Pentair EasyTouch PL4/PSL4 PCBA 522523 has backlight, all 4 LED’s on no circuit breakers popped no display, can’t reset.

ForTamer

New member
Oct 30, 2022
4
Austin, TX
Hello everybody, new here so I apologize if I’m posting at a wrong place etc. I tried to explain and isolate the thread with details in title.

This happened after a recent rain storm and can’t locate a replacement board or the upgrade kit due to shortages. Couldn’t find a similar issue In the posts to pinpoint the problem. Closest was Bradalan’s Pentair I9 motherboard post but my c/b are not popped.

My control unit details are: Pentair EasyTouch PL4/PSL4 P/N 522353 Dated 10/27/2020 PCBA 522523, firmware P/N 522456 Ver.1.02 has backlight, all 4 LED’s on no circuit breakers popped no display, can’t reset.

Just an in ground pool with filter pump, booster pump and pool lights connected, of course all stopped working now. Disconnected everything but the power plug with no difference. 10,18,24 Vac reading 14~16, 19, 24~28 respectively. U2 Volatage regulator Pin 1&2 reading 30, Pin 1&3 reading 1084 with my cheap meter (No beep function).

I‘ve changed the BR2 chip because it was cheap and because of the U2 reading. But couldn’t locate the U2 chip because I can’t read the numbers to locate.

Can anybody help with that and let me know if anything else could be causing it? I hear sometimes the eprom gets stuck but I can’t reset it. Would the board behave this way if that’s it?

I’ll attach photos of my board perhaps somebody can tell me if and what kind of voltage regulator I might need too.B193569E-C7AA-42B8-B06A-3866D668E611.jpeg
 

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Last edited by a moderator:
Welcome to TFP.

@ogdento my be able to help with the board component question.
 
Also take a look at the following thread for testing ideas.


There's also an EasyTouch panel available if it's still for sale.

 
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the regulator is an LM1084... I talk about it in post #12 of the first thread Guinness linked to above (Pentair EasyTouch "3amp 12v electronics" stays tripped). pin 1 is gnd, pin 2 is output, and pin3 is input

Don't pull off the regulator... at least not yet (it's easy to damage the large pad underneath it!!)

You're not blowing any breakers so it's not likely that the regulator is dead (shorted or otherwise). Unless it's getting super hot, my guess is the regulator is ok and you're getting 5vdc out of it... try these tests to be sure:

1. Check the input-to-ground voltage on the LM1084... you should get around 16vdc +/- a volt or two
2. Check the output-to-ground voltage on the LM1084... you should get 5vdc
3. Look for the small 16-pin 74HC259 chips above the socketed ULN2803 relay drivers... you should get 5v across pins 8 and 16 (google the pinout for the HC259)

The 5-volt regulator is the only thing that is needed to power the board's micro-controller (under the lcd), drive the leds, and run the comm circuitry. If you're getting 5 volts in the tests above, then your micro-controller could be fried.

PM if you're getting 5v... it might be fixable with a firmware reflash, but there are some additional checks that would need to be made
 
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hey you're welcome, just a quick tip on testing the voltage at the 74hc259 chips (and apologies if this is obvious)...

pin 8 is the last pin (on the same side as pin 1), and pin 16 is the first pin on the other side (opposite pin 1)... when you check the voltage it's easiest to place the probe tips on the OUTSIDE of those two pins, so your probes don't accidentally short pin 16 to 15 and/or pin 8 to pin 7.
 
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Thank you Tom, you were right. I was getting 5.8v and 16.4v from LM1084,
HC259 at U7 was getting 5.8V
U6 was getting 0 and 4.3~4.8. I followed your advice and warnings to the T. I was confused and worried about the variation on U6 fearing I must have slipped on pin 18! So I checked the LCD screen to see if it was still trying to boot up. Sure enough, LCD and the board led’s are working as usual. Like you guys guessed it in one of the posts, sounds like the EEPROM was hung up. I had left it alone overnight without any luck. I wonder if meddling with it took care of it or it just finally decided to boot up. But I am ecstatic that it booted up before the pool suffered or worst with me replacing LM 1084 unnecessarily risking possible damage underneath before Tom could advise against it. Great call Tom. I can’t thank you guys enough for your quick replies and vast knowledge. Ya’ll and this Forum is awesome. I am definitely going to be a supporting member. I was too excited to post the good news. Now I will go button it all up and try to get the WiFi sorted out so I can monitor while away. Thanks again everybody. Hope your day is as awesome as mine😁
 

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