Thanks!

 

[MEP001]

Tonight I notice that when a customer is using the weep, it's running in all the bays.

I assume you meant the spot-free. Are you sure it's the spot-free that's running in all the bays? It could be the weep running. Check the other bays' solenoids to make sure they aren't energizing, and that they aren't stuck open from debris.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I turned the weep off last night and then checked the spot free and I am sure that it is running...

Could there be an issue with the solenoids if they possibly froze up? My heater went out in my equipment room and I had multiple things freeze up last weekend and I think that the spot free solenoid bank may have been one of them. When I check the voltage on the GS-16D, only the bay that's turned on is receiving the voltage. I also checked the specific solenoid with a screwdriver to ensure that it was energized and it was.

I'm kind of at a loss here...

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I guess tonight, I will go through and take each solenoid apart. Any other ideas?

 

[MEP001]

I've seen where solenoids were damaged from a freeze - it pushed the stems right out of the nuts and they would no longer seat. The simplest thing to check is electrical - if none of the others are getting power, it's most likely a solenoid issue. It could be a weep check valve, but it wouldn't do it with all bays, and it almost certainly wouldn't leak by only on spot-free and not high pressure.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

That is one thing I didn't check was whether or not all the bays were running when just one was operating under high pressure....That's really going to suck if I have to buy 8 new solenoids for my weep system.

Is it possible to just buy the "innards" of the solenoids? They are the big son-of-a-guns with the 3/32" orifice.

 

[aggressive]

Weep

I had a similar problem with my wash,the street pressure was higher than my low pressure products.What would happen is you override your low pressure because weep pressure is higher.I only would notice it when it was much colder out,the reason for that was weep cycles are longer the colder it gets.I fixed by making sure my weep pressure was lower than my low pressure products.I placed a pressure regulator on my weep,now everything fine.I don't know if this is your problem but it was mine.Also check solenoid diaphragm while your at it.

 

[dreese]

Run the spot free in one bay. Pull the feed hoses to the other bays, one at a time, while bay #1 is running. If you see water coming from the solenoid outlet to the non-running bay and the solenoid coil is not energized (use the screwdriver test), the solenoid bank is damaged.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

That's what I think the problem is...I think in the deep freeze we had the solenoid bank froze and has damaged them.

Let's just say that is what the problem is, the only thing to do would be to replace them, correct? Is there anything that can be done by taking them apart?

 

[dreese]

If the solenoid body is damaged (most probable result from freezeup) the only solution is to replace the bank. If there is damage on the diaphragms or plungers and the body is not cracked iternally, rebuild kits might be available but then the question would be if it is worth it (time, cost, and hassle) to rebuild vs replace.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Agreed...

I currently have the Dilling Harris/Ginsan Solenoids and these are big sons of b*tches compared to the low pressure functions...I briefly looked on KR's site and couldn't find any that seemed to be a comparable match. I would hope that I wouldn't have to go directly to Ginsan since it would most likely cost me an arm and a leg to get 8 new solenoids. Ideas?

 

[MEP001]

The Kip solenoids with the 3/32" orifice will work, and they're relatively cheap. I prefer going oversized on spot-free solenoids to reduce pressure loss, but it's minimal through this one, plus they can operate to 250 PSI. If your pressure is above that you'll need a different solenoid.

That's really going to suck if I have to buy 8 new solenoids for my weep system.

Again, I assume you meant spot-free.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Good Lord! I must have weep on the mind, and yes I meant spot free

On a different note, the system is now up and running perfectly. I took apart each of the 8 solenoids and cleaned out some brass pieces that must have broke off when the bank froze up. A definite pain in the butt, but it was worth the time and effort to keep from rebuilding the solenoid bank.

Lesson: Don't let your heater in the equipment room go out when its below 0