Pentair Intellibrite issue working w Pentair intelliflo pump. Help please.

Jump to latest Follow Reply
C

CrazyMuttz

Member
May 18, 2021
18
Easton
We have the pentair intellibrite light w along w the box control to change colors. It has always worked fine until last summer when we installed new pump and filter equipment. Installed Pentair intelliflo pump and pump works fine....however, and pentair themselves along a w an electrician friend and pool company I have talked to have been able to give me a solution to this problem!

If the pump is running and I turn the light on at the control box it comes on, shuts off briefly but flickers first and when it lights back up its never the color that's selected. Changing colors after that does change color but not the selected color. After a few selections the light stops working at all until I shut pump off and turn light back on then the light works fine again?!?! I dont understand why the pump would be interfering w the light color selection at all! Light worked fine for years til a new pentair pump was installed. These 2 devices aren't connected in any way but the pump only when running is messing w the color selection of the light. Please help. Any ideas appreciated!
O
 
  • Like
Reactions: gary300
C,

The light changes color when the control box quickly turns the light on and off... I suspect that the pump is generating noise on the AC power line and this is confusing the light control box..

It could just be the way your wiring is routed, or it could be you need some kind of noise filter. I don't have much background in noise filters, so let's see if we can get one of our other members to chime in...

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
+1 for Jim's suggestion... I'm not saying I know it'll work, but that's where I'd start.

The pump runs at 240, whereas the light controller runs at 120... they'll be on different circuits but if the pump is creating noise it'll affect everything. I don't know why a new pump would make that much noise though? If Pentair and an electrician have been out, I bet they've verified that the pump is properly grounded and bonded.

As Jim said, the intellibrite board counts how many times it's powered on/off to determine what color to set... and the controller just sends those on/off toggles so you don't have to stand around turning a light switch on/off 14 times in a row. If there's noise, then the light night not be able to detect an on/off transition. Or maybe something else is interfering just enough that the addition of the pump finishes it off. Do you have any other large-ish transformers in your system, like for landscape lightning (and does shutting that off help)?

You could rule out the light controller as the culprit by replacing it with a simple switch to toggle the light on/off many times quickly.

This is a weird one. But there are lots of folks on here well versed in electrical issues... maybe @ajw22 has an idea?
 
Welcome to TFP..

Does your pump and lights work through an EasyTouch or IntelliCenter panel? Where are the CBs located for the pump and lights?

Do the pump electrical and lights share any conduits?

Lots of detail is needed to understand how your system is wired and setup to identify any anomaly.
 
Wow, thanks for all the help guys! This problem is driving me nuts! So, where to start.
Never had this issue w d waterway pump. Nothing else was changed other than installing new filter and pump just like the old one was. The pump is controlled right from the pump, nothing external. Use the control pad attached to pump. The intellibrite light is controlled w the control box w the di to change colors and that is mounted in patio area about 25-30 away from the pump area. I dont believe any conduit is shared other than where the wiring comes into the main panel by filter area. I do have a landscape lighting transformer mounted by filter area. It's a 2 or 3 hundred watt transformer for low voltage landscape lighting but that has been there as long as we have had the pool. Both the pump and light function perfectly independent of each other and light works fine w pump other than the changing colors. It'll do a quick flicker then go off and back on w a completely random unchosen color.
Thanks again for everyone's help. I'd love to figure this out!!
 
Show us pics of the equipment area and circuit breakers.

Where are the circuit breakers for the pump and lights located?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
CrazyMuttz said:
I will post tomorrow. Thanks so much. Could the landscape transformer cause any interference??
Click to expand...

I don't think so.

I want to see the way your CBs are arranged and may suggest you switch the CB's around.
 
C,

Single speed pumps do not have this problem.. but VS pumps are known for generating harmonic noise that feeds back out of the pump on the AC power line....

I suppose another possible problem might be that the voltage drops when both the pump and the lights are on at the same time. Pretty easy to test that with a voltmeter.

My bet is on the noise issue.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
What circuit breaker is the light connected to?

Can you open up the CB panel and take a pic of the inside showing the wiring?
 
CrazyMuttz said:
The light is on the single breaker on the left.
Click to expand...

The breaker marked "Outlet Circuit"?

CrazyMuttz said:
I can send a pic later when I am home.
Any ideas or suggestions yet?
Click to expand...

Right now Jim has the best idea to try a noise suppressor.

I need to see a lot more details in your electrical wiring to get an idea of what is going on.
 
C,

My initial idea was to put a noise suppresser on the 240 volt line to the pump.. But, I think a better idea would be to put a 120 volt suppresser on AC power line going to the light controller.

Amazon.com: Noise Suppressor Power EMI Filter Termianl Single-Phase Line-Conditioner JREle AC 115/250V 20A CW4L2-20A-S : Industrial & Scientific

Amazon.com: Noise Suppressor Power EMI Filter Termianl Single-Phase Line-Conditioner JREle AC 115/250V 20A CW4L2-20A-S : Industrial & Scientific
www.amazon.com

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Yes I believe so. The double breaker was replaced last summer along w pump and other equipment and thats for the pump so the other one I believe is the light ond the gfi outlet mounted behind cb box.

I can do a pic later on
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply