Intellicenter and new pool build

[Lampasas1]

Hi everyone. I am getting a pool built soon and am strongly considering automation. I have asked the builder and he quoted an intellicenter i5. I was wandering what you guys think about this system and if it is adequate to do the things I would like it to do.

Some details about the pool
1. Thursday fiberglass aspen pool 16X35, approx 10k gallons
2. Integrated fiberglass spa with spillway, approx 900 gallons
3. IC 40 swcg
4. Intelliflo 3hp vs pump
5. Glacier pool cooler
6. Master temp 400k heater
7. 4 Pentair microbrite lights, 3 in pool, 1 in spa
8. Auto fill

Things I would like to control
1. Heater function to spa or pool or both
2. Chiller on and off at specified times
3. Light to pool and spa independently
4. Pump on off to pool and spa
5. Swcg control

What am I forgetting? For those that have intellicenter, does it function well and is it easy to use for someone that is not super tech savvy?

TIA,
Sam

 

[Turbo1Ton]

Things I would like to control
1. Heater function to spa or pool or both
2. Chiller on and off at specified times
3. Light to pool and spa independently
4. Pump on off to pool and spa
5. Swcg control

The heater will heat whatever body you have selected. You could heat them both if you turn your heater on and have the spa spillway turned on. This would not be an ideal way to heat the pool. The spillway is a feature that is used when in pool mode.

One of your 5 relays could control the Glacier.

You will need separate lighting transformers for each area of lights that you want to control, and a relay to turn them on/off. So that is 2 more relays.

Pump relay is one of the 5, so now we are at 4 total being used.

SWCG is controlled off of the same circuit as the pump, so no additional relay there.

With what you have listed, I would get the I8PS Intellicenter as it has 8 relays and will leave you room for any future expansion you might want, i.e. controlling landscape lighting, or other outdoor patio area things.

--Jeff

 

[Lampasas1]

Thanks for the explanation Jeff. Regarding the heater, does automation allow you to select which body of water you want to heat? (Pool vs spa).

 

[Turbo1Ton]

This is a snip of the Intellicenter web client. You can see I can turn either body of water on/off, and in those I can turn the heater on/off. For example, you see that in the spa, it shows the heat mode as Mastertemp. Anytime I turn the spa on, the heater automatically starts. You can see in pool, Heat Mode shows as OFF. I can select Mastertemp on this anytime I want to have the heater come on if I drop below a preset temperature. I normally leave it turned off on the pool as I don't want to accidentally start heating the pool as the seasons change.

Let me know what other questions you might have. There are several good posts on Intellicenter and its capabilities (and downfalls). Generally I would say that the Intellicenter is somewhat clunky in setting up, but once configured, is very simple to use, even for non tech-savvy folks. There's a handful of us here that can assist you with setup, should you need it.

--Jeff

 

[Turbo1Ton]

One thing I forgot to mention... You do not have to turn the Pool off, to turn Spa on. I run my pool 24/7/265. My pool circuit is always on. When I want to run the spa, I simply toggle the spa on. Then when I'm done, toggling off the spa will leave the pool running.

--Jeff

 

[KevMo]

Thanks for the explanation Jeff. Regarding the heater, does automation allow you to select which body of water you want to heat? (Pool vs spa).

Yes. You would have an automated valve on the 3-way valves that control the selection between pool and spa on both the suction and return side of the plumbing.

I also second getting the i8PS. You may want to use a relay to control something like landscape lighting.

 

[Lampasas1]

Yes. You would have an automated valve on the 3-way valves that control the selection between pool and spa on both the suction and return side of the plumbing.

I also second getting the i8PS. You may want to use a relay to control something like landscape lighting.

Ok KevMo, so it sounds like I would need one or two more relays to control the 3way valves on the suction and return side, right?

 

[ajw22]

Ok KevMo, so it sounds like I would need one or two more relays to control the 3way valves on the suction and return side, right?

No, the valve actuators have separate sockets and don’t use high voltage relays.

A standard POOL/SPA system supports SUCTION and RETURN valves and two others.

 

[KevMo]

As Allen pointed out, valves and relays have separate control interfaces in Intellicenter. The Intellicenter *PS models are for shared body of water for Pool & Spa. The 2 valves I mentioned above take up 2 of the 4 valve interfaces on the Intellicenter control board. Pentair sells a valve expansion board if you need for than 4 in the future. (I have one on my setup.) However, unlike the valves Pentair does not have a "relay expansion" card. You have to buy another personality card to add more relays. It is cheaper to buy the card you need with the original purchase than to buy/replace a personality card later.

Generally aything, other than pumps and heaters, thst you want to control power to descretely needs its own relay. The first relay is special. It triggered on/off whe the main/filter pump is on/off. This allows you to piggyback control such that things that should not be on when the pump is off. The way many pool lights work has an impact on how relays are consumed. LED color lights typically do not use a data communciations channel to control colors. They change colors in response to a number of rapid on/off/on sequences (e.g. 1 for white, 2 for blue, etc. ). This means if you want to control on/off or colors discretely the transformers for those lights must be powered by their own relay.

 

[Lampasas1]

I really appreciate all the insight. This pool community y'all have built is a fantastic resource.