iAqualink IQ20 won't work with anything else attached

[wysocki]

I installed an IQ20 to my pool 2 years ago. It came with a motherboard which replaced the Jandy RS4 board that was there. It was controlled by an RS4 wall controller and a spa side 4-switch. It was heaven. Then last month, I noticed strange things happening - like the lights and booster pump going on and off by themselves! Posts here on this forum suggested the spa side switch (which was in bad physical shape). Sure enough, I pulled the brown 6-pin connector from the motherboard and problems were gone.

Now the really strange stuff begins:
I found that I couldn't get wifi access to the IQ20 and went through all kinds of work to reboot, reconfigure, reset the unit - all with no luck. Talking with tech support, I convinced them that being an electronics engineer, I could do a bit of troubleshooting. We pulled everything off of the red 4-pin jacks except for the IQ20 and WE HAD WEB ACCESS AGAIN! But whenever I attached either the Pentier Intelliflo or the Jandy RS4 controller to the red jacks, the internet connectivity went dead!

I now have the IQ20 on one of the red 4-pin and the RS4 piggy-back with the Intelliflo on the other. I have no access via the IQ20 - BUT everything else works fine. I can control with the RS4 and the timers start and stop the pumps right on schedule. If I disconnect the pump and RS4, then the web works again! The guys at Aqualink say I have to have a local "authorized" tech come out and troubleshoot it, but I think I've done pretty much what a local pool guy could figure to do. I suspect he'd just say, "just put another motherboard in here". I'm wondering having the spa-side connector off could be doing nasty things? I can't figure out where I can disable the spa-side via software.

Can anyone tell me where I disable spa-side programmatically or offer any suggestion as to what could be going on here?
THANKS IN ADVANCE!

 

[Pool Clown]

From the AllButton panel in the house...

MENU/LOCKOUTS/ SPA SWITCH/ LOCK-UNLOCK.

Jandy offers a expansion board (ridiculously over priced) that allows you to add more ports to the system. They advise not to stack connections on the ports. This may be what is happening to you. I don't know why they didn't tell you this when you had them on the line.

Jandy/ Zodiac part #6584 MSRP $186.83 (told you) I sell it for $140.47 You can probably find it online for a fraction of that. You being an elec engineer, you could probably build one for 25 cents.

 

[wysocki]

Thanks for the guidance via the menu, PoolClown. I would have thought that the online setup would cover the same features that the Allbutton does. Also, regarding the expansion board, I had heard of this issue when I first hooked it up a couple years ago. But it's worked fine all this time and electrically there's no difference (unless there are resistors or other components embedded in that expansion board). It would make for a "cleaner" install tho. In any case, my issue exists even if I have no piggy-backs, just ONE device attached in addition to the IQ20. I also thought maybe there wasn't enough voltage, but both plugs show 10vdc across pins 1-4.

 

[Pool Clown]

Nothing on the board except traces and the pin plugs. Something is up with the components you are connecting. Jandy didn't used to play nice with Pentair VSP, but i think they got all that straightened out now through updated versions. When you first got he iQ, you had to connect the transceiver to your network with a network cable (had to open the enclosure on the iQ to get to the network socket) have you tried that setup again and get the newest version? It was to get your wireless settings, but i thought it downloaded something else too. Can't remember...

 

[wysocki]

With the IQ20 you don't have to do the ethernet cable thing. You connect your phone to a hotspot in the IQ20 to do the initial setup and point the IQ20 to your wifi router. When I was working with Zodiac last week, they did a "flash" of my unit, which I assume installed the latest patches to the system. Once I connect the pump and/or Allbutton unit, the internet connection goes dead again. Since it's the dead of winter, I'm leaving them hooked up and everything is running fine (except the internet connection), but I'll have to do something before summer. Zodiac said my next step is to have a "certified" pool guy come out to troubleshoot it. I'm sure that after I pay him a couple hundred bucks, he'll say I need to replace the motherboard.

 

[Pool Clown]

Unacceptable... I would insist they walk you through diagnosis, i mean, that's what they are there for.

Are you connecting those two separately? Or are they on the same buss/port? Does it still die if you hook up only the all-button? If it dies if you hook up either separately, im inclined to think it is the board (pin socket on the board) that is giving you trouble.

Just so im clear, the pump and the indoor controller are the only two things you plug into the board?

 

[wysocki]

You're clear. With the IQ20 on one of the red plugs (either one) and the other empty, I have internet (but no pump nor Allbutton obviously). If I connect the pump OR the Allbutton OR both on the other plug, the internet dies but the pump/Allbutton works. Pulling that second plug off immediately allows for internet connection again!

It's hard to believe that it's a pin socket problem since it doesn't matter which one I connect with, just that the IQ20 doesn't like anything else connected at the same time. I'm going to call Zodiac again tomorrow and get more assertive that they help with the troubleshooting. What training does a "certified installer" have that I can't check with my meter? Further, what could he do except sell me another motherboard anyway? There are no user replaceable parts on the board (except for the fuse). I have the IQ20-RS which includes the upgraded motherboard that replaced my old RS4 board. The IQ20-A is just the antenna module. Where can I even get just the motherboard by itself if it's bad?

 

[Pool Clown]

There is a switch inside the transmitter that tells the transmitter to turn on or not (use wifi, or hard wire). What is that set to? (not sure what else it could be so i'm checking the simple stuff). At this point, i'm beginning to think it may be the transmitter. So when you say your loosing the internet, your loosing lights on the transmitter? Which one(s)?

 

[wysocki]

The switch in the antenna is set to wifi. As long as the antenna is the only thing connected to the motherboard, it works great! The setup program shows full strength to the wifi router and the app is very responsive, never gave me any problems. As soon as I connect another device though, it becomes non-accessible (by me as well as the folks at Zodiac), but all three lights on the antenna remain lit solid.

 

[Pool Clown]

Since you aren't loosing lights, maybe you are still connected? And the system is just locked or hung up because it (Jandy server), can't talk to either the panel or the drive (pump)? Firmware version mismatch between the iQ and these two components?? Figured Jandy would be able to catch this though, with your discussions with them. See if you can talk to someone that really knows the software. You wont always get the sharpest knife picking up the phone there. In their defense, it is like that everywhere.

I would ask to talk to someone that really knows the system. You may have to spend some time on hold to get to him (bring your lunch)...

Maybe they would offer to replace the transmitter, see if that would fix it?