Another IPH burned connection issue

[Lake Placid]

Roughly two years ago I bought a used but in good condition IPH to manage ph with my IC40. Everything worked well until this year when the IC40 started randomly power cycling, running through the startup procedure then shutting off and starting the same loop. In troubleshooting I noted when the IC40 was disconnected from the iph and run stand-alone it performed flawlessly.

Having read other threads I was familiar with the Iph burned connector issue and decided to open the unit to investigate. When I got the unit disassembled, I noted no burning but some slight corrosion on the pins of the connector where the red leads attached. I cleaned all connections, used deoxit, reassembled and put the unit back into service. It worked fine until two days ago when the same symptoms reappeared.

Upon inspection this time, I noted a slight burning on the pin in the connector that supplies power via the red wire to the ic40. Other than that everything looked fine. Knowing the issue, I called pentair support for giggles and not surprisingly the only answer on their end was to replace the entire board and faceplate. Shocking I know……

Having read other threads where Dirk and ogdento weighed in with a fix and diagrams to bypass the connector with jumper wires I decided I had nothing to lose by employing the likely fix. It worked like a charm and no issues with the unit back in service at this point. Thanks to @Dirk and @ogdento for their disussion and diagrams in other threads that lead me to this fix. I’ll attach some pics of my repair based on their work. Don't flame my electrical work too much

 

[Dirk]

Oh man, this is huge! We've been looking for some sucker, uh, a volunteer to confirm "the fix" will fix! So thank you for giving it a go. Your work is excellent. And I'm glad you got it going again.

You also confirmed about the corrosion. Usually by the time this issue gets to us the connector is fried. You've been the first one to notice the corrosion before the burn happened, and that corroborates one of our theories about why this is happening, to some and not others, and at different lengths of ownership.

And shame on Pentair, is all I can say. They know about the issue and have either chosen not to tell their tech support about it, or have chosen to, if ya know what I mean. Not sure which is worse.

Thanks so much for the write up and the pics. Made my day!!

 

[Dirk]

Sorry, I have to say, I can't read your name without thinking of one of my favorite movies. Probably watched it a dozen times! Yah, I admit it!!

Too many great scenes to pick just one, but ya gotta love "Fishing for 'Gator With Cow."

 

[Dirk]

Just curious: did you cut the reds and the blacks, or just shave off the insulation, leaving the stranded wire intact?

Scratch that. You used heat shrink tubing, so you cut the wires.

 

[Lake Placid]

Haha….I’ve heard that a bunch since moving into this house….It’s the name of the street I live on

 

[Lake Placid]

Just curious: did you cut the reds and the blacks, or just shave off the insulation, leaving the stranded wire intact?

It was easier for me to cut them and resolder…that way heat shrink would also go on and I didn’t need to use liquid insulation.

 

[Dirk]

Ah, we were writing at the same time. I realized you cut because of the heat shrink. That's good work.

 

[Brushman]

It was easier for me to cut them and resolder…that way heat shrink would also go on and I didn’t need to use liquid insulation.

LP, I've done heat shrink successfully in the past and liked the results, but with this kind of confined space, I would have thought liquid insulation might actually be easier? Once it dried I'd probably give it a tight wrap with electrical tape for good measure. Thoughts?

 

[Brushman]

It was easier for me to cut them and resolder…that way heat shrink would also go on and I didn’t need to use liquid insulation.

As another option, is there a performance or reliability downside to simply cutting the pairs of Reds and Blacks, as you did, but then simply using wire nuts to join them to their individual jumps?

 

[Dirk]

I personally like soldering. My theory is the IpH meltdown occurs because the pins corrode, resistance rises, then heat is generated. Wire nuts and Wago connectors are mechanical: conductors just touching each other, subject to air getting into the mix. Just like the pins. Mechanical connections in harsh environments (like a pool pad) are subject to corrosion. The solder eliminates this potential problem. Properly done, it makes a connection impervious to corrosion.

That said, I also think it is the quality of the finish on the pins that sets this all in motion: as in cheap c--p. So a quality wire nut, or Wago, properly used, is going to make a much better connection than those pins ever could, and so the chances of it ever corroding to the point of failure would be pretty unlikely.

But my motto is "do it right, do it once," and soldering (to me) means never having to do it again. It's overkill, but that is my middle name.

 

[Brushman]

I personally like soldering. My theory is the IpH meltdown occurs because the pins corrode, resistance rises, then heat is generated. Wire nuts and Wago connectors are mechanical: conductors just touching each other, subject to air getting into the mix. Just like the pins. Mechanical connections in harsh environments (like a pool pad) are subject to corrosion. The solder eliminates this potential problem. Properly done, it makes a connection impervious to corrosion.

That said, I also think it is the quality of the finish on the pins that sets this all in motion: as in cheap c--p. So a quality wire nut, or Wago, properly used, is going to make a much better connection than those pins ever could, and so the chances of it ever corroding to the point of failure would be pretty unlikely.

But my motto is "do it right, do it once," and soldering (to me) means never having to do it again. It's overkill, but that is my middle name.

Newb question Dirk, are you referring to soldering the blacks and reds and the new jump wires together (where LP used the shrink wrap), or soldering those jumps to the pins at the board. I'm committed to the latter but have never had occasion to solder two wires together. Didn't even know that was a thing to do.

 

[Dirk]

Newb question Dirk, are you referring to soldering the blacks and reds and the new jump wires together (where LP used the shrink wrap), or soldering those jumps to the pins at the board. I'm committed to the latter but have never had occasion to solder two wires together. Didn't even know that was a thing to do.

Yes, both. Most would just wire nut wires together. And that will be fine. But, for example, I took the trouble to solder all my garden light wiring together, then put a water-proof wire nut over that. Like I said, over kill. But I've seen connections of that type, not soldered, that corrode after a few years. Then the lights either fail, or get a little dimmer, or flicker. So soldering can be overkill in some applications, but in others make the difference. My lighting wires are still going strong after ten years of laying in the dirt/mud!

So, yah, soldering wires together is not the norm. But this is a pool pad. If my theory holds, the pins are telling you that corrosion inside the IpH is possible. So for me, playing it safe is worth the extra trouble. But I'm pretty good at soldering, so it's not that much extra trouble. You can certainly go wire nut, and that could very well be the end of it. If it someday fails, you'll know where to look, and can deal with it then.

On the other hand, you're going to be holding your new iron in your hand, soldering the splices, so why not solder the big wires, too?

My guess is that @Lake Placid also soldered his wires, you just can't see it under the shrink wrap.

 

[Lake Placid]

Yep I soldered all connections. The existing pigtails and my pigtails were long enough that there was plenty of room to work outside the IPH case. The only tight area were the two pins on the back side of the board.

Like @Dirk I prefer soldering as a bulletproof connection and with the heat shrink I felt it was best for the harsh pool environment. That said I think liquid insulation would do just fine. Just make sure it fully covers your connections so there's no place for corrosion to set in.