Intellibrite LED Lights losing Synchronization

[Karl]

Hello Fellow Pool Enthusiasts! I have stumbled upon an "issue" with my intellibrite LED lights ... I have one installed in my spa and the other installed in the pool. The problem I am encountering is that the lights become "un-sychronized" after a short period of time during any of the pre-programmed color shows. The only way to re-synchronize them is to reset them via my easytouch remote; this fix is temporary because the lights eventually become un-sync'd once again. Fortunately, I am in my first year of a 3 year warranty I was wondering if this is a "known" issue before I contact Pentair or my PB. Perhaps it is something easy that I could fix myself?

Thanks!

 

[swimcmp]

If you have an Intelliflo pump you may need a noise filter installed on the light circuit

 

[CraigMW]

Unless they use some sort of powerline sync circuit (beyond the on/off protocol used to set the color/show), there really is no way to ensure the lights are in sync other than having internal clock circuitry that is very similar between each light. If this is the case, then one of the clock circuits must be either too slow or too fast and is not keeping appropriate time. But, there would be no way to know which of the two is off unless you had a third that sync'd with one of the two. So, I'd suggest sending both back under warranty and letting them know the problem.

BTW, I just installed two of the 12V 5G Intellibrites in our pool, same configuration with one in pool and one in the built in spa. I've not played with them much yet, but they do seem to maintain sync (at least for the roughly 30 minutes I viewed them). Also, how did you get a 3 year warranty? Ours only came with a one year warranty, which seems pretty short for something so expensive. Same thing with our IntelliFlo pump (one year). For a nearly $1K pump, this seems ridiculously short. Has Pentair changed their warranty policy recently?

 

[Karl]

Hey there Craig,

Pentair does indeed offer a 1 year warranty for individual items; however, if your entire pool system is pentair then they give you the 3 year warranty. I'm uncertain about the number of pieces needed to get the 3 year warranty.

I did call Pentair and showed them video of the sync problem. They were very helpful and I am confident they'll figure things out; it'll just take a bit of time.

 

[CraigMW]

Karl:

Maybe I should call them then. All of our equipment is Pentair (except the autocleaner, a Zodiac MX8). But, most of our equipment was installed roughly 8-10 years ago, so I wonder what their policy will be. At nearly $600 per light with no user serviceable parts, a 1 year warrantee seems pretty iffy.

BTW, how old are your lights? I installed two Intellibrites recently, and one was DOA which I discovered only after installing it in the spa. I had to drain the spa (no big deal), and then remove the light. Our retailer was really good about it and had a replacement for us in a day. So, have you thought about contacting the place you bought them to see if they can replace them for you? You really need to replace both since you don't know which of the two is out of sync.