WaterMate : Control system

WaterMate : Control system »
Watermate on solar panel has "died"

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ianmac
18 May, 20:01
Despite sunny conditions and with solar panel facing south the control panel stopped working yesterday morning. On the dashboard battery the icon is red at the bottom and empty. . What should i do to get it up and running? Additional info, the temp humidity sensor stopped working after a couple of days and in last three days I've had several low water alerts whilst the reservoir is over half full.

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Chris
ADMIN
18 May, 20:05
Hi Nick - I can't find your control unit ( searching by name or email ) on our system, it doesn't look like you have it assigned to a location. Do you have the device ID? Or the harvst-xxxx wifi code you used to connect to it? Or did you use a different email address? If it's in online mode I can investigate.

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ianmac
18 May, 20:27
Sorry not sure where Nick fits in , its Ian McLaren here. The ref on the back of the control unit is 1057 S and 64BEB89EF0C8. It was in online mode before the power stopped, sorry I cant remember the Harvst -xxxx number

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Chris
ADMIN
19 May, 10:04
Hi Ian.

The battery level is good, so I'm not sure why the icon shows red. I'll look into that separately.

It looks like the box went dead at 9am, which indicates a blown fuse due to the pump failing. If you have the facility to open up the control box ( PZ1 screwdriver ) we can send a new fuse out to you. Or, if you are happy to put it in the post to us, we can do it for you.

Chris

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ianmac
19 May, 10:50
ADDITIONAL INFO. Last night I disconnected the pump and solenoid. Leaving just the control unit attached to the solar panel. Sun has been up at least 5 hours and no signs of life from control unit. My Harvst number may be 64BE...its a number I wrote on the set up page.

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ianmac
19 May, 10:54
Sorry just seen your earlier reply. Happy to fit a new fuse if that is all it needs, many thanks

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Chris
ADMIN
19 May, 10:59
Hi Ian, once you have opened the box and confirmed it's the fuse, let me know.

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ianmac
19 May, 11:06
If the the pump has failed and caused the fuse to blow what guarantee that replacing fuse means this problem wont recur?

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Chris
ADMIN
19 May, 11:08
I'm glad you asked ... We would replace the pump if it's failed - the fuse will blow again so you can tell that's the problem. We're investigating whether the control box can detect a failed pump and shut it down just before the fuse blows, but timing is quite precise on this and we don't want to be shutting down a working pump prematurely ( pumps pull a lot of "inrush" current when first starting up ).

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ianmac
19 May, 11:24
I can confirm the fuse has blown

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ianmac
19 May, 11:26
Is it a bespoke fuse or are they available on the High St. Just thinking of potential delays in getting up running.

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Chris
ADMIN
19 May, 12:06
It's a mini automotive fuse so yes, you could probably find one in a car shop. Go for 10 amp.

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ianmac
19 May, 13:02
Brilliant thank you

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ianmac
19 May, 20:40
Seems to be OK with a new fuse. I have run both zones twice and control unit still powered up. Many thanks for help.

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ianmac
20 May, 10:20
Looks like I spoke too soon. This morning the watering cycle didnt happen, checked control unit and it didnt seem to have power, took it apart again and found the new fuse had blown. Help !

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ianmac
22 May, 11:31
I replaced the fuse again, control unit is running but haven't connected the pump. Advice please on how to proceed. Thank you

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Chris
ADMIN
22 May, 11:35
Hi Ian, we'll replace the orange pump on warranty and get one sent out to you - but from our records it looks like it's only a couple of months or so old, so if I could ask you to send the old one back to us we'll analyse it.

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ianmac
22 May, 18:00
Hi Chris. No problem...shall I wait for the new one to arrive, that way I'll have correct packaging ?

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Chris
ADMIN
23 May, 07:40
Yes, that'll be fine.

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ianmac
01 Jun, 21:47
Thank you for replacement pump, so far seems to be holding up. New problem-system keeps giving message "water tank is empty". It isn't but if i wasn't here to know otherwise it would be worrying .

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Chris
ADMIN
01 Jun, 21:48
Hi Ian - if your system takes some time to purge the air ( can sometimes take a while if you have lots of pipe ) then you can extend the delay time before the low tank alarm kicks in. If you change the settings either on the web app or the device control panel to 15 second or 20 second delay it should help. Let us know how it goes.

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ianmac
02 Jun, 10:13
The system delivers water in both zones OK and has done so from the first run with the new pump. My problem is it sends messages out that the water tank is empty when it isn't .

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Chris
ADMIN
02 Jun, 11:09
Hi Ian - did you change the delay to 15 or 20 seconds and still having the false alarm? The system checks the pump current draw; it uses less current when pumping air. You can also try a pump back pressure recalibration, see here: link


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