Good morning all,

I am looking for some information, but I am sure i am not searching the right stuff. While I am not a complete n00b to the industry, I am still a rooking.

I have a motherboard controlling my hot tub with a controller panel at the top where hot tub users can control the temperatures, lights, and pumps. Does anyone have any resources (links, etc.) as to how i can read the signals between the two? I'd like to figure some stuff out and i know it is low voltage so I am not worry about "hurting" myself.

 

You need to provide some more info about your devices, otherwise the members don't know how to help you.

 

Sorry - quite green as I saw. I don't know much about them in terms of part numbers, part names, etc. but i do know that there is the main board that provides communication/information to a top panel. This top panel provides immediate feedback to the users based on temperature and pump operation using an LCD but it also has 4 buttons that provide control the pump, blower, lights, and temperature. To my knowledge, the communication that occurs between the two is low-voltage on 4 (or 5) small wires.

 

In an industrial setting where distances exceed 1m and EMI is expected to be a problem, RS-485 is a common communication medium.
In automobiles, CAN (Controller Area Network) is used.
For consumer products where wire distances are under 1m, direct digital control, direct analog voltages, 4-20mA current loop, SCI, SPI, I2C, USB are all used in various places.