Bay Wiring

[SuperClean]

I'm trying to figure out the wiring in my bays and see if there is a need for these what i think its a resister or transistor that labeled IN400 and the bottom is GI928 ( let me know if you know what these numbers mean) They go from a lead wire that connects to all the bays.Then the resister goes to the air solenoid that controls the flojets. There is 3 one for wax,soap,foam brush. Is there a reason for these or could i just rewire each bay right to the solenoid. I had a couple blow yesterday so it got me looking at it for the first time and I'm not sure where to get more of these. Thanks

 

[ken-pro]

Thats likely an 1N4004 or 1N4007 which is a diode. The diode turns AC voltage into DC voltage by allowing current to pass in one direction only. The purpose of the diodes in your case is to prevent signals from crossing. You cannot just tie all of the signals together as this will cause issues. Ie: when bay 1 selects foam brush, all bays will get foam brush.

 

[ken-pro]

Diodes are available at your local Radio Shack

 

[SuperClean]

Thanks now looking at it it does say 4004 i think there 15 years old does the bottom number matter.What would cause them to go i had 3 different bays go this week but took a while to figure out what it was. I have owned the wash for 6 years and haven't ever had one go before. It is either cracked or all together broken in half.

 

[ken-pro]

Probably age, possibly excessive heat could cause breakage. They should be under $2 each so I would say replace them and see what happens.

Also - make sure the white line on the diode is facing the correct direction when installing - direction does matter.

 

[MEP001]

You can't just put a diode on a 24V AC line in place of whatever is there now. A diode will cause whatever is connected on that output to "chatter" at 60 hz.

Specialty Equipment used to make a box that used diodes and capacitors to convert 24V AC to pulsating 24V DC and in turn to a solid 24V DC which triggered a relay. It sounds like someone may have fashioned together something that works in the same way. Unless you can identify what all the parts are and how it works, I really think you'd be better off either using a reliable switching box like an IDX MX-8 or just running the Flojet pumps dead-headed.

 

[ken-pro]

I agree that an IDX MX8 is a much better solution. However' given the original poster's location in Ontario I am pretty sure that he has a particular brand of equipment that uses just these diodes as described. The coil on the air pump solenoid is most likely 12 volt dc which will work correctly with a single diode inline with a 24 volt AC signal.

This is certainly not the best way to do this, but being familiar with this brand of equipment, it is much easier to just replace the diodes than to install an MX8 or similar controller.