controlling hayward aquarite with intellitouch

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miatawnt2b

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Jan 18, 2016
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Tucson, AZ
Does anyone have experience controlling a hayward aquarite with pentair intellitouch? On page6 of the aquarite manual, it says it can be remotely controled with intellitouch. Refrences that fact again on page 8. Then on page 13 it shows a connection diagram on how to connect the control bus together between them.

I contacted hayward about this and the crappy customer service person had no clue and said our products do not work with pentair.

Just wondering if anyone has seen this in the hayward install manual or actually done it.

-J
 
m2b,

Well, I would have bet $100 bucks that the answer was NO, but it looks like I was wrong .. again!!!

The IntelliTouch manual says.... Page 54 ... https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwi2hvTumI7VAhUDj1QKHdI4AWEQFggiMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pentairpool.com%2F~%2Fmedia%2Fwebsites%2Fpool%2Fdownloads%2Fautomation%2Fmanuals%2Fintellitouch_pool_and_spa_control_system_users_guide_english.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFf8WhvcYbBHNQAuhQSsdfc1BwnrQ

The IntelliTouch system is designed to operate with the following salt chlorine generators:
• Pentair Water Pool and Spa® IntelliChlor®
• GoldLine Aqua Rite®
• Clear Tech Automation AutoClear® Plus
• AutoPilot Pool Pilot® Digital
Note: Call your manufacturer for compatibility with IntelliTouch systems.

I know of no one that has tried this, so go for it and tell us the outcome.

Are you sure you have the IntelliTouch and not the EasyTouch?? Most pool have the EasyTouch, so just making sure..

Thanks for posting this interesting question,

Jim R.
 
Super news. It works as advertised. The only thing that doesn't work is individual spa chlorination percentage. This isn't a problem for me since I have the salt cell on the pool return only.

So from the Pentair screenlogic, you can control salt cell percentage when on pool mode, & superchlorination, but not spa percentage. So just to recap, I have an Pentair Easytouch/Intellitouch with screenlogic and a hayward Aquarite salt system connected via serial bus as described in the hayward install manual.
 
I'm going to retract my previous remark that the spa output doesn't work. It indeed may, but when I was testing in the bucket, I didn't completely understand how the Pentair panel worked. Turns out the Pentair control will ONLY light the salt system when the pool low is activated. That means that the salt cell doesn't work when pool high is activated by itself. I suspect that the same is true for spa.
Personally I think this is the dumbest thing ever. I was able to work around it by setting my pool high schedules to have an identically timed pool low schedule. I figure if the pump is running, I might as well generate chlorine.
Another disadvantage of this is that I had to up the speed of my VSP for pool low... I now am burning an additional 40 watts for the speed increase necessary to actuate the flow switch.
 

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@miatawnt2b
Are you sure this is working as expected with your EasyTouch? I hooked up my EasyTouch to my Aquarite using the instructions for Intellitouch in the Aquarite manual and then enabled Intellichlor. At first I thought it was working as the EasyTouch does report the proper salt levels and it said status OK, however I noticed on the Aquarite that the remote control LED is not staying on all the time. Instead it comes on for 5 seconds or so and then goes back off (at which point the Aquarite switches back to the auto mode). This cycle repeats every 30 seconds or so but seems to result in the Aquarite never really being controlled by the EasyTouch and intends it seems to keep losing contact with the EasyTouch. I've ruled out wires and connections as the problem.
 
I apologize for not writing this sooner. I realized after several months I was actually having a problem controlling the actual output settings with my ScreenLogic.
I actually disconnected it from the EasyTouch control. I think the issue is actually the wireless controller for the ScreenLogic. It messes up the addressing of the Aquarite. So I'm stuck having to manually control the Aquarite now. I suspect when the documentation was published there was no such thing as a ScreenLogic wireless control
 
I have the same issue with an IntelliTouch i5+3 my "Remote Control LED" wont stay lit, and each time it goes off everything resets (ie, set Super Chlorinate for 1 hr, wait 10 seconds, it turns off). In my case the cycle is every 5 or 6 seconds it looses the connection, then 3 to 4 seconds later it comes back. I also have Screenlogic 2 so I disconnected it and that's not the issue.

If anyone else out there has this working, can you tell us you Pentair firmware and AwuaRite firmware versions?
 
Easytouch2.8 fw2160
ScreenLogic 5.2 build 738
Aquarite r1.40

I've had this enabled for nearly a year and finally realized it's not actually working correctly. The behavior is exactly as described by jaysin436. The salt level is relayed back to the Easytouch. On the Aquarite, the remote light turns on for about 5s and then goes off for about 45s. While the remote light is on, the Easytouch chlorine setting can be seen on the Aquarite screen. During the 45s window the Aquarite resumes control and reverts to the settings specified by its switch and dial. I tried disconnecting the Screenlogic but that didn't change anything. I also changed the Master/Slave jumper on the Aquarite to slave to no avail. I might grab a rs485 to usb adapter and take a look at what's going on. Without a Hayward control center, it might be difficult to diagnose what message or message bits the Easytouch is failing to send to make the Aquarite happy.
 
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rando said:
Easytouch2.8 fw2160
ScreenLogic 5.2 build 738
Aquarite r1.40

I've had this enabled for nearly a year and finally realized it's not actually working correctly. The behavior is exactly as described by jaysin436. The salt level is relayed back to the Easytouch. On the Aquarite, the remote light turns on for about 5s and then goes off for about 45s. While the remote light is on, the Easytouch chlorine setting can be seen on the Aquarite screen. During the 45s window the Aquarite resumes control and reverts to the settings specified by its switch and dial. I tried disconnecting the Screenlogic but that didn't change anything. I also changed the Master/Slave jumper on the Aquarite to slave to no avail. I might grab a rs485 to usb adapter and take a look at what's going on. Without a Hayward control center, it might be difficult to diagnose what message or message bits the Easytouch is failing to send to make the Aquarite happy.
Click to expand...
I have been troubleshooting the exact same thing. I'm betting Pentair changed the RS485 protocol in a firmware change. I've noticed that the pentair is sending data to the Chlorinator at about 15 second intervals. However, the Hayward needs the update to be sent in 5 second intervals or less. I thought maybe I could use nodejs_poolController on git and use a RasPi to talk to both the Pentair and Hayward, but it doesn't seem to work in both Intellitouch and Virtual mode at the same time.
 
That's a good bit of intel! If it's just a frequency of message issue, I think it should be doable. The nodejs_poolController project has already done most of the heavy lifting in decoding the RS458 messages. It's already on my shortlist should my Easytouch ever die. It looks like a HUGE upgrade in capability and affordability. I was thinking of using a Pi or microcontroller in the middle to act as a protocol translator but maybe just a single RS485 interface to tap the bus is sufficient.

Option 1: Protocal translator (man in the middle) - 2 bus solution
  • Easytouch <-> custom_controller
  • custom_controller<->Aquarite

The easytouch would send commands and receive status from the custom controller. The custom controller emulates a SWG.
The Aquarite would receive commands and send status to the custom controller. The custom controller emulates a control center.


Option2: Existing single bus solution
  • custom_controller <-> existing RS485 bus.

Listen for SWG control messages from the Easytouch and then repeat them at the required frequency.


An arduino and a couple of rs485 adapters is a $10 solution -- might be worth a shot.
 
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Exactly! That's a project for someone smarter than I. Unfortunately my brain has never been able to grasp coding. Subnet math, all day long, but I don't code.
:)
Also, I have discussed this very briefly and from a high level with the nodejs_poolController dev. When running in Virtual mode it sends updates to the Aquarite every 4 seconds. AND IT WORKS. Also in intellitouch mode, it can communicate directly with the easytouch panel and grab all the circuit and schedule info directly. It can then send commands to the easytouch panel just as the ScreenLogic app will. This also works. However, you can't work this in a hybrid mode.

What we need is to enable the chlorinator control in the intellitouch/easytouch controller. Then have the nodejs_poolController communicate with intellitouch for settings, however, we also need the nodjs_poolController to send Chlorinator control messages every 4 seconds just as if it was in virtual mode.
That would solve the issue.
-J
 
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My RS485 adapter came lightning quick -- I just need to get a moment to hook it up and mess with nodejs_poolController a bit. In theory, since I have the Screenlogic box right here next to my PC, I should be able to monitor the bus without even being near my pool pad -- hopefully that will save some time.
 

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