Save me from my Jan(k)y PDA system

[ladsjohn]

My Jandy-PDA system is over 10 years old. I've already had the mainboard repaired (Bob @ BP Engineering). That repair lasted less than 6 months. It's failing in the same manner as before (randomly resets, sometimes won't POST/start, random devices running). Bob wants another $150 to repair it again. I'm done with this board. It gave me 10 good years. I'm ready to move on.

In the short/immediate term I'm looking at a used board on eBay that matches my current setup. Just to get my pool running for a month while I figure out my options.
The chip on my board shows "PDA-PS4 8271 5.0". The board on eBay that I'm looking at has "PDA-PS4 8269 5.0".
Any idea what the 8269/8271 mean and is it a factor in me buying that board?

Longer term; I could upgrade to the RS (RS-PS4,6,8 etc.) along with the IQ20-RS. I really don't need all the bells and whistles. WiFi enabled is no big deal for me personally. I know a lot of people hate the PDA. I too found it clunky but once the system was programmed I rarely used the PDA anyway.

But is there an interim solution? Something more reliable than my current system but not as expensive as the latest and greatest. Happy to grab it used from eBay.

Basically looking for the cheapest and most reliable option. I had thought that would be the $150 BP Engineering repair but alas - it was not.

 

[dfwnoob]

The 4 digit number on the PPD (chip) is the revision ID. I have no documentation (nor have I ever seen any online) which describes exactly what the PDA firmware revisions indicate. So, no real idea what changed between revision 8269 and 8271.

You don't need PDA firmware to talk to a PDA. The PDA-specific firmware really only exists to lock out other controllers (e.g. an All Button or One Touch). Any standard Aqualink RS system running firmware M (which is REALLY old at this point) or above should be able to talk to your PDA. Nevermind - This is irrelevant as there is no non-PDA firmware that supports a VSP pump AND uses the 52-pin socketed PPD that isn't PDA-specific. The problem with Jandy is that everything for these systems is still ridiculously expensive regardless of how old it is, and if you got rid of the PDA, your only real option (outside of iAqualink) would be to install an indoor controller, which is annoying. I personally did this, but I also detest IoT stuff and I do not need to control my pool from 2000 miles away. Edit: for you to do this, you would need to move to a new-style PCB with the 50-pin GPIO interface in order to get non-PDA specific firmware AND have VSP control.

I have a 52 pin PCB you can just have if you want it, but the chip socket has a hairline crack in it so you'd have to be really careful swapping chips not to break it - but you could just put your PPD in it and keep going. I just noticed it in my pool shed a few days ago.

 

[ajw22]

Let’s see if @PoolGate has ideas for you.

 

[HermanTX]

My old PCB prior to my upgrade to the RS-30 system had the following on the chip PDA-PS8 8273 5.0
The PCB and PDA was able to connect via RS485 to a Jandy VS pump or a Pentair IntelliFlo VS pump.
If I remember correctly, the 5.0 was the key nomenclature on the chip that gave the capability to connect to VS pumps. I do not know what the 4-digit number implies.

 

[PoolGate]

PDA PS4 is basically the lowest system they make. Anything you get will replace it without losing functionality. Just get a new main board and PCB board from eBay and replace it all.

 

[ladsjohn]

I have a 52 pin PCB you can just have if you want it, but the chip socket has a hairline crack in it so you'd have to be really careful swapping chips not to break it - but you could just put your PPD in it and keep going. I just noticed it in my pool shed a few days ago.

That's very generous of you and I'll take you up on the offer. Will PM you. Thanks!

 

[ladsjohn]

A big thank you to those who replied and especially to @dfwnoob who provided his old board to me. I swapped over my PPD and am back and running.