Help with setup of pool, spa, heaters etc.

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T

Thedamfam

Member
Jan 19, 2023
16
Austin, Tx
Pool Size
25000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hello,
I would like to apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge. I have tried to no avail to figure out how to run my system. My pool builder provided no help and is now AWOL. I have a setup with 3 pumps and 2 heaters. 1 pump runs our water feature. The second pump runs our semi-lazy river area. That is where one heater is connected. The third pump is connected to the second heater and runs the majority of our pool returns and the other 2 of 3 skimmers. This is also the pump that feeds our spa which overflows into our pool. They installed an i10d after having no prior luck with my previous setup. Everything worked fine except when I wanted to heat the spa we had to manually operate the valves for intake and return. I was then told I need a 521936z. I have plugged that in and moved my valves to it. Now I show a pool/spa and spa mode. When I turn on pool/spa nothing happens. When I turn on spa. The valves now switch to spa settings and the heater kicks on (even though it says off). How do I run the pumps in pool/spa mode and in spa mode. I hope I’m making sense. None of this makes sense to me.

Thanks in advance.
 

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Welcome to TFP.

We need to know the manufacturer and model numbers of all of your equipment to start telling you how they work. If you are not sure then post pics of the equipment with any labels.

You mention an i10PS which indicates you have a Pentair IntelliCenter.

How do you control the IntelliCenter? IntelliCenter2 web site? IntelliCenter2 phone app? Outdoor control panel? Indoor control panel?

Who did the IntelliCenter setup and configuration?
 
TDF,

We are just as confused as you... :mrgreen:

Your best bet is to show us several pics of your equipment pad, and then some pics of your IntelliCenter, with the front panel folded down so we can see the circuit cards, and connections..

Then we will all be on the same page.

At first glance I don't think you can control two heaters at the same time.. But, something we will have to check out.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Thank you for your patience. I hope this helps
 

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Jimrahbe said:
TDF,

We are just as confused as you... :mrgreen:

Your best bet is to show us several pics of your equipment pad, and then some pics of your IntelliCenter, with the front panel folded down so we can see the circuit cards, and connections..

Then we will all be on the same page.

At first glance I don't think you can control two heaters at the same time.. But, something we will have to check out.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Hopefully these pics help clear things up a little.
 
TDF,

It appears to me that you have two Personality Cards in your set up..

Only one Personality card can be used..

The card on the right is the mother board, the card on the far left is you new i5PS (Which allows you to switch between the pool and spa mode)

The card in the middle appears to be a Personality card, but I can't make out the P/N.. Can you tell me what P/N that card is??

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
It looks like you have two bodies of water with two sets of equipment:
  1. Pool/Spa
  2. Lazy River
You need the Intellicenter i10D to control two sets of equipment for two independent bodies of water, not an i10PS system.
 
Jimrahbe said:
TDF,

It appears to me that you have two Personality Cards in your set up..

Only one Personality card can be used..

The card on the right is the mother board, the card on the far left is you new i5PS (Which allows you to switch between the pool and spa mode)

The card in the middle appears to be a Personality card, but I can't make out the P/N.. Can you tell me what P/N that card is??

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Here is the other p/n
 

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ajw22 said:
It looks like you have two bodies of water with two sets of equipment:
  1. Pool/Spa
  2. Lazy River
You need the Intellicenter i10D to control two sets of equipment for two independent bodies of water, not an i10PS system.
Click to expand...
None of the pool professionals I have used have been able to guide me in the right direction. I have (on their recommendations bought 3 separate intelecenter modules and now this spa card. The spa card was recommended to the last pool guy by Pentair after he read them off the part #s. It has cost me a fortune and I’m on my 2nd year dealing with this dang pool. The pump on the left controls flow to the lazy river it is connected to the left heater. The middle pump controls the waterfall/slide/ bubblers. The right pump controls flow to pool/spa depending on where the valves are turned. It is connected to the right heater. Our pool is gorgeous but it’s been a nightmare. I just want to be able to turn on and off spa mode and be able to heat the pool and spa whenever I want through the app.
 

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TDF,

So.. the i10D is where you have a pool, with its own equipment, and you have a spa with its own equipment.. The Spa DOES NOT spillover into the pool.

That is not what you have.. You have a standard Pool/Spa combination where the Spa spills over into the pool. That requires the use of the i5PS personality card. You can only have one Personality card.

I think it would make sense to set up the i5PS so that your Spa and Pool works like it should and then use the Aux relays to control your other equipment.

Let's assume for a minute, that you can switch between your Pool and Spa and heat either one.. (This should work with just the i5PS) How do you want to control the other units???

How would you like your lazy river to work??

How would you like your other water features to work?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
TDF,

You have a great looking pool, but a hot mess at your equipment pad. :mrgreen:

The pump on the right side is connected using the normal Pool/Spa spillover plumbing.. I see no issues making this work as intended, including heater the pool or the spa. The heater will be controlled by the IntelliCenter.

The pump in the middle is for your water features and just needs to be told to turn on and run at a particular speed.. (Easy)

The pump on the far left is for your lazy river.. Turning it on and off and adjusting the speed should not be a problem. The heater is a slight issue as you will not be able to set the temperature using the IntelliCenter. I don't see this as a big deal.. You will just set the heater to a temperature you want at the heater.

Does your lazy river have its own skimmer, or is it just connected to one the pool skimmers? Does the lazy river run into the pool, or is it all self-contained??

In the big picture, I just don't see any major issues... What am I missing??

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Jimrahbe said:
TDF,

You have a great looking pool, but a hot mess at your equipment pad. :mrgreen:

The pump on the right side is connected using the normal Pool/Spa spillover plumbing.. I see no issues making this work as intended, including heater the pool or the spa. The heater will be controlled by the IntelliCenter.

The pump in the middle is for your water features and just needs to be told to turn on and run at a particular speed.. (Easy)

The pump on the far left is for your lazy river.. Turning it on and off and adjusting the speed should not be a problem. The heater is a slight issue as you will not be able to set the temperature using the IntelliCenter. I don't see this as a big deal.. You will just set the heater to a temperature you want at the heater.

Does your lazy river have its own skimmer, or is it just connected to one the pool skimmers? Does the lazy river run into the pool, or is it all self-contained??

In the big picture, I just don't see any major issues... What am I missing??

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly and for your patience with my lack of knowledge. The river has its own skimmer and is part of the pool. The other 2 skimmers are part on the right pump which feeds the pool or spa depending on the valves. The issue I can’t figure out now is this. I don’t know how this should be configured to operate the pool the spa and the river independently. Before adding the spa card (far left) I had River (left pump) waterfall (middle pump) and pool/spa (right pump). I could turn on the pool/spa but had to manually switch the valves to heat the spa. Pentair told my pool guy I needed the card on the left. It is in now and since installed I now currently I have a pool/spa and spa. Spa mode turns on my spa valves and heater when turned on. I no longer see the river on my screen. This is the other heater and pump.

Ultimately I want to control all independently of each other from the screen and/or app.

River -on/off pump and heat pool with heater 1
Spa- switch to spa mode to blow and heat spa with heater 2
Pool/spa - switch to pool mode(valves) and heat pool with heater 2
 
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Thedamfam said:
Ultimately I want to control all independently of each other from the screen and/or app.
Click to expand...
TDF,

What you want to do, and what the system can do, may not be the same thing... :mrgreen:

You can run the Pool or the Spa, but you can't run both at the same time.. That does not mean you can't use the spa while someone else is in the pool, but the system is either going to be in the Pool mode or the Spa mode.

You need to remove the i10D card.. and just use the iPS5 card.

Then set up just the Pool and Spa to work the way you want.

You should be able to turn on your water feature pump any time you want or have it run a Schedule.

You should be able to turn on your Lazy River pump any time you want or have it run a schedule. It will not control the temperature of the heater.

Seems to me now is the time to get everything working while it is too cold to be swimming.

I'd be glad to help, but we would need to do this one step at a time...

Step one is to removed the i10D card and get just the pool and spa working as designed.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
TDF,

So.. the i10D is where you have a pool, with its own equipment, and you have a spa with its own equipment.. The Spa DOES NOT spillover into the pool.

That is not what you have.. You have a standard Pool/Spa combination where the Spa spills over into the pool. That requires the use of the i5PS personality card. You can only have one Personality card.

I think it would make sense to set up the i5PS so that your Spa and Pool works like it should and then use the Aux relays to control your other equipment.

Let's assume for a minute, that you can switch between your Pool and Spa and heat either one.. (This should work with just the i5PS) How do you want to control the other units???

How would you like your lazy river to work??

How would you like your other water features to w
Click to expand...

DavidLast said:
Could I perhaps suggest sitting down and drawing a simple line drawing showing the plumbing process in a simplified way for each water body and then drawing in the plumbing interconnections?
Click to expand...
Here is the basic layout
 

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Jimrahbe said:
TDF,

What you want to do, and what the system can do, may not be the same thing... :mrgreen:

You can run the Pool or the Spa, but you can't run both at the same time.. That does not mean you can't use the spa while someone else is in the pool, but the system is either going to be in the Pool mode or the Spa mode.

You need to remove the i10D card.. and just use the iPS5 card.

Then set up just the Pool and Spa to work the way you want.

You should be able to turn on your water feature pump any time you want or have it run a Schedule.

You should be able to turn on your Lazy River pump any time you want or have it run a schedule. It will not control the temperature of the heater.

Seems to me now is the time to get everything working while it is too cold to be swimming.

I'd be glad to help, but we would need to do this one step at a time...

Step one is to removed the i10D card and get just the pool and spa working as designed.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
The reason they installed this was to add the 2nd heater control. Is this not possible with the i10 d? Even though it’s the same body of water they said it had to be treated as a different body to control heater. I am amazed by how many pool professionals that haven’t been able to get this running properly.
 
DavidLast said:
So looking at the plumbing layout, as I read the thread you want to run the pool and the spa at the same time. Is that correct or have I misunderstood? What is the expectations of this? That is, the spa is fully active and the pool as well; the pool and spa are at the same temperature or something else?
Click to expand...
1. I would like to run the river pump and heater whenever I want. Regardless of what’s going on with the pool and spa.
2. I want to be able to heat the pool OR spa depending on if it is on pool or spa mode.
3. I want to be able to select pool or spa mode from my intellicenter app or screen.

We have always had to physically change the valves to spa in order to use it. I’d like to be able to turn it on/off remotely. (Switching on/off the pump and heater for the pool OR spa.
 
Thedamfam said:
The reason they installed this was to add the 2nd heater control. Is this not possible with the i10 d? Even though it’s the same body of water they said it had to be treated as a different body to control heater. I am amazed by how many pool professionals that haven’t been able to get this running properly.
Click to expand...
Sorry. Are you suggesting the statement was an interlinked pool and spa? The spa could be heated separately from the pool. Sorry, I'm going to switch to Celsius for a second. Have the pool sit at, say, 15 and the spa at 30, for example? Or were you told the spa can be run at say 30 and the pool wont be heated as such? Or something else?
 

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