Pentair Intellipro3 VSF and SolarTouch

[ace321]

Hi,

I had Pentair Intellipro (first version) for many years and SolarTouch for solar heater. Both systems communicated with each other over RS485 link. My Intellipro broke last week and I replaced that with Intellipro3. This version of pump does now work with my SolarTouch via RS485. I also have relay board. I hooked the SolarTouch terminal below to Datalink on the pump. In a manual override (Advance menu) it works fine, when I get out of the menu, it keeps saying that Intellipro communication lost. Any thought how to fix it? Appreciate any help you can provide. Thank you!

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Call Pentair Support and see if they have a firmware fix yet.

See...

Going from Intelliflo VSP w/ Solartouch, to intelliflo3 with Solartouch

Backstory: I had a Pentair Intelliflo VSP that ran good. Then I had a roof-mount solar pool heater installed, that came with a Pentair Solartouch controller. A month ago, my pump stopped working, and this meant I had to purchase a new pump. There was a communication cable that ran from the...

www.troublefreepool.com

Pentair support in June 2023 told a member....

"...At this point in time, the IF3 is not yet compatible with the solar touch panel. The IF3 currently doesn't know what to do with the external control programs sent by the Solartouch. We are still working on the firmware update to get the IF3 to accept input from the solartouch. No ETA is available "

Let us know what you learn.

 

[ace321]

Welcome to TFP.

Call Pentair Support and see if they have a firmware fix yet.

See...

Going from Intelliflo VSP w/ Solartouch, to intelliflo3 with Solartouch

Backstory: I had a Pentair Intelliflo VSP that ran good. Then I had a roof-mount solar pool heater installed, that came with a Pentair Solartouch controller. A month ago, my pump stopped working, and this meant I had to purchase a new pump. There was a communication cable that ran from the...

www.troublefreepool.com

Pentair support in June 2023 told a member....

"...At this point in time, the IF3 is not yet compatible with the solar touch panel. The IF3 currently doesn't know what to do with the external control programs sent by the Solartouch. We are still working on the firmware update to get the IF3 to accept input from the solartouch. No ETA is available "

Let us know what you learn.

Thank you. I did call Pentair. They released a firmware fix in October 2023. If you have Intellipro3 with Firmware 1.04 or higher, it works with SolarTouch. However, condition is that SolarTouch also needs to be on latest firmware version (i think 2.3). My SolarTouch is on 1.7. That is why I am not even connecting via RS485. I am connecting via datalink which is on the optional relay.

 

[ajw22]

Show us how you hooked the SolarTouch to the IntelliPro3 relay control board digital inputs.

Did you delete all schedules?

 

[ace321]

Show us how you hooked the SolarTouch to the IntelliPro3 relay control board digital inputs.

Did you delete all schedules?

View attachment 557159

As in attached pictures I connected Red and Green of digital link of pool pump to Solar terminals in attached picture of solar touch. I added the programming using digital app after connecting the digital link. Do you recommending deleting and recreating programming?

 

[ajw22]

As in attached pictures I connected Red and Green of digital link of pool pump to Solar terminals in attached picture of solar touch.

Red and Green???

I see VOUT, GND, SP1, etc.

I added the programming using digital app after connecting the digital link. Do you recommending deleting and recreating programming?

To me the manual says you cannot have any programming and it needs to be deleted.

Did Pentair Support suggest using this wiring as an alternative?

 

[ace321]

Sorry Vout and SP1. I reset the eeprom this morning. It solved the issue. Thanks for all the help. I have a different question as I am a new to this forum. Do you recommend starting a new thread?

 

[ajw22]

I have a different question as I am a new to this forum. Do you recommend starting a new thread?

If your question is about your SolarTouch or pump then ask it here.

If the question is about something unrelated like your pool cleaner then start a new thread.

 

[ace321]

If your question is about your SolarTouch or pump then ask it here.

If the question is about something unrelated like your pool cleaner then start a new thread.

Thank you! My new intellipro3 pump seems to pull some air in pump basket at lower speed then 50% speed. For example bubbles will slowly form and by the end of the day pump basket has about quarter to half inch air on top of the basket. However this does not happen when speed is at 55% or higher. Any thoughts what could be wrong or this is normal with newer pumps at lower speed?

 

[ajw22]

Thank you! My new intellipro3 pump seems to pull some air in pump basket at lower speed then 50% speed. For example bubbles will slowly form and by the end of the day pump basket has about quarter to half inch air on top of the basket. However this does not happen when speed is at 55% or higher. Any thoughts what could be wrong or this is normal with newer pumps at lower speed?

That is normal for VS pumps to form an air bubble at lower speeds. As long as the pump does not lose prime I would not worry about it.

Schedule the pump to run at a higher speed at least once a day to clear the air bubble.

 

[Dirk]

@mas985, does that sound right?

My IntelliFlo always has a couple of quarter-sized bubbles bouncing around under the lid, but they're there no matter what speed, and never more or less based on RPMs. They certainly don't grow throughout the day. If I saw the water level in my pump drop completely below the lid by any amount, especially 1/2", that would be a big red flag for me. And I'd be worried about a suction-side air leak somewhere in my plumbing.

I'm not saying that's what you have, I just thought I understood that a pump is supposed to stay near-100% full from prime to shut-off, no matter what.

 

[ajw22]

My IntelliFlo ....

... is not an IntelliPro3.

Hayward VS pumps are even worse for forming low speed air bubbles.

 

[ace321]

Thanks all for your help. Appreciate it.

 

[mas985]

Hayward VS pumps are even worse for forming low speed air bubbles.

Mine doesn't as long as the pump lid seal is working well but that could be an exception rather than the rule.

Anyway, air in the pump basket on low speed is usually caused by one of two issues.

1) Pump lid leak. Sometimes pump basket lids will seal better at higher RPM than lower RPM because the pressure in the pump basket is lower at higher RPM.

2) Outgassing. The pressure in the pump basket is lower than atmospheric so dissolved gasses in the water can come out of solution. The lower the pressure, the more outgassing that will occur. However, at higher RPM/flow rates, any dissolved air that comes out of solution will quickly get taken out of the pump basket because of the higher flow rate. If the RPM is low enough so the flow rate is lower than the rate at which air rises in the pump basket, the air will remain in the pump basket.

There is nothing you can do about #2 but for #1, lubing the pump lid seals and drain plug gaskets can sometimes improve the problem.