Easytouch Problems

[goldmaes]

My Easytouch system is about 10 years old. If I just leave everything alone it works just fine without problems, however I have had some annoying issues that I am not sure if they are solveable. It seems to have a mind of its own. If I turn the spa on and then put it back to pool mode from ScreenLogic I may have to do it multiple times before it actually works (both on phone and PC). If I try to save a light program it will never save, the next time the lights go on it defaults to the program it wants to show. Additionally for instance if I have in spa mode and forget to put it back in pool mode when I am done, more often than not it misses the next scheduled event (pool mode). Last but not least if I have the heat on, the only way to turn it off remotely is to turn the temperature way down and then turn the heater off. If I don’t do that it will say the heater is off but then a minute later it shows that it is still on. Any thoughts on if this is fixable? I don’t believe it is the ScreenLogic setup because mine died a few years ago and I was able to replace it and had the problems with both boards.

Has anyone run across this? Firmware issue? Bad Com port? Easytouch going bad? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ajw22]

Sounds like ScreenLogic problems to me.

Do things work correctly when you used the outdoor panel?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Eric,

From your PC, show me your schedules..

Also... Show me egg-timers..

Something I learned back in the stone age, was to only troubleshoot one problem at a time...

Keep in mind that if you manually turn something on, it will stay on until you turn if off, or the egg-timer turns it off.. (Kind of what the egg-timer is for..) Also... if you manually turn a scheduled circuit on, depending on when you do it, the schedule 'may' skip its next on time.

As a test, try this,,, Using ScreenLogic, turn on a light.. See if the ScreenLogic Icon for the light is on. Then go out and ensure the light is on. Next, using the main panel's buttons, turn off the light. Check that the light is actually off.. Then check ScreenLogic and see if the light Icon is off.

Where is your Inside antenna and Protocol Adapter located? If near your Internet hub, or router, move it further away if you can.

Let me know what you find.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[goldmaes]

Eric,

From your PC, show me your schedules..

Also... Show me egg-timers..

Something I learned back in the stone age, was to only troubleshoot one problem at a time...

Keep in mind that if you manually turn something on, it will stay on until you turn if off, or the egg-timer turns it off.. (Kind of what the egg-timer is for..) Also... if you manually turn a scheduled circuit on, depending on when you do it, the schedule 'may' skip its next on time.

As a test, try this,,, Using ScreenLogic, turn on a light.. See if the ScreenLogic Icon for the light is on. Then go out and ensure the light is on. Next, using the main panel's buttons, turn off the light. Check that the light is actually off.. Then check ScreenLogic and see if the light Icon is off.

Where is your Inside antenna and Protocol Adapter located? If near your Internet hub, or router, move it further away if you can.

Let me know what you find.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Yes, things work fine from the Easytouch controls with respect to the valves, spa, and heat. For one reason or another it doesn’t matter what I set the Easytouch on for lighting it will always start with the “sunset” lighting routine. As far as ScreenLogic, some features always work fine, the lights always turn on and off with the ScreenLogic switch and I can change the routine and that will always work, however If I “save” the routine it will always default back to sunset the next time I turn them on. That being said switching from pool mode to spa mode and vice versa may take 8-10 tries before it takes. Also, as I previously mentioned if i manually turn the heat on (not part of the egg-timer routine) the only way I can manually turn it off is to drop the temp on the ScreenLogic to below 60 and then turn the heater off and it wakes 85% of the time. The protocol adapter is wired to a switch and the router is on the other side of the house so it isn’t even close. Thoughts?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Eric,

If your ScreenLogic is connected by a wireless link, you could temporarily run a 4 wire cable and see if the problem goes away.. Could be that you don't have a good wireless connection..

Did you run the specific test that I asked you to run?

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[goldmaes]

Eric,

If your ScreenLogic is connected by a wireless link, you could temporarily run a 4 wire cable and see if the problem goes away.. Could be that you don't have a good wireless connection..

Did you run the specific test that I asked you to run?

Thanks,

Jim R.

Yes I did and it worked fine. It never seems to be a problem with the lights as they always work fine on ScreenLogic. It is only the pool/spa mode and heater on/off that doesn’t work well from ScreenLogic.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Eric,

On the surface it should not make any difference... The test just proves that you have two way communications..

ScreenLogic does not really do anything itself.. It is just a way to tell the EasyTouch what to do.

Looking at just the Pool/Spa switching issue... This is not a problem that I have seen or heard of before...

We can try to troubleshoot it if you want... just let me know..

Another option would be to upgrade to the new IntelliCenter.. The upgrade kit costs about $1,100.. An easy DIY install, but you only get a 60 day warranty with a DIY install.

You could also contact Tom @ogdento and just replace your current circuit card for not much money.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ogdento]

Hey Eric, I don't see an answer to whether your screenlogic (SL) hard-wired to the comm port or if it uses a wireless link? (I know the ethernet side is wired to a switch, but I'm talking about the rs485 connection). A wireless link might add an interference variable to your problem.

If your screenlogic truly passes the test Jim outlined (turning the light on via SL shows it on the outdoor, and turning it off on the outdoor is reflected in the SL app), and if the lighting always turns on/off from SL, then it sounds like your screenlogic can reliably talk to the outdoor board. Your inability to set the light program seems to happen on the outdoor board as well as the SL so I'm not sure it's a SL issue - what firmware is on your outdoor board?

As for the pump/spa... turning lights on from SL is a simple matter of the SL sending a command over rs485 to the outdoor board, which then energizes the relay the light is connected to. But turning on the pump requires an extra step... the SL sends an rs485 command to turn the pump on, but it's not handled by a simple relay on the outdoor board - the pump itself is connected to the rs485 bus and must be able to receive the command to turn on (and at what speed).

I'm wondering if the pump - and maybe other devices - are unable to reliably get rs485 commands? Is your salt cell accurately reporting values? Have you inspected/tested all the comm cables that go to all the comm "ports" and the screw connections to the terminal blocks - to make sure nothing's loose/corroded/damaged? Get us a pic of how everything is wired to the comm ports on the outdoor and the salt cell surge boards.

 

[goldmaes]

Hey Eric, I don't see an answer to whether your screenlogic (SL) hard-wired to the comm port or if it uses a wireless link? (I know the ethernet side is wired to a switch, but I'm talking about the rs485 connection). A wireless link might add an interference variable to your problem.

If your screenlogic truly passes the test Jim outlined (turning the light on via SL shows it on the outdoor, and turning it off on the outdoor is reflected in the SL app), and if the lighting always turns on/off from SL, then it sounds like your screenlogic can reliably talk to the outdoor board. Your inability to set the light program seems to happen on the outdoor board as well as the SL so I'm not sure it's a SL issue - what firmware is on your outdoor board?

As for the pump/spa... turning lights on from SL is a simple matter of the SL sending a command over rs485 to the outdoor board, which then energizes the relay the light is connected to. But turning on the pump requires an extra step... the SL sends an rs485 command to turn the pump on, but it's not handled by a simple relay on the outdoor board - the pump itself is connected to the rs485 bus and must be able to receive the command to turn on (and at what speed).

I'm wondering if the pump - and maybe other devices - are unable to reliably get rs485 commands? Is your salt cell accurately reporting values? Have you inspected/tested all the comm cables that go to all the comm "ports" and the screw connections to the terminal blocks - to make sure nothing's loose/corroded/damaged? Get us a pic of how everything is wired to the comm ports on the outdoor and the salt cell surge boards.

I think my concern is where you are going with this. My ScreenLogic is wireless and I believe it would only work (or fail) sporadically and not reliably have the same problems. I also should have stated that I am on my second pump with this problem (the 1st one died) and my second salt cell. I would think if the connections were bad replacing either would have fixed the issue. I have inspected/tested the comm cables and the screw connections are solid. I’ll take some pics.

My big concern is if there is some type of problem with the main circuit board on the EasyTouch. Is there a relatively easy way to test it?

Last but not least, my EasyTouch firmware is 2.130 and see on the website that 2.190 is the latest, do you think I should update that and see how it all reacts?

 

[ogdento]

Ok cool, you've got a wireless link... my best guess at this point is that it's the culprit. I would try hard-wiring it (temporarily remove the wireless link) and see if that changes anything. If you can't run a long enough cable you can also install the Screenlogic in the outdoor panel and use a wireless ethernet adapter (there's a few posts on tfp somewhere)

It's possible but I don't think too probable that your board has a problem... if it did I think you'd see the same issue when controlling things from the outdoor panel (we already know the comms are good). I don't know a good way to "test" it other than run it with your particular settings. There is a built-in self test but it's pretty basic.

It is possible that a firmware update will help... there have been a lot of pump changes since 2130, but I can't say for sure without trying it. You can diy the update with the right tools and software (there's a link to the post in the wiki), or reach out to me in a PM and I can do it for you.