Easy Touch 4 Panel Not Turning on

[Chenzo]

Hello, I found this forum a little while ago and it would be great if i could get some help regarding my easy touch system.

Our pool was installed 2 years ago with the Easy Touch system. When it was initially installed the PB did not setup any of the actual control system. The easy touch system was just used as a load center for all of our equipment. Up until this point for the past 2 years we have just used the load center to control the equipment and have turned the various equipment on and off by using the breakers. This year i decided i want to take advantage of the system we have.

I have some basic electrical knowledge and I am okay at reading diagrams so I think I can do all the wiring myself. After doing a little bit of reading I discovered the Pentair manuals are not the best. So I read some posts on here and looked at some youtube videos and this morning decided I was ready to give it a shot.

When I opened my panel up today I discovered the PB had not done any wiring for the control system other then the control system transformer. Not even the relays were plugged in.

I decided I would try turning on the system by turning on the very bottom breaker of our load center which we have never payed attention to. After turning it on nothing happened. The LED displayed did not light up and no lights turned on so i went into trouble shooting mode. I figured it was a problem with the transformer and after taking a look at the diagram on the panel door i think the PB wired it wrong!!

I forgot to take a picture at this step but what he had done was put the Black and Yellow 120V load wires into the circuit breaker AND then put the purple wire on the neutral. So basically all three wires were attached! in both the 120v and 240v diagram never are all three attached. 120 is the black and violet wire and 240 is the black and yellow. I assumed this was the problem. Then came the decision if i should wire for 120 or 240. My Pump (Pentair superflo 1hp) is 230v and my heater (Pentair mastertemp 200) is able to run on 120 or 240. There is two breakers for it so the PB must have set it on 240v. Realizing this i determined i needed to wire for 240v. So I removed the violet wire, capped it, went to turn the system back on and nothing.. no power.

At this point i dont know what to do, i dont believe any of the lov volatge breakers are tripped, all my other equipment works fine and I think i wired it correctly. If anyone could help me it is very much appreciated. Pictures are attached.

Here is how i wired it for 240v (very bottom breaker)

LV breakers

Load center wiring

Labeled breakers (Top three dont relate to equipment as they are Cabana plugs "P", Lights "L", and Fridge "F"

 

[dradam]

Hi, I have the same system as you do and hooked it up about 4 years ago. Yes you can wire the transformer for 120 or 240 input and it will still have the same output. I would pull out a voltage meter first
(about $25 at a home center) and confirm your input voltage. The I would confirm the output voltage both before and after the low voltage circuit breakers. If no output then the transformer may be fried (my greatest suspicion from what you describe), but not an overly expensive or difficult fix. Its not in the photos but I assume you checked the low voltage connection to the motherboard itself. If the power is getting to the motherboard and it is not booting then the motherboard may have been fried. This is an easy replacement , but it is expensive. I had to replace mine once when a lightning surge hit it.

The transfomer draws little power so you could tap it off any 120 or 240 breaker, but I chose to give it its own breaker so the motor surges would not affect it.

If you get up and running I wrote an article about my automation installation a few years ago :

DIY Pentair pool automation article

It may give you some help as you plan what to do with your system. PM if I can be of further help.

Ps. All of my breakers in the load center are GFCI protected (shut off instantly if electricity doesn't go where its supposed to) Not a bad Idea where electricity and water are involved.
PPS. I installed a service disconnect ( Cuts all power to the system) just before the load center so that I can work on it safely-- I hope you have that as well.
PPPs. As you look toward using your system correctly be sure that the wire gauge entering your load center is correct based on the breaker you are using to the system (50 A minimum I believe) and the distance from your power origin to the load center.

Best wishes.

 

[Chenzo]

Hi, I have the same system as you do and hooked it up about 4 years ago. Yes you can wire the transformer for 120 or 240 input and it will still have the same output. I would pull out a voltage meter first
(about $25 at a home center) and confirm your input voltage. The I would confirm the output voltage both before and after the low voltage circuit breakers. If no output then the transformer may be fried (my greatest suspicion from what you describe), but not an overly expensive or difficult fix. Its not in the photos but I assume you checked the low voltage connection to the motherboard itself. If the power is getting to the motherboard and it is not booting then the motherboard may have been fried. This is an easy replacement , but it is expensive. I had to replace mine once when a lightning surge hit it.

The transfomer draws little power so you could tap it off any 120 or 240 breaker, but I chose to give it its own breaker so the motor surges would not affect it.

If you get up and running I wrote an article about my automation installation a few years ago :

DIY Pentair pool automation article

It may give you some help as you plan what to do with your system. PM if I can be of further help.

Ps. All of my breakers in the load center are GFCI protected (shut off instantly if electricity doesn't go where its supposed to) Not a bad Idea where electricity and water are involved.
PPS. I installed a service disconnect ( Cuts all power to the system) just before the load center so that I can work on it safely-- I hope you have that as well.
PPPs. As you look toward using your system correctly be sure that the wire gauge entering your load center is correct based on the breaker you are using to the system (50 A minimum I believe) and the distance from your power origin to the load center.

Best wishes.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I will go and test all the things you suggested now. My one question is how can the output on the transformer and how can I test if the mother board is getting power after the breakers?

I aswell have a circut breaker just for the control system and a GFCI outlet on the side of my easy touch that will trip if water comes into contact.

I shut the power off to the whole pool area from the breaker inside my house before working.

Thanks for the tip on wire gauge. I will take a look at that.

Will go and test if I am getting power and let you know.

Thanks

 

[Jimrahbe]

C,

It is hard to tell in the pic, but it appears to me you have both the black transformer wire and the Yellow transformer wire going to the same place???

If this is true, then you can't possible have 220 volts feeding into the transformer...

The AC power coming into your EasyTouch has two hot leads.. L1 and L2. Each lead has 120 volts when measured to ground or the neutral wire. but if you measure between between L1 and L2 you get 240 volts.

Half your circuit breakers are connected to L1 and the other half are connected to L2.

If you are going to run your transformer from 220 volts then you need to connect the Black and Yellow wires to a 220 volt breaker which takes up two slots and has the little bar in between the two breakers. You need to connect the Black wire to one output of the breaker and the Yellow to the other output of the breaker.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[dradam]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I will go and test all the things you suggested now. My one question is how can the output on the transformer and how can I test if the mother board is getting power after the breakers?

I aswell have a circut breaker just for the control system and a GFCI outlet on the side of my easy touch that will trip if water comes into contact.

I shut the power off to the whole pool area from the breaker inside my house before working.

Thanks for the tip on wire gauge. I will take a look at that.

Will go and test if I am getting power and let you know.

Thanks

The low voltage transformer leads go to a low vlotage breaker ( I believe) and then from there to a plug on the motherboard. I would test the MB plug first. If it reads correctly your MB is fried. If it is dead then likely your transformer( or low voltahe breaker) is fried. Just work you way backwards .

Let us know what you find.

- - - Updated - - -

PS. yes you have a GFCI outlet but your breakers are not GFCI. only the outlet is GFCI protected.

 

[Chenzo]

C,

It is hard to tell in the pic, but it appears to me you have both the black transformer wire and the Yellow transformer wire going to the same place???

If this is true, then you can't possible have 220 volts feeding into the transformer...

The AC power coming into your EasyTouch has two hot leads.. L1 and L2. Each lead has 120 volts when measured to ground or the neutral wire. but if you measure between between L1 and L2 you get 240 volts.

Half your circuit breakers are connected to L1 and the other half are connected to L2.

If you are going to run your transformer from 220 volts then you need to connect the Black and Yellow wires to a 220 volt breaker which takes up two slots and has the little bar in between the two breakers. You need to connect the Black wire to one output of the breaker and the Yellow to the other output of the breaker.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

Jim,

Thank you for pointing that out, i just realized I was only feeding the transformer 120v but had wired it for 240v. If this was the problem causing the system to not get power I now realize I would need a dual breaker just like the one my pump and heater have.

My next question would be do I actually need to use the transformer in 220v mode or would 120v work? As I mentioned above i thought i would need 220v mode on the transformer because i have some equipment that is 220v. Am i correct in saying that in order to use my 220v equipment with the system i would need to have the transformer in 220v mode?

If this is the case my only confusion comes from how I would go about adding that 220v breaker. Firstly, in order to fit the 220v breaker on the bottom i would have to shift all my other breakers up. I would be able to do this but would all my equipment still function properly? I am confused on the Half your circuit breakers are connected to L1 and the other half are connected to L2." part. How do I know which are connected to which and does this mean it matters where i put the 220v breaker for the system.

If you could please clear up if I do need 220v or not and how I would properly add a 220v breaker without disturbing the rest of my electrical connections that would be great. Just a little confused.

Thanks

- - - Updated - - -

The low voltage transformer leads go to a low vlotage breaker ( I believe) and then from there to a plug on the motherboard. I would test the MB plug first. If it reads correctly your MB is fried. If it is dead then likely your transformer( or low voltahe breaker) is fried. Just work you way backwards .

Let us know what you find.

- - - Updated - - -

PS. yes you have a GFCI outlet but your breakers are not GFCI. only the outlet is GFCI protected.

Hi,

I tested the MB plug and only got 1v... strange

Took a look at the breakers and they were all fine and also reset them and still only 1v

This leads me to the conclusion that it is the transformer but after reading what Jim said it may not be broken after all. If you could also answer any of the questions i asked him that is appreciated as well.

In regards to the GFCI you are correct, i misunderstood you and thought you meant the outlet, will have to take a look at some GFCI breakers.

Thanks

 

[Chenzo]

I am gonna have to call it quits for today but I tested one more thing

I thought that the reason i may not be getting power is because the transformer was wired for 220v but I was only supplying it with 120v from a 120v circut breaker as Jim mentioned.
Even though i have not found out if i would need the transformer wired for 120 or 220 I still deiced to wire it for 120 and see if this was the problem.

I properly wired it for 120v with the black into the breaker and violet to neutral. Turned the power on and still no power the the panel. Broke out the multi meter and tested the motherboard connector, no power there. This leads me to the assumption that the transformer is fried but how would I know for sure?

 

[Jimrahbe]

C,

The panel can run off of either 220 or 110, it does not matter in the least if other things, like your pump is running off 220 volts.

If me, I'd wire the transformer for 110 volts. Run the Black transformer lead to the bottom CB, run the Violet to the neutral buss (where all the white wires connect) and cap off the Yellow... You should then be good to go...

A 220 volt circuit breaker is twice as wide as a 110 volt breaker.. This is because the top part of the breaker is connection to the L1 voltage and the bottom half of the circuit breaker is connection to the L2 voltage. Between the two you end up with 220 volts..

Jim R.

 

[Chenzo]

Okay great, good to know that I can use the transformer in 120v mode without a problem!

Now comes the next issue lol, as i just posted a minute before you did I did end up wiring the transformer for 120v (Black to CB, and Violet to the buss). After doing this still had no power to the system and as i mentioned i tested the 10, 12 and 24v pins and got no voltage. Does this mean my transformer is fried? Or is there other things i should check first?

 

[dradam]

Okay great, good to know that I can use the transformer in 120v mode without a problem!

Now comes the next issue lol, as i just posted a minute before you did I did end up wiring the transformer for 120v (Black to CB, and Violet to the buss). After doing this still had no power to the system and as i mentioned i tested the 10, 12 and 24v pins and got no voltage. Does this mean my transformer is fried? Or is there other things i should check first?

If you are confident that you wired the transfomer correctly, then it is probably fried. The wiring info is on the transformer and on the door to the easytouch as well. Even if you are wrong the transformaer is cheap, but the MB is expensive.

Keep us posted.

 

[ps0303]

Isn't there a print on the inside of the door panel and that tells you pretty much everything you need to know on how to wire the transformer. Do you not have that?

 

[mmesqc1578]

Hi, I have the same system as you do and hooked it up about 4 years ago. Yes you can wire the transformer for 120 or 240 input and it will still have the same output. I would pull out a voltage meter first
(about $25 at a home center) and confirm your input voltage. The I would confirm the output voltage both before and after the low voltage circuit breakers. If no output then the transformer may be fried (my greatest suspicion from what you describe), but not an overly expensive or difficult fix. Its not in the photos but I assume you checked the low voltage connection to the motherboard itself. If the power is getting to the motherboard and it is not booting then the motherboard may have been fried. This is an easy replacement , but it is expensive. I had to replace mine once when a lightning surge hit it.

The transfomer draws little power so you could tap it off any 120 or 240 breaker, but I chose to give it its own breaker so the motor surges would not affect it.

If you get up and running I wrote an article about my automation installation a few years ago :

DIY Pentair pool automation article

It may give you some help as you plan what to do with your system. PM if I can be of further help.

Ps. All of my breakers in the load center are GFCI protected (shut off instantly if electricity doesn't go where its supposed to) Not a bad Idea where electricity and water are involved.
PPS. I installed a service disconnect ( Cuts all power to the system) just before the load center so that I can work on it safely-- I hope you have that as well.
PPPs. As you look toward using your system correctly be sure that the wire gauge entering your load center is correct based on the breaker you are using to the system (50 A minimum I believe) and the distance from your power origin to the load center.

Best wishes.

Do you still have this article? THe link doesn't seem to work anymore.