Lightning Troubleshooting Steps

Diagnostic Steps

Alerts: Overcurrent (OC), Valve Short/No Connect, Station Not Found, Hardware Errors

Lightning/ Surge Path: Field & Valve Wires >Transformer > Terminal Board > Adapter Board > Display

IMPORTANT: Put Salesforce Call-In and RMA Reason as 'Lightning/ Surge Damage'

Isolation Process:

1. Disconnect the two-wire path
2. reboot the controller
3. If blank display or no power → transformer damaged
   1. Transformer Damaged? Transformers are robust, therefore less likely to be damaged and act as a filter for incoming surge from AC line input. Surge may continue through the transformer to damage the chassis
      1. To check, verify power to the transformer input/output (expect 120V → 24–30V AC). if Voltage from the transformer to the chassis is 0, then the transformer has been damaged. 
         1. Other signs of damage: the transformer is humming, the copper wire under the protective paper tape appears discolored (yellowish) meaning it's been “cooked”, or transformer is showing as an open circuit.
4. If alerts persist → chassis is damaged
   1. Chassis Damaged? 
      1. on the terminal board, check:
         1. the copper traces: If it was a direct or near strike, traces on the PCB can literally be "blown" off the board, check for missing sections or traces that have turned into a white ash.
         2. the 47V metal oxide varistors (MOV) (red circular components): these are the first line of defense, MOVs will be on the power circuit and terminal circuits. Check if they are shattered, charred or if there is black soot on the PCB.
         3. blown fuses: Failure of MOVs will create a short that will blow fuses or report as a shorted station channel. Controller repeatedly powers then goes dead
         4. use the known good method to check if controller nearby
   2. Ribbon/ Display Cable? Display dark even when power present, Control board LEDs ON, display OFF
      1. Solution: test cable continuity, swap the known good method
   3. Display damaged? (less likely) Blank display with backlight only, or display is dark even when power present, or distorted characters (means CPU is damaged), controller otherwise powers on (chassis LEDs are on)
      1. to check test continuity of ribbon cable and verify power LED on chassis
      2. Ribbon Cable Damage: Display dark even when power present, Control board LEDs ON, display OFF. 
      3. Reseat or replace ribbon cable; if worked → bad cable
      4. use the known good method to check if controller nearby
5. If alerts clear → Field issue (bicoder/solenoid/short)
   1. Dozens of no replies across unrelated areas is probably not lightning. No replies/no connect alerts in a cluster is likely lightning damage. You can tell if the system has been grounded according to spec if damage is limited to ~5-10 decoders, because a lightning arrestor is recommended every 500ft (5 decoders). If a storm hit multiple sections, alerts would still appear in clusters - even if disjointed along the irrigation system. if there is significant damage, tell the customer “the system does not appear to be grounded correctly. we have noted this in our Salesforce case. We will RMA up to this year's claim cap, but we expect you to buy and install lightning arrestors every 500 ft; 300ft if you're in a high-lightning area to 1) reduce the required replacements next time, and 2) ensure we don't void your warranty because the system is installed out of spec. Please refer to our grounding spec.” provide link. 
   2. Decoder Damaged? 
      1. Alerts: ‘No Connect’, ‘Overcurrent’/ short, random no responses on specific zones
      2. to check: Perform isolation tests: detach all two‑wire spurs incrementally and connect single decoder at controller to isolate which solenoids have shorted. → if Valve Short/No Connect, Station Not Found Alerts persist, decoder is bad (there is no mA draw). 
      3. Test current draw (0.5–2 mA normal) using milliamp clamp. 
      4. Check decoders: are LEDs on
   3. Valve Solenoid, Lightning Arrestor or Field Wire Damage?
      1. Alerts: 2W Overcurrent
      2. a solenoid, LA or field wire may be damaged if there is high current (>60mA) or short and the decoders were not cause of issue. 
      3. to check: Removed spurs incrementally; isolated shorted solenoid or splice. look for burnt or melted leads. replace the LA if there appears to be Two‑wire leakage (> 10 mA)
      4. Test resistance: Green→Red, Green→Black, Red→Black → OL expected (if continuity found → failed)

RMA Process

• check controller/device is covered under lightning warranty.
  • to check if the device belongs to a controller under lightning warranty, run an Alert History Report
• check remaining $2K claims cap.
  • go into salesforce and see if this controller has had a prior lightning/ surge event this year. list all the previous parts that have been RMA'd 
  • [insert link for claims cap calculator]
• If under warranty 
  • and RMA(s) below $2K claims cap, RMA the damaged board, decoder, etc. The Failure Analysis (FA) team can identify if the terminal board or the adapter board has tiny pinholes or craters in the center of the plastic casing caused when the silicon substrate inside vaporized from excess surge.
    • if you are replacing 3-5+ decoders, make sure to include a BL-LA01 on the order and count it towards the claims cap
  • and RMA(s) would go beyond $2K claims cap, direct them to a HPDS RSM. Email RSM remaining “claims cap” tell them this is minimum discount. Put in Salesforce case this year's claim cap has been used with replacement of _[part]_, with discount of at least _$[claims remainder]_.
• If not under warranty, 
  • and controller has remaining standard or extended warranty, recommend they buy lightning warranty for the remainder of their warranty to save $ in future. direct them to HPDS RSM
  • and customer is OOW but controller is ≤8 years of age. recommend they buy ext and lightning warranty. direct them to HPDS RSM
  • and customer is OOW but controller is 9+ years of age. direct them to their local distributor to replace part(s).

Recovery Rates (Reference info)

• Chassis: 80% recovery rate. Replacing MOVs/ Fuses will often bring a board back to full functionality. Because our PCBs are often conformal coated, it is fairly difficult to replace terminal wire MOVs, but the power supply MOVs are easily replaced. the next component to fail is the Adapter board (#7500040), which may have a tiny pinhole or crater in the center of the plastic casing caused when the silicon substrate inside vaporizes from surge. Adapter boards aren’t repaired, only replaced (COGs $30, lifespan ~7Y); installers are not allowed to replace the adapter board because its reconnection to the terminal boards, if misaligned pin-wise, will cause the destruction of both boards when powered up.
• 2W Chassis: higher-capacity output transistors lead to relatively lightning/ surge-proof boards; any legacy boards are replaced with redesigned 2W boards