Fragile Pentair LCD Panel??

[Joshii]

Not very happy with my pump right now. Going on its third season. I fire it up: I can barely read the LCD panel. Anyone else have this happen? Will this be covered under warranty? I try to take good care of my equipment!

https://imgur.com/afAXMfN

 

[ajw22]

We have lots of folks with Pentair pumps and I have not heard of this problem.

How old is your pump? Is it under warranty?

 

[ogdento]

It looks to me like there's some dirt/contamination in the internal connection between the board and the lcd glass. Lcds typically use an elastomeric connector or "zebra strip" to connect to the board.

...If it's not covered by warranty I'd carefully take it apart and clean the elastomer, the board pads and the lcd with 90% or better Isopropyl alcohol. Let it dry completely before putting it back together.

 

[Joshii]

Ogdento, that did the trick! I disassembled the LCD panel and let it air out. I put it back together and it's fine now.
Since this isn't a part you touch when installing the pump, it was likely a defect in manufacturing / original assembly. Would you agree? Should I bring this up with Pentair in case it causes any future issues?

 

[ajw22]

I wouldn’t say anything to Pentair.

 

[ogdento]

I agree with Allen's suggestion not to say anything, I'd hate for it to ruin any warranty you've got left.

I'm curious, is your pump covered? With all the moisture problems these keypads seem to have, I'm wondering how many of them have a weather cover of some sort over them, or if they're just out in the elements. (Mine has no cover, I'm in CA)

Forgot to mention... I'm glad you got it working!!

 

[Joshii]

Thanks, everyone. It is out in the open during the swimming months. For pool closing, I winterize it according to the instructions and put a rubbermade bin over it to protect it from snow.

What I did this time during re-assembly of the keypad is I lubed up the gaskets quite a bit and made sure the screws were nice and tight. I'm not sure what else I can do. It would be beyond dumb if I have to bring my pump in the house over the winter.

 

[ogdento]

Smart play to cover it in the winter!

I've been contemplating making one of these rounded covers to protect the vfd, but it doesn't rain out here in the summer.

 

[ncinthenext3]

I did get this fixed! I'll try again to upload photos. I'm getting error messages trying to do it from my phone. Long story short, after taking off the lcd assembly I discovered the two female connections that accept the screws that hold the lcd display to the elastomer connections had separated form the board. An obvious pentair defect. Some super glue to reattach them to the board and some weather stripping behind the lcd panel and on the panel cover gives me enough contact pressure to bring the lcd readout back to life. All contacts cleaned, and gaskets lubed/sealed. I didn't have moisture intrusion or corrosion. Just a poor elastomer connection due to Crud quality. I'll let you know if it holds up but I'm happy as heck!!

 

[ncinthenext3]

Here was the inital problem. No idea how those became detached from the board. Cleaned all connections, even though it looked factory fresh. This is where I stacked the weather stripping to ensure the elastomers make contact with the board. Suprisingly enough, it worked!

Thanks everyone here for the assistance. I never imagined I could repair that.

 

[swimmypv]

View attachment 327213Here was the inital problem. No idea how those became detached from the board. View attachment 327214Cleaned all connections, even though it looked factory fresh. View attachment 327219This is where I stacked the weather stripping to ensure the elastomers make contact with the board. View attachment 327220 Suprisingly enough, it worked!

Thanks everyone here for the assistance. I never imagined I could repair that.

Many thanks for posting these pictures. Just had to do the same thing to my pump and it worked! My got hit by a pretty heavy object that fell from above and afterwards the LCD wouldn't display. But all working smoothly now.