Pentair IntelliCenter Pool Control Dashboard Instructional Guide

[joboo7777]

@MyAZPool

My interest in the intellicenter as well as the pjs Pool controller and dash panel has grown over the last few weeks do to a family member having pool built with Pentair equipment. Coming from the Hayward side I'm not that familiar with the intellicenter and have been researching its out of box capability and of course your project to enhance that. I have a question about how(or if) you access your system from outside the house in a secure way. In your documentation I noticed you use port 5150 using http to access the controller/Dashboard. Is there a way to enable SSL capability to secure the connection?

Thanks for your help.
John

 

[MyAZPool]

@MyAZPool

My interest in the intellicenter as well as the pjs Pool controller and dash panel has grown over the last few weeks do to a family member having pool built with Pentair equipment. Coming from the Hayward side I'm not that familiar with the intellicenter and have been researching its out of box capability and of course your project to enhance that. I have a question about how(or if) you access your system from outside the house in a secure way. In your documentation I noticed you use port 5150 using http to access the controller/Dashboard. Is there a way to enable SSL capability to secure the connection?

Thanks for your help.
John

John,
Cool.... Well, first off... When it comes to a topic like this, there are some guys on this thread that are much more qualified to provide specific or detailed guidance on this topic than I am.
I think it may depend on the capabilities of your router possibly.
Why not look into setting up a vpn service (nordvpn, openvpn etc) and using dynamic ddns?
My particular router provides a free service that provides a unique vpn address so I can do that.

Anyway, that's just my thought.
I'm sure that some of the guys who are a lot smarter than I on this topic will come along and provide you with further info...
Thanks...
r.

 

[joboo7777]

John,
Cool.... Well, first off... When it comes to a topic like this, there are some guys on this thread that are much more qualified to provide specific or detailed guidance on this topic than I am.
I think it may depend on the capabilities of your router possibly.
Why not look into setting up a vpn service (nordvpn, openvpn etc) and using dynamic ddns?
My particular router provides a free service that provides a unique vpn address so I can do that.

Anyway, that's just my thought.
I'm sure that some of the guys who are a lot smarter than I on this topic will come along and provide you with further info...
Thanks...
r.

Thanks for the info. VPN is definitely an option. It’s just another layer of technology that needs to be maintained that can add to issues. And knowing my extended family I would have to be the “IT guy” supporting it which I’m trying to minimize... There may be an option on the Raspeberry web server that adds SSL/TLS. I’ll have to look into it.

 

[rstrouse]

The servers for njspc, dashPanel, and REM all allow you to configure the server for SSL/TLS in their respective config.json files.

 

[Peterazdig]

Maybe your wife's device wasn't actually on your local network at the time. I jump around networks all the time and sometimes my phone sticks on a wifi connection that isn't local and I don't get the local option.

Tried on mine also and it does the same thing. I jump around networks all the time also, but none with in distance of my house that they could still be accessing and causing it to not be local

 

[Peterazdig]

@Peterazdig
Yea, I can't ever recall where I have ever had njspc/dashPanel interfere with the mobile app or the IntelliCenter web-client.
But other than just going to the mobile app or web-client to grab a screen capture to assist someone else who is not using njspc-dashPanel, I frankly don't use them.
I can pull up dashPanel on my iPhone or iPad, so there is really no good reason to use the mobile app when connected to your local network.

Now before my njspc days, I had the same thing happen to me on a few occasions. I believe that I solved the issue by uninstalling the Pentair mobile app and reinstalling in order to get the "connect local" feature back.
Thanks...
r.

I agree that I can do everything on dashpanel. Wife is set in her ways and can always use remote connection. I did update the firmware on the intellicenter recently due not being able to change schedule times. By chance do you know what firmware version you are running?

 

[rstrouse]

I am running 1.047 but I am pretty sure there is no relation between njspc and the mobile app finding the IntelliCenter. Do you have a DHCP reservation for IntelliCenter in your router. It is probably using upnp to query the network to find the board. Maybe mdns or ssdp filtering could be in play here. Sometimes depending on the router/switch configurations these can be segmented out on the local network.

After you open the mobile app click on the hamburger menu in the upper right. It should open a dialog that says connect locally with a local IP address to IntelliCenter. Is this the correct IP? If it isn't enter the correct one and see if it connects. Oh and the auto login function has been a problem in the past.

 

[Peterazdig]

I am running 1.047 but I am pretty sure there is no relation between njspc and the mobile app finding the IntelliCenter. Do you have a DHCP reservation for IntelliCenter in your router. It is probably using upnp to query the network to find the board. Maybe mdns or ssdp filtering could be in play here. Sometimes depending on the router/switch configurations these can be segmented out on the local network.

After you open the mobile app click on the hamburger menu in the upper right. It should open a dialog that says connect locally with a local IP address to IntelliCenter. Is this the correct IP? If it isn't enter the correct one and see if it connects. Oh and the auto login function has been a problem in the past.

I do have a reservation for the Intellicenter IP.

Ironically I had to move a device in my network closest 30 min ago and had to unplug the PI. I just open the intellicenter app to check the IP and local is showing. Which is ironic since the only thing different is that I haven’t run the commands to start dashPanel on the PI since plugging it back in.

 

[rstrouse]

This is either coincidental or you may have an IP conflict on your network. Did you enable mdns or ssdp on the dashPanel app or njspc. Does the pi also have a reservation?

 

[Tegguy]

Ok I need some help. I got the raspberrypi setup with all the instructions and the wire ran and I've tripled checked all my connections but I'm getting and error and it doesn't look like it's found the intellicenter. I am plugged into the J4 port on the intellicenter sharing it with another wire. I've tried everything I can think of. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm 99% sure my wiring is correct.

Raspberry Pi 4
Pentair Intellicenter
Jbtek RS485 adapter

 

[rstrouse]

Delete the files in the data directory and let njsPC try to detect IntelliCenter again. This happens when there isn’t any rs485 traffic coming through.

 

[Tegguy]

Delete the files in the data directory and let njsPC try to detect IntelliCenter again. This happens when there isn’t any rs485 traffic coming through.

I did this but no luck. Does this mean it's either a bad RS485 converter or wiring issue?

 

[rstrouse]

Yes that is what it means. IntelliCenter should be broadcasting its status and if njspc doesn’t hear it then it will fall back to a nixie controller.

 

[Tegguy]

Yes that is what it means. IntelliCenter should be broadcasting its status and if njspc doesn’t hear it then it will fall back to a nixie controller.

New RS-485 adapter and still no luck. I'm sharing the RS-485 port on the intellicenter with the heater but I believe I read somewhere that was ok. I'll disconnect the heater this weekend and try it again and see what happens. This is the converter I'm using plugged into the raspberry pi..... https://www.amazon.com/JBtek-Conver...rds=jbtek+rs-485+to+usb&qid=1619561652&sr=8-3

 

[rstrouse]

Wait what kind of heater do you have that is connected to RS485. Most are connected to a firemans switch that is not one of the RS485 ports.

 

[rstrouse]

Ok I just noticed your signature with the heat pump. In most cases it is fine connecting to any of the data ports on the bus. Lets move this over to the issues section of github. It will be easier to deal with there. Submit an issue and we will get you squared away.

Issues · tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController

An application to control pool equipment from various manufacturers. - Issues · tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController

github.com

 

[roundrocktxpool]

I hate to ask but this is kicking my rear. I've tried for weeks to get this to work but am having some difficulty. I only get this far when trying to communicate through the RS485. Any ideas are apricated.

 

[Candurin]

So, I was giving this a go today. I got all the way to the “npm start” portion and no lights on the USB adapter and the command would never connect and timeout.

I currently have the 3 (yellow/green/black) connected to the JP3 port on the IntelliChlor card based on the comment in another thread:

NOTE: Any of the RS-485 4-pin conductor terminals (J2, J3 and J4), can not only be connected to the IntelliCenter Mother Card but they can also be used as additional RS-485 connections for any piece of equipment that may require such connection.

(My pi cable is on the bottom port (J3, I believe),while the comm connection for the IChlor to Icenter comm port is on the left, J2).

I assumed this port would provide a proper communication connection back to my pi.

Given that my two comm ports are full on the IntelliCenter board (1 from pump, 1 from intellichlor card), that was the only open comm port in my “system” referring to the intellichlor card.

Would I be better off splicing (twisting) the raspberry pi comm cable in conjunction with either the pump or the iChlor in the J4/J5 ports on the motherboard (I.e. multiple wires tied together on one RS-485 port)?

Basically trying to troubleshoot why I’m not getting a signal at my pi from the Intellicenter.

I hope this makes sense?

 

[rstrouse]

I hate to ask but this is kicking my rear. I've tried for weeks to get this to work but am having some difficulty. I only get this far when trying to communicate through the RS485. Any ideas are apricate

Do you have IntelliCenter, IntelliTouch, EasyTouch, or are you running stand-alone?

 

[rstrouse]

So, I was giving this a go today. I got all the way to the “npm start” portion and no lights on the USB adapter and the command would never connect and timeout.

I currently have the 3 (yellow/green/black) connected to the JP3 port on the IntelliChlor card based on the comment in another thread:

NOTE: Any of the RS-485 4-pin conductor terminals (J2, J3 and J4), can not only be connected to the IntelliCenter Mother Card but they can also be used as additional RS-485 connections for any piece of equipment that may require such connection.

View attachment 327393 (My pi cable is on the bottom port (J3, I believe),while the comm connection for the IChlor to Icenter comm port is on the left, J2).

I assumed this port would provide a proper communication connection back to my pi.

Given that my two comm ports are full on the IntelliCenter board (1 from pump, 1 from intellichlor card), that was the only open comm port in my “system” referring to the intellichlor card.

Would I be better off splicing (twisting) the raspberry pi comm cable in conjunction with either the pump or the iChlor in the J4/J5 ports on the motherboard (I.e. multiple wires tied together on one RS-485 port)?

Basically trying to troubleshoot why I’m not getting a signal at my pi from the Intellicenter.

I hope this makes sense?

That should be a fine location to connect the USB adapter. Which adapter do you have?