Inside a Pentair Intellichlor IC40 - Entertainment ONLY!

[eostrike]

Hey everyone, my SWG (installed 2015) had failed and since I have been repairing electronics as a hobby I thought I would see if I could access the inside of our Pentair IC40 as I have not seen this done anywhere before. Getting the top off was the easy part as it just pops off. Once inside I saw all the epoxy on the top side used to protect the electronics and to make it virtually impossible to try and repair. I first started with a hair blow dryer to soften up the epoxy. It was a very slow process. Once I knocked off a few SMD components in the process I decided to thrown in the towel. I now wanted to get under the circuit board to see what components live underneath. Once I was able to see under the circuit board it too was completely filled with epoxy. Seen in one of my photos there are capacitors on the bottom side. It would not surprise me at all if there was at least one capacitor that was going faulty which caused my SWG to fail, especially since the SWG reported that I had 40% life left.

My issue started last summer the RED low flow light could come and and it would not make chlorine. After speaking to Pentair they suggested I replace the the flow switch. I ordered one off Amazon and installed it and it did not resolve the issue. I tried to return it but that seller had a 50% restocking fee so I just kept it in the unit. Then winter hit and the water was too cold to product chlorine until recently. Once the water got up to 70 degrees and had the unit powered back on it still had the RED low flow light on. There was nothing more to replace on this unit as the flow switch was/is the only serviceable component to this unit.

These pictures are for entertainment purpose only. I would HIGHLY encourage anyone looking at online sites selling non-working Pentair SWG's to save your money as all you are going to do is make someone else money by pawning their junk off on another person and chances of them fixing this is slim to none.

Enjoy the photos!

 

[ShallowWater]

Interesting..

Why's it so crudded up?

 

[eostrike]

Interesting..

Why's it so crudded up?

That is all epoxy that was filled over the electronics. It does a few things, keeps the parts from becoming lose from vibrations as well make makes it virtually tamper/non-repair proof. In other words trying to repair them are pretty much impossibly. If it did not contain all that epoxy I would think I could have have a 50/50 chance on fixing the issue.

 

[ShallowWater]

That is all epoxy that was filled over the electronics. It does a few things, keeps the parts from becoming lose from vibrations as well make makes it virtually tamper/non-repair proof. In other words trying to repair them are pretty much impossibly. If it did not contain all that epoxy I would think I could have have a 50/50 chance on fixing the issue.

But probably more issues with water intrusion.

 

[eostrike]

But probably more issues with water intrusion.

This IC40 had seen no water intrusion and before I started trying to remove th

But probably more issues with water intrusion.

I do not disagree at all .

Here is what I came up with on a quick google search. I am sure other sites will vary.

"Epoxy resins insulate circuit boards to protect them from harsh environments, such as moisture, corrosive agents, and chemicals. Epoxy resin is also temperature resistant and offers great adhesion, so you can ensure your circuit board is completely protected."

But with the epoxy it makes it virtually tamper proof.

 

[JamesW]

Very entertaining; well done!

 

[eostrike]

Very entertaining; well done!

Thanks JamesW. I did not see this done anywhere so I thought I would attempt a repair until I got to all the epoxy. Had no idea what was inside until I go inside.

Hopefully this saves people from buying used ones on an online site with the intention to repair. Save your money.