Pentair IntelliBrite 5G Defect

[samendolaro]

Just an Update.. I purchased that aftermarket light and installed it today I'll have a better understanding how it works tonight and I will provide an update. I did notice that the Intellibright board I pulled out had that thick copper backing that the OP mentioned so as I suspected, Pentair didn't fix anything. Hopefully you get more then the year I did.



EDIT: Aftermarket light looks great. the light plugged directly in to where the pentair 5G was and used one screw to secure it. It came with a new Light Seal and a new brass screw to secure the light to the Niche. The Light also has about 488 LED's (pentair has 12) (although it is not the LED's which fail on the pentiar). I see that they advertise 3x brighter but I don't see that, looks the same brightness to me . The new light does have more solid colors, the lightshows are mostly fades ( I liked the Pentair light shows better although I never left my lights on a show) .

Overall the real test is going to be time . My 5G lights controllers failed after 13 months and 3 years .

I run my Pool lights for about 3 hours every night so I would love to see the light holdout as long as the light seal does. I'll update the thread when the light fails.

 

[Dirk]

Just an Update.. I purchased that aftermarket light and installed it today I'll have a better understanding how it works tonight and I will provide an update. I did notice that the Intellibright board I pulled out had that thick copper backing that the OP mentioned so as I suspected, Pentair didn't fix anything. Hopefully you get more then the year I did.

Yah, that's what I'm afraid of. Oh well. Time will tell. I think Pentair is really good at some things, and mediocre at others, and pretty darn bad at the rest. I've seen evidence of really high quality and really bad quality, just in the limited collection I own. What'a'ya gonna do. This is the chinese-made culture in which we now live, where profit is put above all else...

Good luck with your light. Please do keep us updated. I'll be back when my light goes!

 

[samendolaro]

For me Only the Pentair Motors have been worth it. My Intellichem display went bad after 4.5 years, still working just can't see anything. My IC40 just went bad last week, it is the third time the cell failes in 2 years , Initially failed after a week, then failed 3 months later. Now its failed again 2 motnhs after the warranty ended.

I like the idea of automation but Pentair has really turned out to be a big fail for me . I am considering trashing my entire Pentair easytouch setup and moving to the autopilot system I had at my previous home which was bulletproof .

 

[Dirk]

I would like Pentair gear better if it was priced what it is worth, or worth what it is priced...

 

[Crabcruncher]

Pool built 2015 July. All Pentair equipment. 5g pool light failed in May 2018. Called Pool builder and he said three yr warranty did not apply to lights, I even asked him to use his influence to see if he could change Pentairs mind. No dice. Par for the course with him.
So I called Pentair up trying to find out the correct board I should buy on Amazon to fix problem. Pentair guy asked if I had at least three Pentair products installed during build. I said yes. He said send builders invoice and equiptment install date and lights are covered in the three year warranty. Called builder, never heard back from him.
So I searched my records and found some paperwork from original build and sent them to Pentair. Pool light was promptly replaced.
So I tried to sych spa light to new pool light and found out spa light would not resume last color selected after being off overnight or ten seconds for that matter.lol.
Called Pentair up and they are replacing spa light under warranty.
Not all Pool builders are alike, just most of them. Deal with Pentair directly if builder isn't giving you satisfaction. Pentair service is excellent, and they wont keep you on hold if you give them the call back option.

 

[Dirk]

I deal directly with Pentair for warranty because it was the original installer that destroyed my pool. So I won’t be having him near my pool again. I tell Pentair that and they send me someone else. Interesting about the three years on the light. Hope that works for me if mine goes out again...

 

[PatG25]

Just an Update.. I purchased that aftermarket light and installed it today I'll have a better understanding how it works tonight and I will provide an update. I did notice that the Intellibright board I pulled out had that thick copper backing that the OP mentioned so as I suspected, Pentair didn't fix anything. Hopefully you get more then the year I did.



EDIT: Aftermarket light looks great. the light plugged directly in to where the pentair 5G was and used one screw to secure it. It came with a new Light Seal and a new brass screw to secure the light to the Niche. The Light also has about 488 LED's (pentair has 12) (although it is not the LED's which fail on the pentiar). I see that they advertise 3x brighter but I don't see that, looks the same brightness to me . The new light does have more solid colors, the lightshows are mostly fades ( I liked the Pentair light shows better although I never left my lights on a show) .

Overall the real test is going to be time . My 5G lights controllers failed after 13 months and 3 years .

I run my Pool lights for about 3 hours every night so I would love to see the light holdout as long as the light seal does. I'll update the thread when the light fails.

I have issues with my lights; one has completely failed and one only does a couple of colors now. Where did you purchase the aftermarket lights?

 

[jtech1]

I happen to be in the same boat. One of my 3 5g color 12v LED lights has failed after only four years. The 5g's were the only lights I did not have problems with... but not any more.

All 3 of my color cascade lights were replaced twice due to defective design and sealing causing leaks. Globrite was dead on arrival before it was even installed. With the 5g, Pentair told me specifically that the new engines I would buy to replace my failed light are exactly the same as I have already. So, in over 5 years, when the rest of the industry in LEDs has evolved 2-3 times, the Pentair light has not. I would go with the aftermarket in a heartbeat, if they at least matched the basic Pentair color sequences... very strange why they would not... they could let user switch between Pentair modes and their own modes... and get a lot more business!

Anyone found an aftermarket replacement that matches colors? Or that is more reliable than Pentair? I see a version on Amazon called StellarRGB... says it is compatible with Pentair colors, but I can't find any info about the company or product outside of amazon listing... and only two reviews...

 

[TPKnight]

I have a Pentair Intellibrite 5G that was installed in late 2014. Last night I noticed it wouldn't turn on. My LED bubbler light works fine, so I know it's not power related. I pulled the fixture and opened it up. I didn't see anything obvious, but based on what I am reading, I probably have a dead one. Does anything look wrong/burnt in the image? It's the 120V 30W version.

 

[Dirk]

I only had a quick glance at my old and replacement boards, while the pool guy was telling me about the differences. Under the board, can you see a thin, probably aluminum heat sink, or a thick copper one? The copper one is the newer model. The other had a lot of problems.

Apparently the new one has problems, too, but so far my new one is OK. I don't use it all that much, though.

 

[ogdento]

I don't have an IntelliBrite but - and I think someone else may have said this - heat and over-current are the enemies of LED drivers. I'd be curious to see if additional heat-sinks could be added or if they'd even help. I can't see TPKnights well enough to tell what got smoked.

I'd be very curious to see a hi-res photo (or photos) of the board... maybe some close-ups of yours TPKnight? We can get an idea of what the drive circuit looks like and what parts it's using. Better yet, if there's a dead one out there going into the trash I'd love to intercept it and get it on my bench.

I hate junk that breaks almost predictably and/or reliably, especially when it's ridiculously $$$$ junk

Tom

 

[Dirk]

Tom's on to something. I'm recalling now... in addition to the heat sink, the pool guy pointed at a specific part and declared that one the other culprit. Sorry, I can't now remember which, I wasn't paying that kind of attention. But he sure seemed to know exactly what Pentair was doing wrong...

If their 5G efforts are anything like their IntelliChlor efforts (they've known about that stupid, flakey flow switch temp sender assembly for years and years, and they still ship units that need them replaced), then I'm not holding my breath that the 5G issues have been properly addressed.

$600 doesn't buy you the same quality $25 Chinese parts it used to!

My burned out board went back with the tech. I didn't ask for it, and assumed it was part of the warranty service for him to claim it. So I can't send you anything, Tom. But maybe someone else could...

 

[ogdento]

I found an ebay photo of a burned out intellibrite board and it appears that U1 has "let out the magic smoke"...

Is anybody able to read the U1 part number on their board? I tried all kinds of photo enhancements but couldn't get it.

 

[Flying Tivo]

My protocol adapter stop working, called pentair and had it shipped for 17 bucks. It does help to have all your products registered and upload the invoice and the installation date.

Felipe

 

[Dirk]

I found an ebay photo of a burned out intellibrite board and it appears that U1 has "let out the magic smoke"...

Is anybody able to read the U1 part number on their board? I tried all kinds of photo enhancements but couldn't get it.

OK, just me? 'Cause what I just read was that ogdento is starting his own Pentair repair shop, and we can now send him all our burned out flow switches, light boards, ET boards, etc, and he'll fix 'em right up for a fraction of the cost of Pentair replacements! Awesome!!

PS. I do recall my repair guy pointed at a chip when he was explaining what goes out on these light boards, but couldn't now say which one... Do you think one could just solder in a new $5 chip to avoid a $500 out-of-warranty replacement?

PPS. I was only half-joking about the repair shop. I think you could do well, fixing Pentair boards for a reasonable cost...

 

[ogdento]

Dirk, you're onto me! (I do sometimes reflash and/or repair indoor/outdoor boards and sell them... there's too much expensive but repairable equipment that gets tossed in the landfill!)

U1 looks like a 28 pin QFN package which is tough to replace by hand without some expensive hot-air rework equipment. It could be something like a Linear Tech/Analog Devices LED driver, I can't tell, but I'd be shocked if the part cost more than 20 bucks. If my board was out of warranty I'd definitely have a go... and if it didn't work out I'd just pull off a couple of the LEDs and other parts to use in a nerd project

I mostly was thinking that if we could determine a common point of failure (maybe U1 dies on most boards?), then determine whether it's failing from heat/overcurrent - and what's causing that condition (maybe the components are just under-rated, or something else has failed??)... maybe we could make a recommendation of where to stick another heat-sink on the hundreds of working boards still out there? Ha, or maybe Pentair needs to do that and come out with a V3 board and/or a retrofit kit.

 

[Dirk]

Love it! Though what I just read is that you're going to fix my 5G for 20 bucks when it burns out! Thank you!!

I've added heat sinks to chips before. That's pretty easy. I wouldn't pull my light to do that before the warranty expires, of course. But maybe not even after, either. If it ain't broke...?

I've never tried to unsolder a chip from a board, though. All I have to bear is a low-watt soldering iron and one of those solder-sucking gizmos. No good?

I can see the pins on the U1. If you heated those up, would it trash the board? Could you snip them off, and leave a nub, and solder the pins of the new chip to those? Obviously out of my depth here, but those boards are crazy expensive and I'd give it a go, too, if I could.

 

[ogdento]

Hey Dirk, yes! You get me a hot-air station and I'll fix it for free!!

Your point about maybe not adding a heat sink even after the warranty expires is a good one... I initially imagined using those glue-on kind of heat-sinks, but you wouldn't want to use those here because it might come off and short something else on the board. You'd want something you could screw to the board and have it contact the chip somehow... it's beginning to sound like a headache!

Parts like U1 - if it is indeed a "QFN package" - have a big metal tab under the chip itself that is either glued or soldered down, so you'd be hard pressed to remove it with a regular iron without destroying it. Too much heat on the pins can also lift the traces, as can mechanical stress such as snipping the pins while they're still soldered to the board. Maybe I'd try a dremel? A chip like U2, U3, or U4 should be doable with what you've got.

 

[Dirk]

Oh, yah, Dremel. Like fillet it right off the board! Little at a time, cooling in between. Then glue/solder the new metal tab to the old one, if any of it is left? Align the new pins to whatever stubs of the old ones are left, then a quick, little drop of solder to connect the pins? EZPZ!

Of course, I can't see that small anymore, nor hold my hand steady enough either!!

What is a hot air station?

 

[ogdento]

Exactly what I was thinking. And hey, I can't see that small either!

A hot air station is a solder rework station that has a soldering iron with adjustable wattage and can use hot air to melt solder to remove/replace parts. There's a ton of cheapo units out there but Hakko is one of the better more recognized brands.