Pentair Intelliflo VS faulting off, communication lost

[AZ_swim_all_year]

I have a 1 year old Pentair Intelliflo VSF pump and EasyTouch automation system. Periodically the pump seems to fault off and loses communication with the EasyTouch control panel. Then the panel and the Screen Logic app think the pump is on during its scheduled time, but it’s actually not.
Instead of the usual “Display not active” message on the pump screen, it will say “0 RPM”.
No power outage or brownout. No issues with the RS-485 communication cable, and the EasyTouch panel still has all of its settings, including the date & time.
The workaround is easy — I shut off the breaker that controls AC power to the pump, wait until the pump display goes blank, then turn the breaker back on. The pump reboots and everything works fine.
Could this be a temperature fault? It happened yesterday when the pump was at full speed in the afternoon and we reached 101F in the late afternoon. I can’t say for sure, but I believe this problem happens only or mostly when it’s hot out, which of course is our everyday summer weather here.
Is there a way to get the diagnostic codes from the pump’s menu? Also, is there a way to set up the EasyTouch panel so it knows when the pump is not responding to communications?

 

[Jimrahbe]

AZ,

You need to put the system into the Service mode and then use the pump's control panel to see what F/W your pump has. If it is 3.03 or 3.04 then you need to contact your pool builder or Pentair and have them come install F/W 3.05.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[AZ_swim_all_year]

AZ,

You need to put the system into the Service mode and then use the pump's control panel to see what F/W your pump has. If it is 3.03 or 3.04 then you need to contact your pool builder or Pentair and have them come install F/W 3.05.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks Jim. I was able to use the back door 4 button push to find that it is firmware rev 3.04.
Any thoughts on what the issue is, or why the newer firmware might fix it?

 

[Jimrahbe]

AZ,

I have no idea what the bug is, but it causes intermittent loss of the RS-485 control of the pump.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Srqpoolguy]

Thanks Jim. I was able to use the back door 4 button push to find that it is firmware rev 3.04.
Any thoughts on what the issue is, or why the newer firmware might fix it?

Hello. My name is Justin. I am a pentair warranty technician through a pool company in Sarasota. The firmware 3.04 and 3.03 on the intelliflos were given a different chip set on the rs485 part of the drive due to covid shortages and they have a bug where they kick the pump off every 30 or so days. The fix is to call pentair and ask them to send someone to Flash your pump drive through the com port via flash drive. However because there were hundreds if not thousands of these pumps sold and Pentair stupidly only having two flash drives left to use the wait time can be annoying. The temp fix is to reboot the system by flipping the power off for a few mins and unplug the com wire from pump end via the round connector then plug back in. It will reboot until it happends again. Fun fact Hayward also had this same problem on their Tristar pump and I've been swapping those com chips latley as well. They also boot off automation exactly every 30 days to the second. Lol. These companies scrambled during covid for solutions and now are paying the price I suppose. Best of luck. FYI been having a very very bad experience with the newest ichlor 30 salt cells. They now have a new issue where the main board on the cell is backfeeding power and blowing up and popping fuses in the load center or worse the com board expansion /salt power in the easytouch and intellicenter panels. It never ends latley. I have been busy doing more warranty work this year then ever in the 17 years combined. It's insane. Also stay away from globrite lights. Get the jandy P series lights instead. I replaced 102 globrites last year and this year under warranty. All cracked along the seam. Cheers.