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About

I've been tinkering with electronics since I was a kid when I would take all manner of things apart - and sometimes even put them back together. 

As I've gotten older I've gained knowledge of the subject along with an ever-increasing assortment of electronic components, test equipment, and broken but "hey, these have good parts on them!" boards of all types.

I find it immensely satisfying to repair something rather than replace it... which on one hand is nice for the environment, but on the other is very bad for my limited-space basement nerd-shop.  I hope you spot something interesting here, and feel free to reach out if you do!

Popular posts from this blog

Troubleshooting Communication Problems with Pentair Equipment

Communication issues are among the most common problems people run into with their Pentair pool equipment.  The following problems can be caused by faulty communication: pressing a button on a remote or indoor controller does nothing  an Intelliflo pump won't run the schedule screenlogic can't control the system communication timeout errors show on the intellitouch indoor panel an Easytouch wireless remote or indoor panel shows "No Comm" The good news is finding the cause of these problems isn't rocket science and involves no black magic. The first thing you need to know is that Pentair systems use an RS-485 interface for serial communication between connected devices, operating at 9600 baud (8/N/1).  If you're familiar with the RS-485 standard you can skip the next section, otherwise I'd recommend giving it a quick read to get the gist... RS-485 Basics Unlike serial interfaces that have separate Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) wires, RS-485
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Help! My aux circuits (or valves) stopped working!!

If you run into a situation where a valve or auxilary circuit on your Pentair pool controller no longer functions at all, don't despair!  Assuming the required electrical connections are good, the fault isn't caused by a programming error, and you're trying to control the valve or aux circuit at the outdoor panel (and not using screenlogic or a remote), you may just have a blown relay driver chip... these are cheap and easy to replace. Aux circuits AND valves are actually controlled by relays which are either on-board, or in the load center.  The aux relays are the large-ish 2" x 1.25" Omron devices that are bolted to the load center/enclosure, while the valve relays are the smaller .5 x .25" relays that are soldered onto the outdoor control board (or personality board for Intellitouch). Valve relays on an Intellitouch personality board They're all 24vdc relays, which means 24 volts dc is required to "energize" their coils.  The micro-controller
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What's the deal with Easytouch versions 1 and 2?

I am frequently asked if the firmware on a particular Easytouch system can be updated so that a particular fix or feature can be taken advantage of.  The answer to that question is "it depends on whether you've got an Easytouch 1 or an Easytouch 2" .  Say what?! Pentair don't advertise the Easytouch systems as a 1 or a 2 but they are currently on their second hardware revision.  The first revision is referred to as the Easytouch 1, and the second is - you guessed it - the Easytouch 2... but what is the difference and why would you care? First, a smidge of background... the Easytouch (and Intellitouch and Suntouch) equipment uses the Motorola 68HC12 family of microcontrollers, now made by Freescale.  Pentair uses the MC9S12A derivative which is basically an HC12 with some performance enhancements.  The first Easytouch version, the Easytouch 1, used the MC9S12A64 which has 64 kilobytes of flash memory for storing the program or "firmware" that the boa
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