How To Open Your Pool's UV System

SET-UP INSTRUCTIONS

When spring arrives, it's time to pull out your UV system and get it ready for the summer pool season.  Below is a checklist that will help in getting the most out of your system.

  1. If your UV system is still installed on your pool equipment, shut down circulation pumps and unplug your UV system before servicing.  Allow the lamp to cool for 30 minutes.
  2. Visually inspect the outside of the unit for any cracks or missing parts.
  3. Remove the electrical bonnet and visually inspect for any damaged parts or missing parts.
  4. Unplug the UV lamp by grasping the 4-pin connector (attached to the ballast wires), and slowly pull the UV lamp out of the tube (by grasping the bulb on the white ceramic prong end).  Check that the bulb cushion and o-rings (between the lamp and the tube) are still on the bulb.  Carefully place the removed bulb in a safe location while cleaning the tube.
  5. Using a crescent/socket wrench, remove the black plastic acorn nut holding the tube into the black plastic mounting gland.  There is a rubber sealing gasket around the tube (or inside the acorn nut) that seals the tube to the mounting gland.  Set the gasket aside to reseal the tube when you reinstall the tube after cleaning. 
  6. Grasp the tube and pull straight up, and inspect the tube for cracks.  Broken/cracked tubes should be replaced, as they will allow water to enter the dry electrical chamber and attack the electrical components of the unit, which will cause them to fail and need to be replaced.
  7. The tube exterior can be cleaned using acid or spirit vinegar or muriatic acid with weak concentration (4 parts water to 1 part acid).  Do not use abrasive cleaners on the tube.  Change the tube if necessary.
  8. Seat the tube carefully into the receptor at the bottom of the wet chamber (it will not go all the way down into the wet chamber unless the rounded end of the tube is seated in the receptor at the bottom of the wet chamber).  Take a new sealing gasket (angled seal) and place it on the end of the tube (angle downwards).  A new sealing gasket should be should used on every lamp change.
  9. Install and tighten the black plastic mounting gland.  Do not over tighten it, and be careful not to cross thread the plastic nut.
  10. Seat the bulb end cushion on the end of the bulb (the end that goes down into the tube first) and place the two o-rings around the top white porcelain bulb end cap (where the electrical pins are located).  Slowly lower the bulb down into the tube.
  11. Without forcing, plug the UV lamp to the 4-pin connector (attached to the ballast wires).
  12. Reinstall the electrical bonnet and plug in the UV system.  Turn on the circulation pump (lamp will not come on without water pressure).  Verify that the bulb is lit by viewing the glow of the bulb through the clear plastic union.

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