Power Up and Testing
Introduction
Let’s get into putting power to your controller and testing it. After all, you just spent a small fortune and countless hours putting everything together.
Prep work
First and foremost, electricity can kill you. If something doesn’t work right, the first order of business is to unplug it from the wall. Never open the box while it is plugged in. You can die.
Second and next foremost, you have inside your box an intentional short between neutral and ground. Therefore, polarization and wiring at the outlet has to be right. You also MUST use a three prong outlet that is properly wired and grounded. The way you check your outlet is to go to Home Depot or Lowes and buy a receptacle tester. Bring it home and plug it into the outlet you want to use. If the tester lights match the “correct” configuration on the legend on the tester, you are good to go. If they don’t, you need to fix your outlet. The only recommendation I can provide to you is to hire an electrician to fix it.
Testing
I will run thru what will happen if you have everything wired up right first, then consider some scenarios that it doesn’t work right.
Once you are sure your outlet is good, plug your main power cord into your box and twist it to lock. Check that your main power on/off switch is off, then plug your power cord in. Nothing should happen (including no tripped breakers in your circuit breaker panel in your house).
Check that your controller breaker is pushed in, then turn on your main power. You should hear a click (that is the contactor closing) followed by your PIDs, timer, temp display, and power indication light coming on. The computers do their BITE (built in test equipment, or self-test) thing, then you should see some errors on them. This is due to the fact that you don’t have your temp sensors plugged in. Its normal.
The pump lights and the burner status lights should both be off. The alarm should also be off. Your pumps should not be connected so you don’t burn them out while you are checking your controller. Turn on pump 1 switch, and the light should come on. Turn it off. Repeat for pump 2. Same results are expected. Shut main power off. Everything should go off.
Start Interlock Test
Turn on pump 1 switch. Now turn on main power switch. Nothing should happen. Turn off main power switch, then turn off pump 1 switch. Now turn on main power. Box should come back to life. Shut it off. Repeat for pump 2 switch, with same results expected.
Transformer test
If you know what you are doing, check the secondary voltage. Should be 24VAC or slightly above. If you don’t know what you are doing, don’t worry about it. It’s a new transformer and should be ok.
PID configuration
If you are using the same PIDs (TA4) I did, they will come defaulted for thermocouples (not your RTDs) and in degrees C. You need to change them to RTD and degrees F (if you want deg F instead of deg C). The instruction manuals are absolute trash, so here goes. Hold the “SET” button until “AL1” shows up. You are now in the menu of the PID. Press the “SET” button repeatedly to cycle thru the various settings. You are interested in when it gets to “InP” which is input. Hit the “<<AT” button and the bottom letter starts flashing. Hit the up button until it says “Pt”. Hit the “SET” button again to lock it. Now press “SET” again repeatedly until the display shows “C-F”. Press “<<AT” to make the “C” flash. Press up one time, and it goes to “F”. Press “SET” to lock it. Press and hold “SET” again until you exit the menu. You can check out a video of this here. You should be all set.
Gas system test
Hook up your propane tank, and turn it on. Using a spray bottle with soapy water, spray it at all of the threaded connections you put it together from the tank to the gas valves. If you see bubbling, you need to tighten the connection down more. You may even need to disassemble it and use pipe dope instead of the Teflon tape. It goes without saying that prior to doing any rework, shut off and disconnect the tank from the stand. It also goes without saying that this should all be done in a well ventilated area.
So once you are good with no leaks, we can check the gas valves and the plumbing from the valves to the burners out. Plug in your harness from the stand disconnect to the controller XLR connectors for the gas valves. Make sure that your temp sensors are plugged in for both PID 1 (BK) and PID 3 (HLT). Do not power up your controller yet. Connect and turn on the propane. At one of the gas valves, turn the knob on the back from “OFF” to “PILOT”. This will allow you to get gas to the pilot to light it. Press the red button and hold it in while you hold a long lighter to the pilot assembly. The red button overrides the shutoff that cuts gas to the pilot in the case it blows out, allowing gas to flow even though the thermocouple is cold. It may take a little bit, but you will eventually get the pilot to light. Once its lit, continue to hold the button for a bit to let the thermocouple heat up. Release the button, and if the flame starts to die out push it in again and hold it for a little longer. Once the flame stays lit with your finger off the button, you are good to turn the valve from “PILOT” to “ON”. Repeat this process for the other gas valve.
Now both pilots are lit, go ahead and power up your controller. After the computers run their BITE, you will notice that the burner status lights illuminate and the burners ignite (the default temp setting for the PIDs should be 100 deg, so if ambient temp is over 100 deg the burners won’t be commanded on until you use the up arrow to increase the set temp). It is a thing of beauty when it finally lights up. Grab your bottle of soapy water and (using caution to keep from spraying the electric connectors on the valve) check the connections between the valve and the burner. Again, if you see bubbles shut the gas off first, then the controller. Fix your leaks, and get it all back running again.
Grab a hair drier (this or the heat gun you used on the heat shrink is recommended) and heat up the temp sensors. You will see the temp reading on the PIDs increasing. When they hit the set value, the burners and burner status lamps should shut off. Turn off your hair drier, and let the temp sensors cool down. The burners and status lamps will come back on when the temp drops below the set value. As a note, on the PID, PV means present value and SV means set value. PV is the larger top display, SV is the slightly smaller one just under it.
Once you are good with the burners coming on and off, shut off your propane and controller.
Pumps
Since we can’t run our pumps dry, we will test the pump circuitry with two plug in lamps. Whatever kind you want, but keep them below 100 watt bulbs. Plug one lamp into the outlet for pump 1 and the other lamp into the outlet for pump 2. Then connect your harnesses into the controller pump twist lock receptacles. Turn on your controller, then turn on the pump 1 switch. The pump status lamp and the lamp plugged into the pump 1 outlet on the stand should come on. Switch off, both lamps off. Repeat for pump 2 side.
Let’s get into putting power to your controller and testing it. After all, you just spent a small fortune and countless hours putting everything together.
Prep work
First and foremost, electricity can kill you. If something doesn’t work right, the first order of business is to unplug it from the wall. Never open the box while it is plugged in. You can die.
Second and next foremost, you have inside your box an intentional short between neutral and ground. Therefore, polarization and wiring at the outlet has to be right. You also MUST use a three prong outlet that is properly wired and grounded. The way you check your outlet is to go to Home Depot or Lowes and buy a receptacle tester. Bring it home and plug it into the outlet you want to use. If the tester lights match the “correct” configuration on the legend on the tester, you are good to go. If they don’t, you need to fix your outlet. The only recommendation I can provide to you is to hire an electrician to fix it.
Testing
I will run thru what will happen if you have everything wired up right first, then consider some scenarios that it doesn’t work right.
Once you are sure your outlet is good, plug your main power cord into your box and twist it to lock. Check that your main power on/off switch is off, then plug your power cord in. Nothing should happen (including no tripped breakers in your circuit breaker panel in your house).
Check that your controller breaker is pushed in, then turn on your main power. You should hear a click (that is the contactor closing) followed by your PIDs, timer, temp display, and power indication light coming on. The computers do their BITE (built in test equipment, or self-test) thing, then you should see some errors on them. This is due to the fact that you don’t have your temp sensors plugged in. Its normal.
The pump lights and the burner status lights should both be off. The alarm should also be off. Your pumps should not be connected so you don’t burn them out while you are checking your controller. Turn on pump 1 switch, and the light should come on. Turn it off. Repeat for pump 2. Same results are expected. Shut main power off. Everything should go off.
Start Interlock Test
Turn on pump 1 switch. Now turn on main power switch. Nothing should happen. Turn off main power switch, then turn off pump 1 switch. Now turn on main power. Box should come back to life. Shut it off. Repeat for pump 2 switch, with same results expected.
Transformer test
If you know what you are doing, check the secondary voltage. Should be 24VAC or slightly above. If you don’t know what you are doing, don’t worry about it. It’s a new transformer and should be ok.
PID configuration
If you are using the same PIDs (TA4) I did, they will come defaulted for thermocouples (not your RTDs) and in degrees C. You need to change them to RTD and degrees F (if you want deg F instead of deg C). The instruction manuals are absolute trash, so here goes. Hold the “SET” button until “AL1” shows up. You are now in the menu of the PID. Press the “SET” button repeatedly to cycle thru the various settings. You are interested in when it gets to “InP” which is input. Hit the “<<AT” button and the bottom letter starts flashing. Hit the up button until it says “Pt”. Hit the “SET” button again to lock it. Now press “SET” again repeatedly until the display shows “C-F”. Press “<<AT” to make the “C” flash. Press up one time, and it goes to “F”. Press “SET” to lock it. Press and hold “SET” again until you exit the menu. You can check out a video of this here. You should be all set.
Gas system test
Hook up your propane tank, and turn it on. Using a spray bottle with soapy water, spray it at all of the threaded connections you put it together from the tank to the gas valves. If you see bubbling, you need to tighten the connection down more. You may even need to disassemble it and use pipe dope instead of the Teflon tape. It goes without saying that prior to doing any rework, shut off and disconnect the tank from the stand. It also goes without saying that this should all be done in a well ventilated area.
So once you are good with no leaks, we can check the gas valves and the plumbing from the valves to the burners out. Plug in your harness from the stand disconnect to the controller XLR connectors for the gas valves. Make sure that your temp sensors are plugged in for both PID 1 (BK) and PID 3 (HLT). Do not power up your controller yet. Connect and turn on the propane. At one of the gas valves, turn the knob on the back from “OFF” to “PILOT”. This will allow you to get gas to the pilot to light it. Press the red button and hold it in while you hold a long lighter to the pilot assembly. The red button overrides the shutoff that cuts gas to the pilot in the case it blows out, allowing gas to flow even though the thermocouple is cold. It may take a little bit, but you will eventually get the pilot to light. Once its lit, continue to hold the button for a bit to let the thermocouple heat up. Release the button, and if the flame starts to die out push it in again and hold it for a little longer. Once the flame stays lit with your finger off the button, you are good to turn the valve from “PILOT” to “ON”. Repeat this process for the other gas valve.
Now both pilots are lit, go ahead and power up your controller. After the computers run their BITE, you will notice that the burner status lights illuminate and the burners ignite (the default temp setting for the PIDs should be 100 deg, so if ambient temp is over 100 deg the burners won’t be commanded on until you use the up arrow to increase the set temp). It is a thing of beauty when it finally lights up. Grab your bottle of soapy water and (using caution to keep from spraying the electric connectors on the valve) check the connections between the valve and the burner. Again, if you see bubbles shut the gas off first, then the controller. Fix your leaks, and get it all back running again.
Grab a hair drier (this or the heat gun you used on the heat shrink is recommended) and heat up the temp sensors. You will see the temp reading on the PIDs increasing. When they hit the set value, the burners and burner status lamps should shut off. Turn off your hair drier, and let the temp sensors cool down. The burners and status lamps will come back on when the temp drops below the set value. As a note, on the PID, PV means present value and SV means set value. PV is the larger top display, SV is the slightly smaller one just under it.
Once you are good with the burners coming on and off, shut off your propane and controller.
Pumps
Since we can’t run our pumps dry, we will test the pump circuitry with two plug in lamps. Whatever kind you want, but keep them below 100 watt bulbs. Plug one lamp into the outlet for pump 1 and the other lamp into the outlet for pump 2. Then connect your harnesses into the controller pump twist lock receptacles. Turn on your controller, then turn on the pump 1 switch. The pump status lamp and the lamp plugged into the pump 1 outlet on the stand should come on. Switch off, both lamps off. Repeat for pump 2 side.