Trouble with Pentair Mobiletouch 2. Remote won't power on, now pump won't turn on at panel.

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M

Mynameisnate

Member
Jun 12, 2021
20
San Diego, CA
Hi All,

I have a pentair intellitouch panel and a mobiletouch 2 remote (this model here) which was working just fine up to recently. Right now the remote will not power on at all, you push the menu button and the screen flashes, then as soon as you take your finger off the button it turns off. It does the same thing if it's sitting on the cradle. I disconnected the battery for a minute, reconnected it, and no change. I wanted to turn the pool on to do some maintenance and now I can't turn the pool/spa pump on from the panel in service mode, but I can turn on the waterfall and spa jets. I'm not sure where to go from here or how to get my remote to stay on long enough to do anything.
 
Nate,

What kind of main pump do you have? Single speed or an IntelliFlo VS pump?

If you have an IntelliFlo, in the Service mode, the pump should be controlled by using the pump's control panel.

Go look at the pump's display and tell us what it shows in AUTO, and then again in the Service mode.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
When you say "the pump's control panel" do you mean the intellitouch panel i9+3 or something else? There is no panel on the pump, there's a service button and when I put it in service and press the pump button it does nothing. It's currently running in automatic mode for it's morning cycle so I know the pump works.
 
I just went out and put it in service mode. In service mode pushing "F" for filter pump on the intellitouch panel does nothing. I can turn on the other pumps but the filter pump does not respond. I opened the panel on the pump and it says "display not active" but then I pressed the program buttons and I can set it to low speed (1800rpm) or high speed (3450 rpm) and it turns on and runs. In short, my issues are:

1. My mobiletouch 2 will not turn on and glitch-ily flashes when I try to turn it on
2. My intellitouch panel will not turn on the main filter pump in service mode

I suspect something wrong with the remote is throwing garbage signals to the pump which can be bypassed by turning the pump on directly but I'm not sure how to get back to where I was 2 days ago.
 
Nate,

The reason that I asked you to look at the pump's display is to see if the automation is "talking" to the pump. If the display shows "Display Not Active" that means the automation is in control, which is good...

The Pump/Filter relay will only close if you are in the Pool or Spa mode. So, pushing the "F" button, in the Service Mode, won't turn on the pump, as it does not know what speed to run, unless you are in the Pool or Spa mode.

Does your IntelliTouch's outside panel show that you are in the Pool mode or Spa mode?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
The reason that I asked you to look at the pump's display is to see if the automation is "talking" to the pump. If the display shows "Display Not Active" that means the automation is in control, which is good...

The Pump/Filter relay will only close if you are in the Pool or Spa mode. So, pushing the "F" button, in the Service Mode, won't turn on the pump, as it does not know what speed to run, unless you are in the Pool or Spa mode.

Does your IntelliTouch's outside panel show that you are in the Pool mode or Spa mode?
Click to expand...

When I put it in service mode and push "F" it says whichever valve I have on, either pool or spa. In service mode I can set the valve to "spa", turn on the heater on the intellitouch, and turn on the pump on the pump panel, and the spa works. In service mode I can set the valve to "pool", turn on the pump on the pump panel, and set the speed to any of the 4 values, and the pool runs. In service mode the pump panel says "manual" whether I have the valve set to "pool" or "spa".

Right now if the system is in "auto" I can't turn anything on with the remote because the remote isn't working. I would have to wait for a preprogrammed cycle to start to see what the pump panel says while the pool is running in "auto" mode.
 
Hey Nate, regarding the original issue of the remote not turning on... take the battery out of the remote altogether, put it back on the cradle and try to power it on with the "blue" button in the lower right corner.

If that doesn't work, check to see that the brass contacts on the back of the remote are clean - you can use an eraser or something slightly rougher to clean them up. The contacts on the cradle are little spring loaded pogo-type pins... see if those have lost their spring too.

If that all checks out, have you got a multimeter you can use to check the voltage at the cradle?
 
The pins are springy and the remote makes contact. When I put the battery-less remote on the cradle it makes contact and lights up like it has power (the LED buttons are lit). The screen does not come up and pushing the power button in the lower-right corner does not have an effect.

edit: I have 10V coming off the cradle pins.
 
hmm 10vdc doesn't sound right.... as far as i know the power adapters for these are 12vdc.

is the power adapter that's plugged into the cradle the original pentair unit? i've seen two types... a newer, black, switch-mode adapter (about 1.25x2x3-ish inches) and an older, heavier, transformer-based one. unplug yours from the cradle and measure it's output... the transformer based ones will read 15-16vdc without a load, whereas the switch-mode ones should read very close to 12v

if you still get 10v from the pentair adapter, try another positive-tip 12v adapter that can supply 1 amp
 

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ogdento said:
hmm 10vdc doesn't sound right.... as far as i know the power adapters for these are 12vdc.

is the power adapter that's plugged into the cradle the original pentair unit? i've seen two types... a newer, black, switch-mode adapter (about 1.25x2x3-ish inches) and an older, heavier, transformer-based one. unplug yours from the cradle and measure it's output... the transformer based ones will read 15-16vdc without a load, whereas the switch-mode ones should read very close to 12v

if you still get 10v from the pentair adapter, try another positive-tip 12v adapter that can supply 1 amp
Click to expand...
It's an analog meter, I switched it up and it's 12V. I have a "switching adapter" which is the stock model- output 12V at 0.6A

IMG_20220418_123922.jpgI can check the base more and more but I'm interested if there are fixes for the remote which suddenly went bad and now has a glitchy screen and will not turn on, though the lights flash. Is there a check for bad screen, board shorts, or anything else? Would a battery swap be diagnostically useful?
 
Hey Nate,
I was checking the simplest stuff first because besides swapping the battery (and i don't know where to get a cheap replacement), there isn't a non-destructive way to take it apart... these are solvent-welded so you have to cut them open to get at the internals.

i didn't think the battery was the problem because it should run without it... so i was thinking your power supply was bad. When I run mine using a bench supply and no battery, it draws about 220mA which should be fine on your 600mA adapter.

an indoor panel (which is basically the same but without a transceiver or charging circuit) won't run with less than 7vdc... the screen flickers, piezo chirps, device-shuts-down, etc. your display could absolutely be bad... but again, to remove it for testing you'd have to cut the unit open first.

here's one i cut open if you want to try it...
IMG_20210630_220655162.jpgIMG_20210630_215751389.jpg
 
Thanks, @ogdento , I appreciate the wisdom. I can try to find a 16V charger to check but right now it looks like I have a bad unit with no good solutions. Amazon has a replacement battery on prime so if it didn't fix it I could just return it. I'll hold out for non-destructive methods on troubleshooting the remote.
 
hey you're welcome. and for what it's worth, i also often see these come up pretty cheap on the auction site
 
btw... is your existing battery swollen at all? (these batteries can swell up when they go bad)
 
hey nate... that's good, maybe your battery is fine!

another member here, @jerryt, just posted pics of him cutting open an easytouch remote with a hot-knife rather than a dremel. same idea as the mobiletouch...

How to dissemble and repair Pentair Easy Touch 8 button remote

I thought I would post my experience so other people can benefit. My power button stop working on the remote. To open the remote I used a Dermel tool with a diamond blade. I had to cut all the around the outside. Once open I saw the ribbon cable to the front board had corroded on one pin...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Alright, I got it open with a diamond cutting blade, took it all apart, and I think I've found the problem. The Mobiletouch II has a to and bottom PCB which I cleaned, reassembled, and it didn't fix the issue. I grabbed my magnifier and took a look and found what looks like some damage on the upper board (part number 520808) here

WIN_20220423_15_20_23_Pro.jpg

I've looked to see if I can find either a pinout diagram of what these pins are, a way to jumper something so they aren't needed, or a place to buy the board so I can swap it out and get my remote working.

Thanks everyone.
 
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