Franklin subdrive 150 intermittent fault 2

[Brian Guzie]

I am getting a intermittent fault 2 with my Franklin subdrive 150. This has been happening for years. Every several months I get this fault. Sometimes I start troubleshooting and it goes away. Sometimes it's a day or two, sometimes it's an hour. Incoming power is solid, fan is good, and all connections are tight. Please help.

 

[Valveman]

Regular faults and being out of water are just normal with a variable speed type pump. Just like anything with a computer they can go haywire for any reason and you just hope re-setting them makes the pump start again. If you want a dependable supply of water and a long lasting pump system use a regular mechanical pressure switch and a regular pressure tank. If you want strong constant pressure and to make the pump last even longer that that, add a Cycle Stop Valve to the system.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Brian Guzie]

Regular faults and being out of water are just normal with a variable speed type pump. Just like anything with a computer they can go haywire for any reason and you just hope re-setting them makes the pump start again. If you want a dependable supply of water and a long lasting pump system use a regular mechanical pressure switch and a regular pressure tank. If you want strong constant pressure and to make the pump last even longer that that, add a Cycle Stop Valve to the system.

I've been reading up on that and agree it sounds like it's a good idea for when my pump and/or controller poop the bed. Maybe I'm there already. But for now I'm not in a place where I can spend thousands replacing everything. I'm hopeful I can find a short term fix to get my stinky kids in the shower. Something that won't kill the bank account. Any ideas what part of the controller might be causing this? Cheaper controler replacement? I've lost and regained water several times for several hours in the last few days. And it has been raining a bunch. Could the moisture level be causing this?

 

[Bannerman]

Consider the PK1A kit as it includes all of the items required to operate a regular single phase pump.

https://cyclestopvalves.com/

 

[Fitter30]

Fault 2 is either low voltage or overheating from the fan stopping. Inspect control for dirt build-up on the boards that the fan blows across. Can be cleaned with canned dry air ( for computers). Get a greenhouse thermometer under $15 that captures high and low temps mount it where the drive is the warmest. Always put a fan on it.

 

[Valveman]

With a Subdrive you are saddled with a three phase motor and probably very small wire. This locks you into replacing the Subdrive as there are few other ways to convert your normal single phase house power to three phase to run that motor. With "faults #1 through #whatever, you can see there are many things that can cause a VFD to not function. A bad cooling fan or dirt on the circuit boards is just one of many possible problems. Most people replace the Subdrive two or three times before they realize they would be better off to bite the bullet, pull the pump, replace the three phase motor with a normal single phase motor, so they have something dependable and long lasting that doesn't have a multitude of faults and things that can go wrong.