IntelliConnect review/warnings - Seeking an alternative

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T

Talnus

Member
May 2, 2020
7
Scottsdale, AZ
First, a quick word of thanks to all who participate here. I've learned a great deal over the years about chemistry, troubleshooting and equipment selection.

== IntelliConnect Mini-Review

I recently overhauled my outdoor pool and selected the IntelliConnect to control my new Pentair Intelliflo, existing Hayward Aquarite SWG, and pool light. My pool is pretty simple - I have no other automation needs.

The IntelliConnect reliably runs my scheduled daily cleaning cycles. My main issues are with the "app" which is just a web browser, and the Link2O website itself. The IntelliConnect communicates to a Pentair server, which is accessed by this Link2O website. I don't believe the IntelliConnect can be directly controlled without going through Pentair's middle-man server. The website is clunky, slow and poorly designed, and simple tasks like starting or stopping the pump and SWG take multiple clicks. A Pentair SWG would provide additional Automation capabilities, but I chose the Hayward SWG for other reasons, so it's acting as a simple power relay. The 4 Intelliflow presets can be modified (speed, duration, schedule) which is nice to be able to do remotely, but can be accomplished on the controller mounted to the pump as well. There's some additional functionality for certain heaters which doesn't apply to my pool.

I've been able to look past these issues for the past ~year I've had the IntelliConnect live, but for the last few weeks the Pentair server has been having major problems that are getting worse. I'm now asked to log in nearly every time I access Link2O, and it reports invalid username/password constantly. On the off chance it does accept my credentials (usually after 10+ attempts) the server takes 30+ seconds to display the homepage. Any requests take 30+ seconds to respond, and often error out or take me back to the login screen. I work in IT, have tried multiple devices on various networks, and am fairly convinced the issue is with the Pentair server.

Pentair hasn't issued any website or firmware updates in over a year. Even if they fix the server, I highly doubt any of the other nagging issues above will be fixed anytime soon. I don't believe the IntelliConnect was a big seller for Pentair, and they don't appear to have interest in further investment in the platform.

== Seeking advice on an alternative

I've recently moved much of my outdoor lighting to the "My Leviton" automation platform, and switched my pool light from an IntelliConnect relay to a Leviton Wifi Switch a few months ago. Big win was sunrise/sunset timer capabilities to match my other outdoor lighting (IntelliConnect doesn't offer this).

That leaves the Intelliflo and Aquarite SWG. I really don't care about mobile access - anytime I need to control my pool, I am near my pool. I have easy access to the Intelliflo and Aquarite controls. I really just need a solution that supplies power to the SWG when the pump is running, and cuts power when the pump turns off. The aquarite can run on either 120V or 240V, and I have both voltages available with sufficient amperage at the equipment pad.

Any ideas?
 

Current Sensing Relay for SWG

There are lots of scattered experiences throughout this forum regarding current sensing relays to trigger the SWG's power source based on current flow to the pump. There is not a clear solution though - "buy this, hook it up like that". This thread is an attempt to get a direct answer to the...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Try this link..... Help wiring relay for SWG control

You need to read through the whole thing to eliminate the errors originally made.
 
Thanks Allen!

To all interested - I'm considering purchasing this:

CR Magnetics CR4395-EH-240-110-B-CD-ELR-I Current Sensing Relay with Internal Transformer, 240 VAC, Energized on High Trip, 1 - 10 AAC Trip Range, 2 - 25 Second Trip on Delay: Electronic Relays: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

My plan is to route the 240v line (currently going to pump) through the sensor, split that same 240v input line to add a connection to the input side of this new relay, and connect the SWG to the output side of the new relay. Relay would be in the junction box just before the pump.

Anyone happen to know the amperage draw of the Aquarite with T-15 under full load @ 240V?

I should be able to adjust the trip range to a minimum pump speed and delay the SWG startup for <=25 seconds after the pump starts. This seems too simple - I feel like I must be missing something?
 
PCJackson - that's encouraging. Please keep us posted on what you find out. It would be interesting to know if Pentair has any plans to build an actual mobile app for the IC. A friend has a different Pentair automation system and his app actually works well.
 
I have been equally struggling with IntelliConnect... I just installed it last month and already regret it massively! In a previous life I rented a home which had a Pentair control system (which worked wonders) but now that I bought a home myself I wanted something nice so my pool shop suggested this IntelliConnect as an affordable solution... It’s just crazy how difficult it is to get to the main menu, literally takes minutes. It has never been fast but this weekend it’s just been impossible to get to.
 
I’d be curious if anyone has identified how to control the Intelliconnect directly; I’ve located the cloud APIs but if the site is down, they are down. Would be awesome to be able to send some basic commands to the Intelliconnect itself.
 
Good news - It does appear Pentair did something to the server (reboot maybe?) yesterday and speeds appear to be back to normal for now.

PCJackson - would love to communicate directly with the Intelliconnect as well, but I don't have the skills to figure out how to make that happen. Sounds like you have Pentair's ear - maybe they will share with you? Excited to hear what you find out about Pentair Home migration as well.
 

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The server issues are back 5/8. I have strong wifi at the controller and attempted to pair the system a few times. It showed connected to my wifi, but with the continual status of "connecting" to the server which never happened.

Last week it was the "invalid email and/or password" error.

I have only had this system 3 weeks as it was installed with the pool. The Intelliconnect suite while novel, fails quite often, so unless Pentair upgrades this attempt at automation, buyer beware.
 
This is frustrating, I’ve also had a similar experience lately. It was great a year ago when I first had it installed. I even participated in a beta with Alexa which also worked well. These last few weeks however have been painful :mad:
 
So I submitted a ticket with Pentair via the Link2o app asking about any timelines to resolve the performance issues. Their response acknowledge the performance issue and indicated that we may continue to see them and that they are working to resolve. Hmmmm not a confidence builder of a response. :-(
 
Jiggy1 said:
The server issues are back 5/8. I have strong wifi at the controller and attempted to pair the system a few times. It showed connected to my wifi, but with the continual status of "connecting" to the server which never happened.

Last week it was the "invalid email and/or password" error.

I have only had this system 3 weeks as it was installed with the pool. The Intelliconnect suite while novel, fails quite often, so unless Pentair upgrades this attempt at automation, buyer beware.
Click to expand...
Man, i'm sorry to hear about these issues! I pushed and pushed for my PB to give me the Intellicenter instead of the Easytouch as they intended. We haven't started building yet but I'm hoping to break ground within a week.
I wonder if having the small remote that is available as an add-on for the intellicenter prevent these problems? it appears that it uses small expansion card that gets added to the intellicenter board directly and is then paired to the board. Does anyone know if this negates the server issues that are described here? If so, it appears that remote unit can be bought online for a few hundred dollars and installation doesn't look to be hard at all.
 
I’ve been having issues lately with the Link2o app. I’m not sure if it is the Link2o app or intelliconnect. My setup is very simple. I use intelliconnect for my Intelliflo, Intellichlor and pool lights. My intelliflo is scheduled to run different speeds in three 8 hour slots (8am - 3:59pm, 4pm -11:59pm and 12am - 7:79am). In the past two weeks I have noticed that the Link2o app doesn’t display the right information for the Intelliflo. Since the information for Intelliflo is not accurate, I feel the information for Intellichlor may be inaccurate as well. When my pump is running at speed 1, the Link2o app shows that it is running at speed 2 or speed 3. The only way to fix it to show the right information is to shut off the system at the breaker and restart it. I have opened a ticket with Pentair yesterday. Will have to wait and see what they say. Anyone else having similar issues?
 
My pool builder installed Intelliconnect to run the Pentair IntelliFlo VSF pump, the Whisperflo water feature pump, and a (horrible, horrible, noisy and now retired) Pentair booster pump for the useless pressure side cleaner they also provided. Interesting features and quirks.
  • Good: You can set connections 2 and 3 to require a minimum speed on the VSF filter pump. This would be useful for a SWCG or booster pump. Since all the equipment connections are simple RS-485 serial (2-wire) connections, I suspect there is a wide range of equipment that can at least be scheduled to turn on or off, not just Pentair.
  • Good: All three connections can individually be set to use Freeze Protection, where they come on when the temp drops to a settable temp and shut off when the temp rises to another settable temp.
  • Good, sort of: A fourth connection can control a Pentair heater. I have the heater but it's not connected to the Intelliconnect, as when I use the heater, I typically also change the positions of the suction and return flo valves (mostly use it to heat the spa only.)
  • Quirk.: At 11am and 7pm (central time), the Intelliconnect gets or requests (not sure which) a time sync from the Pentair server. If you happen to have pumps running at that time, they'll restart. It took a trouble ticket for me to learn that. Now, I just make sure there are no pumps running at the time sync times.
  • Bad: Like a salesman on his wedding night, Pentair has been promising how great the Intelliconnect is going to be for quite a while. Little things like being able to name the connections or name the pump programs are "in the works," as are other things we'd like to see and which should be relatively easy for a programmer assigned to those projects. Other things like the ability to set not speed but rather flow on a VSF pump, also promised but not delivered. Also improving the graphical interface.
  • Easy choice: Intelliconnect vs panel on the pump. Holy cow, it is 1,000 times more convenient to program from my PC than to lean over the pump in the heat and/or mosquitoes, paging through the cryptic menus to change a start/stop time and speed. The iPhone/iPad app is indeed painfully slow, and the interface is clunky at best. Much easier from the PC. The iPhone remembers the logon, as does MS Edge or Firefox on the PC. Yes, the graphical interface is borderline stupid, with most of the space taken up with a huge circle indicating what portion of full speed the VS pump is running, necessitating scrolling or dragging the display to see below it. Another change that has been "in the works" since October 2018.
  • Bad: A few times the Pentair servers have been down. Fortunately, that doesn't interfere with existing schedules running, just updating or manual starts from the app. This year, the servers apparently ran a few days behind the time change to DST.
  • Good: You can put it a trouble ticket or just an inquiry from the app or PC web page, and that is handy. The questions I've asked I have had replies within a day, although those questions should probably have been in the FAQ's--which are not categorized and so tedious to use.
 
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