Pentair Heater Control Board Rev14 LCD questions

[FlyDoc]

EDITED from original post to correct info.

Just replaced Pentair MasterTemp 400 (10 years old) control board with a new Rev14 Board (part 42002-0007S) that has an LCD instead of LED.

After boot cycle, the LCD shuts off, unlike the LED on the original Rev8 board, which remained on to display inlet temp. With the new board, there are no error codes on the display and no lights on the board itself, but heater does not operate at all.

Questions:

1. Is the LCD supposed to stop displaying after boot?
2. Considering the entire manifold assembly is new and no codes/lights, is the new board bad or might there be another trick to this?

Background:

• 10 yr old MasterTemp 400 was "warming" not "heating" and finally threw an E01 code. Replaced thermistor, which was definitely bad...physically broken off...(as well as replaced all other sensors on the manifold plus the thermal regulator, as long as I was at it).
• All wiring appears in good condition.
• Re-insert old board and it boots, throws the E01 code. Re-insert new Rev14 board, it boots, LCD shuts down, nothing happens regardless of EasyTemp settings or service mode settings on the panel.

In case it is helpful to someone else: I thought at first that the new board was bad out of the box because the LCD is HARD TO SEE through the red-tinted window in the membrane pad.

Thanks in advance for any advice...I'm not all that much a handyman and slowly learning as I go, but nearing ready to give up on this one.

 

[Texas Splash]

Hey Doc! Welcome to TFP. We nornally don't like to see threads go so long without a reply, and in your case, being a new member, it really stinks. So we wanted to welcome you formally. In additoin, this "bump" may help to get the thread more activity. Feel free to post as much as you need to. Finally, don't forget to update your signature with all of your pool and equipment info. Have a nice weekend.

 

[ajw22]

Have you tried calling Pentair tech support?

 

[JamesW]

Maybe a bad transformer. Check for 24 VAC coming from the transformer.

 

[FlyDoc]

Thanks much for the replies. End result was that I finally called a pool pro who offered to either troubleshoot further, or just replace the whole heater on the suspicion that the (expensive to replace) heat exchanger was the problem. I opted to cut my losses and went for a warrantied replacement, which he just did.

In regard to my comments about the membrane pad above, although I couldn't find anything online to verify it, the pool pro said that the version of membrane pad and control board do need to match. In any case, the Rev14 board with LCD on the new Pentair MasterTemp 400 he just installed does have a membrane pad with clear window, rather than a red-tinted window like was the case with the older system that had an LED.

I suppose there's an outside chance that if I'd spent another $100 on a clear membrane pad, maybe the Rev14 control board I bought while troubleshooting would have worked. But by then, I was just done troubleshooting / gambling $100-200 every round. So I'd recommend anyone ordering a new Pentair/Sta-rite control board also spring for a new membrane pad at the same time, just to take that variable out of the equation.

Hope this helps someone else down the road. We're selling this home to retire to a much cooler climate than Houston, so our pool owning days are numbered. We'll be leaving the new owners a solid system, so at pain to the wallet we can feel good about that.

Best wishes to all.

 

[JamesW]

The problem was not the heat exchanger.

Also, it's not true that the membrane pad has to match the control board.

The old membrane and control board had a 9 pin ribbon whereas the new membrane pad and control board have a 6 pin ribbon but it will still work with a non matched pair.

As far as red vs clear, I think that the red is just the removable peel off protective cover that comes with a new membrane pad.

Is the heater connected to automation?

 

[FlyDoc]

It is a 10 year old EasyTouch system, wall panel and hand-held. As I went along, I tried both Auto and Service modes, also pushing the membrane buttons in addition to buttons on both the panel and the hand-held, switching between spa and pool.

Anyway, the old heater did have a lot of corrosion under the hood so whether it was ultimately worth salvaging or not, I chose to be done with it and ponied up for a new, warranted heater.

 

[JamesW]

I can agree with replacing a 10 year old heater if it's in bad condition.

I was just pointing out that the information that you were told was not accurate so that anyone else reading the post wouldn't think that the parts needed to match.

It could have been a bad membrane pad if the buttons wouldn't work or possibly the fireman's switch was open.

There might have been a voltage issue, but it's hard to tell.

 

[FlyDoc]

Much appreciate running these questions to ground. Hope others find the detail useful in the future.
Cheers!