New Pentair Protocol adaptor doesnt report telemetry

[gbhumphrey]

Disclaimer - This is at my vacation house so I havent actually trouble shot the old or new adapter, someone else did.
I recently had to replace my Pentair Protocol adapter. My pool guy said it bricked. I couldn't control any thing.
With the new one, I can control the pool, set a schedule, etc, but the telemetry no longer shows in the Screenlogic Mobile app. it doesnt report any of the correct temps, nor can I set a temp , nor does it show the time of usage on the equipment. The history tab shows no data.
My panel Intellitouch i5 has firmware 1.170
The Adapter has POOL: 5.2 Build 738.0 Rel
Any ideas why it's partially working?

 

[mknauss]

Sorry you have not received any replies. Let's try giving this bump for our Screenlogic folks to see.

 

[Jimrahbe]

gb,

If you are not there, how do you know if anything is working??

History just records what is on or off based on pool, spa, heater or lights being on or off. And water temps. If it is blank or flatlined, then I would assume it is not working. Like being in the Service mode all the time.

If you have a VS pump can you change the speed and see the resulting change in watts and speed??

I guess my point is that most things on ScreenLogic are just what you told the EasyTouch to do.. There is no real feedback to say that it has actually done it.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gbhumphrey]

Jim, I have other people there telling me wants happening.
Anyway, im here now and the MobleTouch 2 wont connect either. I did the "put panel in mode, press 2/4 buttons" and I got a message "There was an error retrieving Data" .
What to do next?

 

[Jimrahbe]

gb,

If you have an IntelliFlo pump, the first thing to do is go out and see if the pump's display says "Display not active".. If it does it means the com port in the EasyTouch is working.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gbhumphrey]

Ah, I assume you mean when the panel is in Auto mode. and , when it is, the pump panel reads the RPMs.
Its the Intelliflow variable speed pump.

 

[Jimrahbe]

gb,

If the panel is in AUTO and your pump reads RPM, it means your com port is not working.. This could be because the main board is bad.. or that one of the other things connected to the com port is bad..

The best way to figure it out, is to disconnect everything from the com port except the pump.. With just the pump connected, check to see what the pump's display says.. If still RPM, then most likely the main board is bad... It could be the pump, but I doubt it..

If the pump says "Display not active", then that means the main board is good.. Then start connecting the other devices, one at a time, until you find the bad device.

This is a pain, but it is never a good idea to connect or disconnect any com port connection with the power on..

Let us know what you find.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gbhumphrey]

So I see where the wires from the antenna and pump all come into the "Surge Board" (Pentair Surge Board PCBA 521218) , there a green light on it that's lit. From that there's one wire to the comm connection on the main panel.
I assume when the green light is lit, it has power.
So, if , say, I disconnect J1 and j2, and the pump still doesnt say "Display not Active" , then I replace that one, yes? not the main board.

 

[Jimrahbe]

GB,

NO.. There is only one com port on an EasyTouch.. But.. there are several connections to that same point. The Surge card does two things.. It is the power supply for the salt cell and it is a card that can be used to connect to the com port on the main board.. Keep in mind that the surge card also talks to the SWCG using the com port, so in theory the SWCG could be bad.

You want to start off with nothing connected to the main board but the 2-wire cable coming from the pump.. You want the cable that connects the surge card to the main board disconnected.

One you know that the pump can communicate with the main board, you can start reconnecting things, one at a time. The first thing to reconnect would be the surge card. When you reconnect the surge card make sure that none of the surge card's extra com port connects have anything on them, except the one cable the connects the main board com port to the surge card.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gbhumphrey]

OK, SO,
I've disconnected everything except the "Filter Pump" and Power to the board.
Note that is this seems to be a secondary board on top of the one with the buttons form the front panel.
Semi-pro tip, label your wires when disconnecting so you know where they go back to.

I set the panel to Automatic mode, and the pump comes on, but it displays the Pump Speed, not "Display not Active" .
This means the board is bad yes?
And do I get this smaller board separately or do both come together?

 

[Jimrahbe]

gb,

I thought you had an EasyTouch, but that is not a big deal.. I just wanted you to disconnect com port connections, not relay connections.. It won't matter.

You do not have the pump connected to any com ports.. The Pump/Filter connection is for a relay and has nothing to do with the com port..

You should have a fat black cable that comes from the side of the pump into the top of your IntelliTouch.. Mine has two wires, yours may have 2 or 4 wires. Physically find the cable and follow it back into the panel.. connect it to the com port using only the Green and Yellow wires

Did you take any pics before taking it apart?

The com port is the 4 pin connector in the lower left of your pics and labeled "Com Port"...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gbhumphrey]

Success!!
Jim ,
One you got me dialed into how to troubleshoot, it was easy to see what was going on.
There was a wire plugged into the J1 com port that didn't connect to anything, causing the whole thing to fail.
The J2 port connects to the serial antennas.
That being said, someone had also UNpluggeed one of the Antennas...
So, the new protoocl adapter is fine. im questioning if I needed it at all, I doubt it, but the installer didn't leave me the old unit.
I still have to resync the Mobiltouch controller,
but also, the temperature sensors need calibration. I tried from the SLConfig mobile app but that didn't seem to work.
Thanks so much sir!

 

[Jimrahbe]

gb,

Not to badmouth all pool repair guys, but disconnecting a cable is a "trick" that is often used to "prove" there has been a failure and that the pool owner needs to pay for a costly repair.

Glad you were able to get it back up,

Jim R.