Another IC60 + IntellipH failure

[MUPPPP]

Hello, all.

After about 3 years of flawless operation, my IC60 quit working--all lights were off. Long story short, with help from this awesome thread, I discovered that my IC60 wasn't the issue, but there was a burned connector in my IntellipH board. (I confirmed the IC60 was working by plugging it straight into my Intellicenter).



I am not very skilled at electrical work, but based on this awesome post by Dirk, all I need to do to fix this is to cut the two red wires and connect them together with a jumper wire, and solder it onto that first pin that is immediately above that fried pin? Then repeat this with the black wires and solder onto the second pin?

I understand that Pentair recommends against IC60 + intellipH, but does this fix prevent further issues?

If I screw it up, I don't mind forking out the $300 for a new intellipH controller unit, but it would likely be a recurring problem with my IC60.

Thanks to everyone at TFP. I love this site.

 

[mknauss]

Let's make sure @Dirk sees this. Be ready for a dissertation on how to fix!

 

[Dirk]

Let's make sure @Dirk sees this. Be ready for a dissertation on how to fix!

He's already found the dissertation (he's got the link).

 

[Dirk]

I am not very skilled at electrical work, but based on this awesome post by Dirk, all I need to do to fix this is to cut the two red wires and connect them together with a jumper wire, and solder it onto that first pin that is immediately above that fried pin? Then repeat this with the black wires and solder onto the second pin?

Yep.

I understand that Pentair recommends against IC60 + intellipH, but does this fix prevent further issues?

That's the theory. Not enough of us have tried "the fix" to know for sure. And I have an IC40, so I can't provide any data on IC60. The fix isn't sanctioned by Pentair, just something some of us came up with on our own.

If I screw it up, I don't mind forking out the $300 for a new intellipH controller unit, but it would likely be a recurring problem with my IC60.

It likely could be reoccurring. I think I wrote (somewhere?) that one of the three fixes I illustrated could theoretically be done before you have the problem, preemptively. So, theoretically, if you had to replace your IpH controller, you could apply the fix to the new one, to protect it. I think I also mentioned that would void the warranty, so you'd want to postpone performing the preemptive fix until one day after the warranty expires. Let Pentair fix 'em up until then.

And to be clear, many of us have had this problem with IC40s. It's not just IC60s. Pentair has only admitted to the IC60, for now. I did a variation of the fix on my Iph/IC40 combo, and it's been working for quite a while. So far, so good. I actually removed both halves of that white connector and soldered the eight wires directly on to the board. I came up with the illustrations I did after I fixed my board, after I realized there was an easier fix than what I used. What I did is in this thread:

Hacking IntellipH to work in cold water

As Pentair IntellipH (IpH) automatic acid dosing system owners know, the IpH depends on a Pentair IntellliChlor (IC) saltwater chlorine generator. The IpH uses the IC's power supply, and monitors its flow switch, so that it won't dispense acid if the IC is reporting low flow. Unfortunately, it...

www.troublefreepool.com

You might find the other IpH/IC mods I did interesting, also in that same thread.

 

[Dirk]

By the way, the reason the fix works is not magic. From the factory: the two red wires connect together via traces on the circuit board. As do the two black wires. By "shorting" the pairs together before they get to the connector, it just creates a path for all the current the IC needs, without having to go through that white connector, which can't handle that much current. The jumpers are needed because the board uses a small amount of the power to do its thing, which is why those jumpers can be a smaller gauge wire.

 

[MUPPPP]

Excellent explanation on the problem and why it occurs, and why this fix should work.

Well, I cut the two red wires, soldered them together with a jump wire, and soldered that jump wire directly onto the pin that attaches to the motherboard. Did the same thing for the black wires. My technical skills using the soldering iron leave a lot to be desired, but it worked!

I am up and running. Thank you very much, Dirk!

I educated my pool builder as to this problem and jury rigged solution and he called and confirmed with Pentair that it is a problem that they are working on. The pool builder said he wants to hire me haha.

Troublefreepool with another victory!

 

[MUPPPP]

I wanted to add that the first problem I ever noticed with my intellipH was the same thing Zaffor said was happening with his unit in the below linked thread--The IntellipH would be frozen with “SUPERCHLOR” written in the panel. After a reboot, it would kick it out of that mode. I, like Zaffor, run my pool 24/7. I have not had the problem is he had keeping his FC up though, knock on wood

Intellicenter - IC60 - Intelliph problems

I run an intellicenter with intelliph and an IC60 which have been giving me trouble since pool was started 18 months ago. I am running into 3 issues which may not all be related but I am suspect as Pentair seems to have been having issues with Iph and larger cells. I run my pump 24/7 which...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Dirk]

Thanks for the update, and so glad you got your IC/IpH combo working again. I forgot to mention, don't cut any of the other wires because that would set off the C4. My bad. Oh well, no harm, no foul!

I am also especially glad to hear that Pentair, or at least that one particular tech person your PB spoke with, is admitting to the problem. Though they've known about this for years, so I'm not sure what exactly "they are working on."

Credit goes to Tom (@ogdento) for figuring out the fix. If you make any money doing this for your PB, I won't mention it to Tom for, say, oh, a 50% cut.

PS. This is the first I've heard of the “SUPERCHLOR” issue, I'll keep my eye on that.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

The pool builder said he wants to hire me haha.

Mine said the same to my wife when they came out to start everything up and I had the IntelliCenter all connected up and ready to go. Asked her if I wanted a job. Told her I probably knew more about it at that point, than they did (early 2020 so I don't think they had installed many of them yet).

--Jeff