Pentair Easy Touch 8 Panel Electronics 3Amp Circuit Breaker Tripped - How do I test the transformer?

[Flamingo Bay]

Wanted to turn the water feature on through remote but it was not working. Then I found that the Pentair Easy Touch 8 control panel is out. A service call would cost $125 to start with, ouch! So I'm thinking to give it a shot myself first. Here's what I found:

• Nothing shown on the display and no lights on for any pump/feature.
• The "12 V ELECTRONICS BLU/WHT" 3AMP circuit breaker is tripped. (See Image 0)
• Reset the CB, and in 1 sec it tripped again.
• There is a light electrical burn smell if I sniff hard
• Valves and relays have their own CB but I unplugged them anyway from the board. Changed a new CB and turned it on. Still nothing on display or lights, but I suddenly sense a stronger electrical burn smell and saw a bit smoke coming out of the middle of the motherboard. Then the CB was tripped again.

I'm a bit stuck on where do I go from here.

• I doubt the communication portal (to the remote control) or the temp sensors are causing the problem. I still plan on undoing those wires and testing the unit but won't count on them to be the culprits.
• The electrical burn makes me wonder if it is a transformer problem. Not sure if it's possible for one (12V) to fail but the other two (18V & 24V) still work. The question here is how do I test the transformer to know whether it is the problem. I read in some posts that people said they read the voltage on those breakers, but I'm not sure how to read that. Two wires go to the breaker, one from the transformer and the other from the motherboard. If I put the electrical meter's two terminals to one wire head each, I don't even get a read on the two working breakers.

Obviously, it could be the motherboard that went bad - especially after the second burn it probably was fried even if it was okay to start with, lol. I just don't want to get a new motherboard with the original problem still there and burn the new one too. So I want to be sure of what is causing the tripping in the first place.

Thank you for anyone that can help shed some light on this! I can't believe my luck after just replaced the filter ... Pool is a lot more fun when whose turn to brush is the only concern of the day!

 

[ajw22]

Read Pentair Automation Systems - Further Reading for troubleshooting the transformer and CBs opening.

 

[wireform]

@ogdento to chime in here.

 

[ajw22]

Have you closely examined the board for signs of burnt components or burn marks?

Post pictures of the PCB.

 

[ogdento]

conveniently @ajw22 just today added a load of details to the wiki regarding troubleshooting the transformer and the low voltage breakers (and what they're for) in the easytouch/intellitouch section he linked to above

to answer the question about could the 12v go bad but the 18 or 24 be ok... it could happen but I don't think it's too likely. when you go through the transformer test, unplug the 6-position outdoor board power connector so you are checking the transformer without any load on it (nothing is taking power from it) @ajw22 we should probably note that in the transformer test

 

[ajw22]

conveniently @ajw22 just today added a load of details to the wiki regarding troubleshooting the transformer and the low voltage breakers (and what they're for) in the easytouch/intellitouch section he linked to above

to answer the question about could the 12v go bad but the 18 or 24 be ok... it could happen but I don't think it's too likely. when you go through the transformer test, unplug the 6-position outdoor board power connector so you are checking the transformer without any load on it (nothing is taking power from it) @ajw22 we should probably note that in the transformer test

The transformer provides three low voltage AC inputs to the card:

• Between Blue/White and Blue for 12 volts AC
• Between Org/White and Org for 18 volts AC
• Between Red/White and Red for 24 volts AC

Each pair of wires (blue and blue/white, orange and orange/white, red and red/white) has a circuit breaker in one leg. If the board is not getting voltage test around the circuit breaker.

To test the voltage before the breaker put one test lead on the board power connector after you disconnect it from the PCB - to whichever wire is not interrupted by the breaker - and the other lead on the side of the breaker that connects to the transformer secondary (rather than the side that goes to the board power connector). If you don't get 12-15 volts but you know the primary is getting 120v, then your transformer is bad. If you do get a good voltage output then something's up with the breaker.

 

[ogdento]

oops i didn't notice you had it in there!

 

[ajw22]

oops i didn't notice you had it in there!

I didn't until now.

 

[Flamingo Bay]

Thank you all! Looks like I've got some testing to do next weekend !

I don't spot any burn marks on the board. Attached is the image of the board. But I probably should check the other side too when testing. Thanks again and will report back!