iAqualink online & operating correctly but always Waiting for connection

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uscpsycho

Member
Dec 19, 2023
9
Los Angeles
I have a brand new iAqualink 3.0 that is hardwired, so wifi connection is not the problem. When I log in to my account from a browser I can see device status shows "Your iAquaLink is operating correctly" and it is Online. However when I try to access it by clicking on the name of the device all I get is a blue screen that says "Waiting for connection..." and it never gets past that. I have reset the internet connection multiple times and that didn't solve the problem. I previously tried connecting via wifi and had the same outcome, so I hardwired it to eliminate wifi connectivity as an issue. I have also tried connecting from two cellphones and a laptop using three different browsers, so it is not a device/browser/cookie issue either.

What could cause this situation where I am indefinitely waiting for a connection yet my account shows that the IQ30 is online and operating correctly? Seems rather unusual.
 
On that Device Status screen on the IAqualink Owners Center page did you double check that the serial number shown there matches the serial number of your IAqualink 3.0 unit? One thought is that the serial number might have a typo in it and the serial number is for some other base station rather than yours.

The other thing they talk about when setting up your account and entering the serial number is that the computer being used should be on the same network as the IAqualink transceiver.

And what are the three LED's doing on the side of the IAqualink unit, are they all on?

One reason why you may see that "waiting to connect" message is that the iAqualink can't talk to the RS main control board. The iAqualink unit may be online and talking to the network and Zodiac server, but if it can't talk to the RS main board you will get that waiting message.

Also note that the RS unit MUST be in Auto mode for the iAqualink connectivity to work. If you have it in one of the two service modes the iAqualink unit cannot talk to the RS main board. This will also result in that waiting to connect message.

And lastly you do have the iAqualink connected up via the 4 wire cable to one of the two red connectors on the RS main board, correct?
 
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@MSchutzer provided several key points to follow up.
It was stated that OP switched from wifi to wired to wifi. There is a switch in the antenna box that must be set. It is recommended to move this switch back and forth a couple of times to clear the setting then put it in the desired mode - wired or wifi.

Ensure the 4 wires from the antenna to the RED connector are in the right positions.

Also, ensure the antenna lights are per the graphic below
AquaLink Antenna LED info.JPG
 
If the system was working previously before you got the error, then maybe the following will help.

I recently had an Aqualink system installed and I have experienced this error several times. For me, this issue occurs when I back out of a settings menu/screen without saving my changes (what terrible software...).

In any case, when this issue occurs, the fix that always works for me is to open the panel and un-plug the red RS-485 connector that goes to the iAquaLink 3.0 device, wait 10 seconds, and then plug it back in. The fix is described in this video. The red RS-485 connectors are shown at timestamp 0:50. In this video and in my system there are two red RS-485 connectors, and you have to determine which goes to the iAqualink 3.0 device and unplug that. In the video it's the left connector, but on my system it's the right connector.

I know you say you're hard-wired (I'm wireless), but if you are still using the iAqualink 3.0 device and your ethernet cable is plugged into that, then maybe this fix will work for you too.
 
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Log out of the phone app and log back in. If that doesn't work, go to application settings and delete all app data.
 
Thank you for all the suggestions! I didn't see them until now because I didn't have the option set to receive email notifications of replies, so I didn't think anyone had replied.

Anyway, I tried many of the things that were suggested here and finally identified the problem. We have a Jandy AquaPure Power Pack (model APUREM) that is connected to one of the 4-wire connectors. When it is plugged in I'm stuck at "waiting for connection" but when it's unplugged, everything works fine. It took a lot of troubleshooting to figure this out!

This is on my dad's pool so I'm not super familiar with all the equipment he's got on there. I just get called over to fix whatever technical problems he experiences. He said that the Aquapure isn't working because his pool people don't know what they're doing and keep burning the cells, which are too expensive to replace. So he stopped using it. I don't know if that means it's powered off, or "not using it" makes it send an error signal to the main controller which makes it stop operating, or what.

Anyway, I think it's kind of weird that an accessory being plugged in would cause the network connection to their servers to fail but that is what is happening. Does this make sense to anyone?

Right now I have the Aquapure unplugged but I can see this being an issue down the line if my dad ever wants to get it working again. Someone will come to replace the cell and the thing won't work because I disconnected it and nobody will know. Any suggestions for keeping it plugged in and avoiding the network service issue? Maybe because it's powered down (I am guessing) and it needs to be powered on while plugged in? That is the only thing I can think of, but I didn't see an obvious way of turning it on or off.
 
Nice diagnosis. One explanation for what you're seeing is that the AquaPure is broken in a way that shorts or otherwise corrupts the RS-485 network. Damaged cable, blown control board, etc.
 
uscpsycho said:
Anyway, I think it's kind of weird that an accessory being plugged in would cause the network connection to their servers to fail but that is what is happening. Does this make sense to anyone?
Click to expand...
Can you show a picture of the RED connectors where the SWCG connected to it? The RED connectors can only handle 2 devices. If you have 1 RED connector then it can handle the Antenna and the Pump but not a 3rd item. if you have 2 RED connectors on the PCB, then connect 2 devices to 1 and a 3rd device to the other.
How many RS-485 cables are connected?
 
The network connection to their servers was not failing as the iAqualink 3.0 (transceiver and network connection box) showed online from the web side. The data information that populates the web page / app page comes from the RS main board processor. The hard wire connection between the iAqualink 3.0 and the RS main board was broken due to the problem with your Aquapure. So the web page / app page says waiting for connection (not to the iAqualink unit) but waiting for connection to the RS main board which never happened due to the problem on the RS485 link.

So actually what you were seeing makes perfect sense for a dead or broken RS485 link.
 

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HermanTX said:
Can you show a picture of the RED connectors where the SWCG connected to it? The RED connectors can only handle 2 devices. If you have 1 RED connector then it can handle the Antenna and the Pump but not a 3rd item. if you have 2 RED connectors on the PCB, then connect 2 devices to 1 and a 3rd device to the other.
How many RS-485 cables are connected?
Click to expand...

In trying to solve this connectivity problem I first upgraded his iq900 to iaqualink 3 because I thought wifi connectivity was the most likely culprit. And when that didn't solve the problem I resorted to hard wiring it instead of wifi, which didn't solve the problem either.

When installing the new antenna I noticed that both of the red connectors were doubled up, so two devices to each connector for a total of four. I guess this is acceptable based on what you just said. But I feared this could be causing some sort of communication issue, so I went ahead and added a 6584 multiplex board so that every device had it's own red connector, and that still didn't solve the problem so I had to keep troubleshooting.

Anyway, that's a long way to say that each red connector only has one device attached to it, so overloaded connectors isn't the problem.

MSchutzer said:
The network connection to their servers was not failing as the iAqualink 3.0 (transceiver and network connection box) showed online from the web side. The data information that populates the web page / app page comes from the RS main board processor. The hard wire connection between the iAqualink 3.0 and the RS main board was broken due to the problem with your Aquapure. So the web page / app page says waiting for connection (not to the iAqualink unit) but waiting for connection to the RS main board which never happened due to the problem on the RS485 link.

So actually what you were seeing makes perfect sense for a dead or broken RS485 link.
Click to expand...

If the issue is a dead or broken RS485 link then there is probably an internal issue with the Aquapure. The cable itself looks OK and I made sure the connections with the red connectors are solid. Could the lack of a functioning cell for the Aquapure cause this issue where it is perpetually waiting for a connection?

I see things that cost $700+ like this replacement cell. And I see this cell that is $350. Might one of these solve the problem?

Sorry if I devolved into stupid questions at the end there, this is territory I'm very unfamiliar with.
 
uscpsycho said:
When installing the new antenna I noticed that both of the red connectors were doubled up, so two devices to each connector for a total of four. I guess this is acceptable based on what you just said. But I feared this could be causing some sort of communication issue, so I went ahead and added a 6584 multiplex board so that every device had it's own red connector, and that still didn't solve the problem so I had to keep troubleshooting.
Click to expand...
Not needed but it does not hurt to have more RED connectors. Can you confirm - are you connecting via RS485 a VS Pump, a 3.0 Antenna, a SWCG? Anything else? You mentioned there were 4 devices - what is the other?
 
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