Pentair 520076 Board (lost com port)

[tom70]

It indeed seems as though I lost the COM port on my Pentair 520076 board. If I go and replace this board does the system need to be reprogrammed or is everything stored on the motherboard?

Also, does anyone know if the board 520265 is the replacement for 520076? I can only find the part # 520265 but it looks exactly the same.

 

[Dirk]

Hi Tom! Welcome to TFP.

Tom, meet Tom!

@ogdento, can you advise Tom about his Pentair board?

And Tom, in the meantime, we hope you'll stick around and learn more about your pool and equipment. If you think you might, a signature goes a long way in helping us help you. Something like mine is ideal. Would you mind creating one?

https://www.troublefreepool.com/account/signature

 

[ogdento]

Hey Tom,
The board you're talking about is the top board on the intellitouch - which is the "personality card" - and while it has the physical comm connector, the actual comm port chip is on the main board beneath it (aka "universal outdoor controller"/UOC, pentair 520287)

If you don't have an indoor panel or a mobile touch, then you'll have to re-program the system if you replace the main board.

The boards can almost always be repaired rather than replaced... I'll shoot you a pm.

I should have asked/mentioned straight away... what all is connected to the comm port? your problem may not be the outdoor board. it could be the wiring or another device on the system.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[ogdento]

Got some more info from Tom...

Intellitouch Outdoor Panel
Pentair SVRS pump
Pentair IC40 SWG
Pentair Spa Command (disconnected this due to prior issues)
Pentair Indoor Control Panel

Last year before closing my Indoor Control Panel would not communicate properly with the system (hence something may have been happening).
My pool was opened late March 2023 and everything was working fine. I was then getting an occasional "Pump 1: lost communication" error which would come and go. It would change between the pump showing the RPM Speed, but when it reconnected it did show "Display not active" as it should. Hence, my figuring the COM port is having issues.

I was also able to control everything via the screenlogic app until last week. As of last week, my screenlogic app no longer communicates properly as I no longer see temps and cannot control anything. The SVRS pump no longer shows "display not active" meaning it is not communicating. NOTE: The intellitouch is set in AUTO mode.

On the one com port I have on the board I removed the connection (it controls the spa command, indoor control panel, etc) to see if I can rule out anything. The pump still showed the RPM speed (not display not active).

I have done the power cycle all breakers. I have also pressed the RESET on the intellitouch.

Just yesterday the indoor panel no longer has any words on it and just FLASHES back and forth between a dark and light screen.

NOTE: I can control everything with the intellitouch in SERVICE mode only via the outdoor main panel.

So, Tom... since you mentioned you have one comm port, I'm guessing that you have an i5 personality board. And, you have the following connected to the outdoor board (the spa command is no longer connected):

• Intellitouch Outdoor Panel
• Pentair SVRS pump
• Pentair IC40 SWG
• Pentair Spa Command (disconnected this due to prior issues)
• Pentair Indoor Control Panel

Couple of things:

1. If the pump comms are working and then not-working... it's almost guaranteed to be loose/bad wiring or corrosion on a cable rather than a bad comm port (and by "bad comm port" I mean a blown comm chip). I've never seen an intermittently failing chip... In my experience, once they fail they will never work again.
2. Since you have the IC40 SWG - you may also have a small board they call a "surge board" with 3 more comm port connectors on it. It acts as a "comm port expander" of sorts. If you have one, it will be connected to the comm port on the personality board and up to 2 other devices may be connected to it... just something to look for.
3. Your indoor panel sounds like it has a shorted comm chip... they will often flash/squeal/generally misbehave when this happens... just leave it unplugged for now, while we're debugging the other bits
4. If you pull the entire black 4-position connecting block off of the comm port, then the pump won't be connected to the comm port and will never show "display not active". The pentair pump cable is a 2-conductor cable, with just a green and yellow wire.

So try this... first shut off power to your system, take a picture of your setup and pull the comm port connector off the personalty card and pull everything off it (snap as many photos or label whatever you need to so you can put it all back). Then connect JUST the two pump cable wires to the black 4-position connecting block and then power back up... see if you get "display not active" on the pump. If that works, try a different device etc.

 

[tom70]

Thanks, I will try this tonight. Yes it is the i5 board (photo below). I had disconnected the COM port on this photo and will disconnected everything (with power off of course) and then just reconnect the pump cable connector, then power back up. I will report back.

 

[ogdento]

Hey Tom, it looks like you do have a surge board (goes with the salt cell)... can you grab another photo that shows the surge board and where all the comm cabling connects?

I wanted to see how all of the comms are wired because I don't see a pump cable on the 4-pos comm port connector in the photo above - I'm assuming it's connected to the surge board.

 

[tom70]

All of the com wiring is daisy changed with wire nuts. I will take a photo and send it in the next hour. That is how my pool builder did it.

 

[tom70]

I disconnected everything except the pump and it said "DISPLAY NOT ACTIVE"!!! So now with the "cluster" of wires I have I now have to figure out what could be causing it. I added wires back and there is a black and red wire that you will see not connected to the COM port. The problem is that travels back to the "cluster" of wires with the orange wire nuts.

So what I do know is I disconnected the SPA Command at the spa itself (wires are still connected), and I disconnected the indoor control panel. I guess the other wires that go to the COM port would be the SVRS Pump, IC40, Intellichem and the protocol adapter?

The is a white wire that says keypad (which is the indoor control panel) and wireless (is this the protocol adapter)?

Pics are below

 

[ogdento]

NICE! The "wireless" is most likely the wireless link for your protocol adapter - unless you also have a handheld wireless remote, but I didn't see one in your list. Didn't realize you had an intellichem?

But this is good, you'll now want to plug stuff in one at a time and check for the bad device. Any of the devices can fail

Be very careful with those un-capped red/black wires that go back to your wire-nut-nest... they are live! tape them up!!

 

[Dirk]

So what I do know is I disconnected the SPA Command at the spa itself (wires are still connected), and I disconnected the indoor control panel.

I don't want to be one too many cooks in this kitchen. Both Toms are doing great. Just a tip:

Keep in mind that disconnecting devices at the device does not necessarily remove them from the troubleshooting process. As I wrote elsewhere: 90% of electronic problems are due to the cables (I just made up that 90%, but it's probably close). What could appear to be a problem with the spa controller, or with the indoor control panel, might actually be a problem with the wire running to them. Bugs, rodents, strain, temperature, UV, water or chemicals, etc can affect the wire itself. And can do so intermittently to make finding the problem even harder.

Point being: if you end up discovering, say, the system works great when the wire to the indoor control panel is disconnected at the IntelliCenter, don't assume it's the indoor control panel. It may be the wire running to it. Or even just corrosion on the stripped ends of that wire. You troubleshoot that first by cutting off both ends of the wires (at the device and at the IC) and re-stripping the wires so that they're "fresh and clean." If that doesn't solve it, you then run a new wire from the device to the IntelliCenter. Just a temporary one, out in the open at first. Or, if possible, you physically bring the device to the IntelliCenter and run just a short wire. You get the idea. Ya gotta troubleshoot the wires, too, not just the gizmos.

 

[tom70]

I don't want to be one too many cooks in this kitchen. Both Toms are doing great. Just a tip:

Keep in mind that disconnecting devices at the device does not necessarily remove them from the troubleshooting process. As I wrote elsewhere: 90% of electronic problems are due to the cables (I just made up that 90%, but it's probably close). What could appear to be a problem with the spa controller, or with the indoor control panel, might actually be a problem with the wire running to them. Bugs, rodents, strain, temperature, UV, water or chemicals, etc can affect the wire itself. And can do so intermittently to make finding the problem even harder.

Point being: if you end up discovering, say, the system works great when the wire to the indoor control panel is disconnected at the IntelliCenter, don't assume it's the indoor control panel. It may be the wire running to it. Or even just corrosion on the stripped ends of that wire. You troubleshoot that first by cutting off both ends of the wires (at the device and at the IC) and re-stripping the wires so that they're "fresh and clean." If that doesn't solve it, you then run a new wire from the device to the IntelliCenter. Just a temporary one, out in the open at first. Or, if possible, you physically bring the device to the IntelliCenter and run just a short wire. You get the idea. Ya gotta troubleshoot the wires, too, not just the gizmos.

Thanks for the input. I should have the time this weekend to officially start removing devices and checking wires. I appreciate all of this help!

 

[tom70]

Tom/Dirk-

When I got home from my office I decided to tackle this issue. With the power off I disconnected the Pentair Spa Command wiring first and powered up. Same issue, so I then disconnected the Pentair Indoor Control. Powered up and everything works as it should! The problem was indeed the indoor control panel or the wiring for that unit.

I appreciate all of the help and indeed this site is my goto for any pool issues.

 

[Dirk]

Sherlocked! Good sleuthing!

 

[tom70]

So I woke up this morning thinking that since I had disconnected the Indoor Control panel connection from the indoor unit and the problem still arose until I removed the wire at the outdoor panel, that would probably mean the wiring is indeed bad. Where is a good place to purchase this wire? Do I need the Pentair 4-pair 22AWG branded wire?

 

[Dirk]

No. It doesn't require shielding, so I just used four-conductor doorbell wire from Lowes. Might have been irrigation control wire. 18 gauge solid copper, I think. There's nothing special about it. It just needs to be rated for use wherever it's going to run (fire-rated for the attic, or rated for underground, etc).

You wrote "4-pair." Did you mean "four conductor?" You only need four wires total.

 

[Dirk]

I probably used this stuff. The 18/4. The smaller 22/4 is a little cheaper.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-18-4-Jacketed-Sprinkler-Wire-By-the-Foot/50142294

Ethernet cable would work, too, if its rating fits the usage.

I eliminated all the Pentair wireless stuff and hardwired everything. You can use a star topology, or daisy chain devices. The bus is pretty forgivng in that way. I have multiple devices connected to the same mother board connector (that's the star topology), but one run connects from my EasyTouch to my ScreenLogic adapter, a few rooms away. From their I ran a wire to my indoor controller, so that's the daisy chain. Not everything has to run back to the main controller individually.

The advantage of using the wireless is a bit of isolation should a lightening strike take out your IntelliCenter. Things on the other side of the wireless bridge might survive something like that. I think @Jimrahbe has had some experience with that. But I hate wireless and like to live on the wild side.

For my connections at the mother board, wherever I needed to stuff more than one wire into a connector, I soldered them together first. This makes subsequent "uncoupling" more difficult, but I do that to help eliminate the corrosion that can lead to buss problems.

Another trick is to solder all the wires together with a tail, and then use only the tail to connect to the motherboard. Jamming too many wires into the connector can also cause a problem, like if one wiggles loose.

Those kind of steps are mostly unnecessary, but I like to build to last, and soldering has always been my MO for that. Probably just me...

Alternately, you can connect some things to the motherboard, and other things to other connectors that you might have on the same buss. Pentair's surge board for their IntellliChlors has additional buss connectors. You can use those, too, if you have too many wires at the motherboard.

 

[tom70]

No. It doesn't required shielding, so I just used four-conductor doorbell wire from Lowes. Might have been irrigation control wire. 18 gauge solid copper, I think. There's nothing special about it. It just needs to be rated for use wherever it's going to run (fire-rated for the attic, or rated for underground, etc).

You wrote "4-pair." Did you mean "four conductor?" You only need four wires total.

Yes 4-conductor as it just needs 4-wires. thanks for the info!

 

[Dirk]

You might have read post #16 before I was done with it. I edited it several times, perhaps after you "liked" it, and added a few more "pearls."

 

[ogdento]

For what it's worth, you can really use whatever you've got... mine's on an 8-conductor cat-5 cable, with each "pair" twisted together, making 4 separate conductors. It's probably what they had kicking around... I didn't install it!

And I use an old length of 22? gauge 4-conductor phone wire on my bench

 

[Dirk]

It might still be worth the trouble of unmounting the Indoor Control panel and bringing it out to the IntelliCenter and connecting it up with a short run of wire (with the old wire disconnected from everything). If it works perfectly for a day or two, then that confirms the existing wire is bad. If not, then you have a new data point that might save you from pulling a new wire for nothing.