replacing easytouch 8 circuit board; a couple of questions

[Dan-H]

Last summer two of the valve controls stopped working. This spring the main spa/pool relay only works one way and it gets stuck in spillway feature. I swapped the actuator ports and the actuators work fine so the board seems to slowly be losing its brain.

I ordered a replacement 520657 board, and was wondering if 13 years is typical?

Also, any tips for capturing all the settings?

is there a way to export the config and re-load it from the app or the website?

I suppose I can take screen shots.

tnx

 

[ajw22]

Given that your board is flaky I would not want to export the config when some bits may be flipped.

Best thing is to rebuild the Configuration so you know it is clean.

Screen shots can be helpful.

It sounds like you have a blown driver chip. Help! My aux circuits (or valves) stopped working!! describes how to replace the ULN2803A relay driver chip.

The chips are on the LCD side of the main card and note how they are installed when removing them since they can be installed in 180 degrees the wrong way.

@ogdento can be helpful on board repairs.

 

[Dan-H]

Given that your board is flaky I would not want to export the config when some bits may be flipped.

Best thing is to rebuild the Configuration so you know it is clean.

Screen shots can be helpful.

It sounds like you have a blown driver chip. Help! My aux circuits (or valves) stopped working!! describes how to replace the ULN2803A relay driver chip.

The chips are on the LCD side of the main card and note how they are installed when removing them since they can be installed in 180 degrees the wrong way.

@ogdento can be helpful on board repairs.

Than you @ajw22

I cancelled the controller board order and ordered four driver chips with 2 day shipping.

The only flakiness has been the valve actuators either don't work at all, or only work one direction. Sounds similar to what is described in that thread.

I'll post an update either way.

 

[ogdento]

if the chips don't solve it, it may be worth looking at the microswitches inside the valve actuators... Valve Actuators - Further Reading

 

[Dan-H]

if the chips don't solve it, it may be worth looking at the microswitches inside the valve actuators... Valve Actuators - Further Reading

Thanks @ogdento

I stumbled across the actuator fix a couple of years ago. I had four pentair actuators fail and thankfully had not tossed them. Three were easy fixes with microswitches.

When this first cropped up last summer the first thing I did was swap in a new ( repaired ) actuator and it behaved the same way. I checked wiring, swapped solenoids, checked the config and checked voltage at the J connector which confirmed the issue is at the board.

The first failure disabled my pressure side pool cleaner, so I just swapped the port to keep it going with a less used water feature. Later last year the other one failed, and sometime this spring the valve for the pool/spa return became stuck "open".

It will be great if the driver chips solve this. It would be a great low-cost repair. Four chips ( why not have a couple of spares ) and 2 day shipping is less than $20.

fingers crossed, waiting for UPS on Wed's