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flanneltrees804 · 10-24-2012, 02:38 PM

My friend and I built the Kal control panel, triple checked everything to make sure it was wired properly, turned it on and it shorted out because the adjustable dc power supply touched the back plate. When I turned the panel on the blue power light flashed and the main power relay turned on and off a few times until I turned the whole panel off. The flashing and relay engaged 3 times in about 2 seconds. We also had to replace the 7a fuse cause it got toasted. We unhooked the volt meter and when we turned the panel back on nothing happened. Any ideas as to what might be happening? I know it's not much info to go on but we poked around with a volt meter but don't really know much about where there should and should not be power. I'll take some readings and pictures when I get a chance but in the mean time I wondered if anyone could tell me if I fried another part and what that might be. Thanks!

flanneltrees804 · 10-24-2012, 02:52 PM

Also, I plan on switching around an element relay with the main relay to see if that's the problem. I just don't know what else could have been fried.

milesvdustin · 10-24-2012, 05:45 PM

You may have cooked the contactor coil so it wont close the relay and allow power into the circuit now. Disconnect everything after your main power contactor and energize it, then measure resistance across the contacts to see if the contactor is closing. I fried a power relay in a cobra (helicopter) by pinching a wire on it one time. Electricity will burn stuff up real real fast if you aren't careful.

flanneltrees804 · 10-25-2012, 04:58 PM

I checked the relay just now and there is consistent resistance throughout the them all. The neutral bus is registering kinda funny so I checked the power coming into the panel and my electrical guy didn't feel it was necessary to hook up the neutral even though I told him it needs to be able to split to 120... This could be the cause of all our problems. Thoughts?

milesvdustin · 10-25-2012, 05:07 PM

Resistance through a relay is bad when it is energized. Not the coil, but the contacts. Should read 0 ohms or very low, .8 to 1 ohm.

OMJ · 10-25-2012, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flanneltrees804

I checked the relay just now and there is consistent resistance throughout the them all. The neutral bus is registering kinda funny so I checked the power coming into the panel and my electrical guy didn't feel it was necessary to hook up the neutral even though I told him it needs to be able to split to 120... This could be the cause of all our problems. Thoughts?

Are you saying you only have 3 wires coming into your panel hot hot and ground?

**stlbeer** · 10-25-2012, 05:32 PM

We REALLY need to see either your schematic as reflective of your current situation or pictures of the wiring or, preferably, both.

flanneltrees804 · 10-25-2012, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OMJ

Are you saying you only have 3 wires coming into your panel hot hot and ground?

Yes. I told my electrician exactly what I needed but didn't check his work like an idiot... This should cause the neutral bus to be uneffective and the 120v stuff to not work at all, including the power switch.

The schematic is the same as Kals, I naught the unassembled edition.

flanneltrees804 · 10-25-2012, 06:03 PM

Power is coming off a 40amp breaker to the spa panel and then to the control panel. We used 10/4 cable but he only hooked up hot/hot/ground. I got power when I fired the thing up the first time and cooked the volt dc regulator. Since then, no sign of power. I haven't tested voltage coming through the power cable but will tomorrow.

milesvdustin · 10-25-2012, 06:33 PM

Not running a neutral is probably your issue.