Troubleshooting the ozone generator

[BNMac]

Hi all, I just replaced the Laing E-14 circ pump in our 3 1/2 year old Teton by Columbia Spa - not a hard job, but it's 7 months past mechanicals warrenty - arg!  The bearings in the pump decided to make a lot of noise during my water change last week.

When I picked up the new pump at my local spa shop, we discussed the need to check the ozone generator as well.  I have the gray box style that generates O3 via the ultraviolet method, and I was told those last about 5 years.

Upon getting things running, I noted no bubbles.. they were there before the water change, so I started chasing the lines.  I found the check valve seemed to be clogged (strange) so I removed and could not blow through it.. either way.  Using the compressor, I could get it to work in the direction indicated, but it was still tough to blow through it with lung pressure.  I get lots of bubbles with a open air line but it contains no O3, of course. Reinstalling it stopped all bubble flow, so I removed it for the time being and installed a short tube to get things working again.  I now have bubbles, but no check valve and no idea if the O3 generator is producing.

The shop owner suggested I could test the generator by smelling the output of the hose (I know what ozone smells like) and by looking for a faint uv light through the window of the unit.  However, with the clogged check valve, nothing was being pulled from the unit.. and I smell nothing, nor can I see the uv light.  Is it possible these units fail when there is no air flow?

How do you troubleshoot the O3 generator?

As I'm supposedly 1.5 years to the expected end of life on the unit anyway, I can pick up a new gap style generator that is supposed to have a 10 year lifespan.  While I'm thowing money at it, I suppose that's the way to go.

Thanks in advance!

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

unclog your check valve with a little vinegar by soaking it in a small dish (clogged check valves are common) and re-lamp the unit and it should work just fine..I believe the max lifespan on those UV bulbs is around 18-20 months and then they need to be replaced...obviously your other option could be to replace it with a new corona discharge unit as well...I believe the high output model by JED can be found online for around $150

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Neither smell, or seeing the glow of the light is an indication that the ozonator is working effectively.

Most people can smell ozone in as little a concentration as 3 parts per billion...this is no where near enough to have any effect on the water.

As time goes by, the wave length of the bulb changes. It will still "glow", but the wave length can have changed to the point that it's producing virtually no ozone.

My understanding is the UV bulbs are good for about 10,000 hours of use. HOWEVER, every time they TURN ON, the "shock of such, instantly eats up 4 hours of lifespan.....( so if it turns on once a day, there's about 1500 hours of lifespan wasted per year. There's also about 8800 hours in a year.)

[BNMac]

Thanks! 

[BNMac]

Picked up a new APG-U (Advanced Plasma Gap) Del Ozone, blue box.  Odd mix of instructions, the manual in the box is fairly generic and doesn't list the APG-U unit, only the CDS-16 and Spa Eclipse.  Looking at Del Ozone's website and doing a bit of searching, I found an APG-U-01 white box styles, but I never did find the blue box version, even on Del Ozone's website.

Other anomalies included the mounting styles - the generic manual shows the unit can be mounted with the ports on the side, but the manual I found on the white box version shows & states to mount it with the ports at the bottom.

Also, the shop I picked this up from thought it was odd that the unit has 2 ports - he thought it was a dual port.  I opened it after getting it home and found that one port nearest the base is an inlet and the other, nearest the top is the outlet.  One could add a small air filter to the inlet side.. and because I have spider webs & spiders under mine, I suspect that's a really good idea.

The original gray box CDS unit was mounted amongst the pumps with the hose running up under the lip, two loops (hartford loop, I've learned), then back down to the injector.  The plugged check valve was about a foot above the injector.

I mounted the new one as high as possible up under the flange of the tub, and spliced the old Gecko in.xe cord/connector and plugged it in, hooked the tubing up w/o a check valve and turned the power on.  I now have a bright green light... and shouldn't need to touch this setup for awhile.