Hi Everyone. I have two Franklin SubDrive 75s in my pump room. They're four years old. One controls the pump in a 1000 gallon storage tank for treated well water for the house. The other controls a pump for irrigation water out of my pond.

Anyway I awoke to no water pressure in the house yesterday. I see the SubDrive 75 is blinking a red fault light 5 times, which the user guide says means Open Circuit, Loose Connection, or Defective Motor or Cable, and continues: "Check motor wiring. Make certain all connections are tight. Make certain proper motor is installed. Cycle input power** to reset." BTW I did cycle the power several times to reset and immediately the five blinking fault code starts and the pump never runs.

I believe the incoming power is 230volts and I have a 3/4 horse pump in the tank. I disconnected the motor wires at the controller and seemed to get about 6 ohms between all the pairs, and zero connection to ground from any of them.... which I understand is good.

Despite what the SubDrive diagnostic code said about a bad motor, I decided to reattach the same pump and wiring to the other SubDrive 75 right next to it on the wall.

I turn it on briefly and it worked fine. I then changed the domestic water system's pressure switch to the the correct SubDrive 75 and our water has been working normally for a day.

So I call Franklin tech support this morning, and they won't talk to me because I am the homeowner-- liability reasons they say. I did get out of them that the SubDrive units are not repairable other than the fan, so when these units fail (and I've read online they do frequently fail like other complex devices, like computers) you're expected to replace it. Ouch. What a waste.

Does anyone have any experience with the 5 blinking lights code? I am considering buying another SubDrive 75 to replace this but I don't want to do that if it's not necessary. Also, since I have the same pump operating off the second SubDrive controller, I hope there's nothing wrong with that motor that would have destroyed the first SubDrive, etc.

Of all things, I inherited an irrigation system which is 20 years old and must have several underground leaks I can't find because whenever I turned on the irrigation SubDrive 75, you can hear the pump running slowly constantly because the system won't hold pressure.

I thought of buying a cheaper pump control for the irrigation system but I'm told I'd have to install a larger pressure tank... and given where the pump and lake is, I don't know if that would be very feasible, I'm not sure... Can you install a pressure tank anywhere on the line?

Any tips for me? Thank you very much.

 

With hours before the company picnic at my house the controller quit working and gave a code 5 error. I called my well company and they said they could replace the controller ($2000) the next day. Since this was not an option I dug for more details and he explained the code is an open circuit. He said to test the legs of the connection from the output of the controller to the well. This is done by disconnecting the wires at the controller to the well and measuring the continuity between legs. It should be about 2 ohms. Mine was about 30 ohms which I figured was ok since I have a long wire run to the well. I called back and reported that this test passed and he said it's a problem with the controller. In a panic I asked what type of problem and he said to check the output board for any signs of burnt solder joints. Sure enough I found one. He said it couldn't be repaired.

Picture of bad solder joint:


This is caused by a manufacturing defect or poor design and seems to be a common problem. I'm an EE and have designed circuit boards for years so I recognize that a bad connection caused this weak point to overheat and eventually melt the solder and part of the trace and cause an open circuit. My fix was to use a 14 gauge wire on the back of the board to jumper the ruined trace. First I carefully cleaned the wire protruding out of the back of the board with a small file and then soldered the wire to it. I connected the other end to two points for good measure.

My fix:


Within an hour I had water again (whew). I talked to one of my neighbors and they had the exact same problem and paid the $2K to get it fixed. They were not too happy that I fixed mine for free. BTW, both our units were about 5 years old, just past the warranty.

Hope this helps.
Donn

 

I'm glad to see someone else likes to fix stuff. I have pinball machines for a hobby and I've done similar fixes on my games, and I've also kept a Maytag Neptune washing machine going with similar methods.

Gadgetnut, if you don't have a obvious burnt connection or solder joint get a bright light and magnifying lens and look closely at the solder joints. Look closely for cracks which will look like a very faint line. Re-flowing the solder joint can easily fix them.

 

Thanks, Donn and Pilot... As it turned out, my defective SubDrive control was replaced under warranty. But I'm still relying on two of these units, and I'm not keen on them being considered unrepairable. I will make note of this repair in case my issue should recur. Congratulations on finding your own solution (and avoiding a $2,000 repair) and thanks very much for sharing.

 

Good job. I love doing stuff like that. Maybe you should send this thread to Franklin.

 

It is good to see someone trying to fix things them selves. I know I am starting to see less and less of the do-it-yourselves.
Even on some of the very simple things, they would rather pay someone $100 to do a 5 minute rather than do it them selves for $10.

 

hi waterwelldude –

I know some people who just have the mindset that there is no way they can tackle anything themselves. They are almost terrified to try anything. It’s a shame. Guy who used to maintain my oil heating system asked me for a simple tool once (can’t remember what), but he told me “you’d be surprised how many houses I go into where they don’t even have a screwdriver”.

You would think that in a bad economy more and more people would try to do some things themselves. But I guess if you convince yourself there is no way you could do it, you won’t try!

(p.s. I have to admit I feel a little guilty sometimes doing things myself when I see guys out there whose livelihood depends on doing the same job, and the economy is so bad. But it’s either that or sell my house.)

 

In case anyone is wondering over 1 year later and the repair is still working with no problems...

 

Hello comunity i´Am a new member excuse me for my bad english. I have a Subdrive 75 Franklin and i have a question, If some body have a lecture on the muntimeter of 1 ohm of impedance between the terminals of the circuit plug pressure sensor? and what reading in ohms is in the pressure sensor? This is because another fail is related for the 5 flash lights and I´am not sure about which type of sensor have this device, is too important to know about the impedance between terminals of the circuit plug(PRESSURE SENSOR). If somebody can help me i am going to be gratefull.
tHIS IS A PICTURE

 

Great stuff! You saved a lot of money. I never tried to solder a circuit board. but someday I think i'll try.

I wonder why the well company told you the board couldn't be repaired - when obviously it was repairable?

 

thats easy, well drillers and pump men are really not electricians or computer repair men. i sure dont have a solder kit on my service truck.. nor do i want one.

this is one of the reasons i like to simplify a water system rather than overcomplicate it.. which is why i think a standard pump/tank sized according, or even better a standard pump/tank with constant pressure valve and a simple pressure switch, is a much better install for a customer in the long run.

it might not be the highest paying, or maybe even the most efficient depending on the usage... but it works, it works well.. and anybody can troubleshoot it without calling 800 numbers. jmo glad everything is working good!

 

Hi justwater –

Good points justwater, but what I was wondering is why the guy just didn’t say:

“We can’t fix it, but possibly someone else could, maybe an electrician or computer repair person. If you want to replace it now or wait to replace it later if you find that it can’t be repaired, then we can do either of those.”

Just seemed like for a $2000 buck replacement he took a very cavalier attitude. It wasn’t his $2000 LOL.

 

i know what u mean, and i agree. my guess is the guy who installed it probably knows even less about them than we do.

 

Did the exact same fix as donnh. Worked like a charm. Actually, did it once this past winter on the trace after the inductor/choke and this time it was the trace before the inductor/choke like donnh's was. Jeez... these things are really not built very well. A buddy of mine recommended to just etch my own double-sided board if it kept doing this. He said it's pretty easy if there's a schematic of the board out there somewhere. Hopefully I won't ever have to do that though. Another thing he said is he thought (from the picture I sent him) that I should probably re-solder all the joints as there's not a whole lot of solder on them. Just a few more thoughts for an already sweet thread!