Hacking IntellipH to work in cold water

[Dirk]

As Pentair IntellipH (IpH) automatic acid dosing system owners know, the IpH depends on a Pentair IntellliChlor (IC) saltwater chlorine generator. The IpH uses the IC's power supply, and monitors its flow switch, so that it won't dispense acid if the IC is reporting low flow. Unfortunately, it also monitors the IC's water temperature reading, and won't dispense acid if the IC is reporting cold water. Not sure why Pentair chose this limitation, but I didn't like it. It's bad enough I lose my SWG in the winter, not cool that I lose my IpH, too. So I developed a little circuit that circumvents this issue. It's not really a hack, in that I didn't alter any software or firmware, I just modified the way the IpH and IC are wired together.

Basically I'm using a switch that bypasses the IpH controller and connects the IpH pump motor directly to the IC's power supply, via an EasyTouch relay for scheduling. Simple enough, but, of course, I never do anything nice... and easy. First step was accessing the IC's power supply.

I was cursed with an EasyTouch PSL4 (ET), which along with other limitations, didn't house an IC transformer or any circuit breakers. My IC Power Center was in a separate, external box, bolted to the wall next to my ET. That always bugged me, so I fixed that too. I disassembled the Power Center and moved its guts into my ET. I'll spare you all the details of that, but I can share if someone wants to know how that's done. It ended up looking like so. This is the inside of my ET, and that's the Power Center transformer with its little circuit board mounted above it.



BTW, in addition to selling me the wrong ET, you get a glimpse of the fine wiring job that was done by my nincompoop pool guy. I digress. The connector you see hanging off the Power Center's circuit board was cut off and relocated in the bottom of the ET raceway, where it would be had the ET come this way. Just a matter of extending the wires.



I ended up later moving the Power Center's circuit board elsewhere, up by the ET mother board. I debated whether is should be in the high voltage area, or the low voltage area. I moved it mostly for the convenience of wiring.

Next step was to mount the other components I needed. The IC's Power Center outputs DC, but the spec's say "22-39VDC." The IpH pump gets 24VDC. The pump might be OK with 22-39V, depending on how close to 24V that means, but I didn't want to risk that, so I found a circuit on Amazon that solves for that. It's called a Buck Converter, and it accepts DC and regulates it to a selectable voltage. It can also regulate the amps, but I didn't utilize that part of the circuit. I also installed a volt/amp display, so I could monitor both, which made adjusting the Buck Converter very easy. I also needed a relay for a flow switch, more on that later. I mounted all that in the low-voltage area of the ET, just behind the motherboard. Like so (also shown is the location I settled on for the Power Center's circuit board):



The Power Center is still wired to the ET's "Pool" circuit, so theoretically the rewired IpH pump won't run unless the filter pump is on and running. But I like the added safety feature of the IpH monitoring the IC's flow switch, so I had to recreate that because with my IpH and IC in winter mode, that feature no longer exists. I installed a flow switch in my plumbing. Luckily I had just barely enough room. But the flow switch wires we're of a very small gauge, so I used a relay to solve for that. The current that the IpH pump motor draws runs through the relay. The current that runs through the flow switch and its wimpy wire is only what is required to close that relay.


I found a good spot for the flow switch, just in front of the IpH injector, and protected from anything that might snag its small wire.

Then I had to find a spot for the "IpH Winter Switch" (see above for the backside view). I needed a 4PDT switch (four-pole, double-throw), that was heavy duty and that could handle the current. It was kinda a honker. I thought about mounting it in the bottom of the ET, but that would have meant low voltage DC wiring in the high-voltage AC area of the ET, plus there are twelve wires involved, going back and forth between the switch and all those components in the low-voltage area. I didn't like that idea, and while I was loathe to punch through my ET's faceplate, that's what I ended up doing. I had to file down the switch handle, to clear the ET's door!



I chose that spot because of what was behind it, but also because it didn't look too bad. Unfortunately, I later upgraded my ET motherboard to an ET8, and replaced the faceplate. Not so OK-looking anymore. Oh well.



Lastly, I wired everything up, held my breath, turned it on and... it worked (for a while anyway, more on that in post #3 below). The next post goes into the details of the actual wiring, but the abridged version is the switch has three-positions:

In the middle position, power is disconnected from both the IC and the IpH, and the IpH pump motor is disconnected completely. It's like a stand-by mode, or "everything off" mode.

In the right position, the IpH and IC are connected to the IC Power Center and function normally together, as originally designed. This is the "Normal Mode" position.

In the left position, or "Winter Mode," power is disconnected from the IC and the IpH, and the IpH pump cable is re-routed. In Winter mode, the pump motor is connected to the Buck Converter through both the flow switch relay and one of my ET relays. The pump motor gets 24VDC only when three things are true: the Pool circuit is on, the ET's Aux 2 feature circuit is on (which closes the ET relay) and the flow switch is closed. I just schedule the Aux 2 feature circuit within my Pool circuit schedule, for the desired duration, and the IpH pump runs (1 minute minimum or longer, in 1 minute increments). This ran all winter with no issues and my pH stayed right where I want it without me having to manually pour acid. Nice.

The only safety feature missing from what the IpH normally provides, is the dispensing limit. In normal mode, the IpH will only dispense a limited amount of acid each hour. I don't know the exact amount, but it's like a few ounces (it's in the IpH manual somewhere). In my Winter mode, there is no limit. It'll pump whatever the ET schedule dictates. Potentially, the ET schedule could malfunction and empty the entire contents of the IpH into the pool. To be fair, theoretically, the IpH could also malfunction in that same way. Either way, it wouldn't be catastrophic for my pool. At most my IpH holds 2 gallons of 31% Muriatic acid, and of course it's not always full. Sometimes it's only a quart, or less. But even worse case, two gallons will only crash the pH for a short while, without causing any damage to the pool. Now folks that have built similar acid dispensing systems using Stenner pumps with 15+ gallon tanks are asking for trouble. Two gallons of acid poses no real threat.

Additionally, because Winter Mode disconnects power from both the IpH and the IC, I no longer have to do that physically. I used to pull the fuse from the Power Center so that the two weren't powered on for nothing all winter. Now that happens with the flip of the switch.

I could have simplified all this and just eliminated the IpH controller all together. Acid injection would occur all year long using just the ET relay and ET scheduling. No switch needed. But I like the fact that the IpH with its controller dispenses a small amount of acid hourly, all day long, and turns off the IC while it's injecting. To recreate all that, I'd need more ET scheduling slots than are available. I really like the way the IpH and IC work together most of the time, I just wanted the IpH to work in the winter, too.

 

[Dirk]

Here's the wiring diagram. I use Adobe Illustrator for work, so it's relatively easy for me to create drawings like this, and it makes it easy to modify during the design phase, and later it's handy to follow during the build. Plus, in case I have to trouble-shoot something or remember what I did, I'll have this for reference.

If anyone is interested in more detail of how this is doing what it does, I'd be happy to share. Short version, the switch either connects the original IpH/IC power supply to the IpH and the IC, while maintaining the original connection of the IpH pump motor to the IpH controller; or it connects the power supply to the Buck Converter, while re-routing the IpH motor cable to the Converter, through the flow switch and ET relays. The flow switch relay uses the same 24V output of the Converter, and is open or closed as the flow switch opens or closes. The 4PDT switch has a center position, which disconnects the power supply and the pump motor from anything. EZPZ!


In "Normal Mode," shown above, there is no current running to the Buck Converter, the Meter, the Flow Switch or its relay. Everything is "dormant" until Winter mode is used. No sense in keeping any of that powered up for nine months of the year when they won't be needed. In Winter mode, they're only powered up when the ET's Pool circuit is on, which is just a few hours a day. There's not much that can go wrong with this circuitry, and I expect it'll last a good long time.

 

[Dirk]

So I had this all working last year for about a week or two, but then my IC died. I thought maybe something I had done had fried my IC. Well, I was not happy, because they're about 8 bills now. But then the water got cold and I just ignored the whole mess. The Winter Mode was working, though, so I got to enjoy auto-acid-dispensing all winter. But then spring sprung and so last weekend I knew I had to see what I had done.

I remembered from another thread here that there was a known issue with the IpH and IC. Something about the IC drawing too much power through the IpH, and then pooping out. I thought I could fix that problem, or if not, the IpH controller is a cheaper replacement than the IC. So I crossed my fingers. But then I uncrossed my fingers because I couldn't work the screw driver. I disassembled the IpH controller and there it was, just as I had seen in someone else's post:



Pentair is well aware of this issue. I think they now state not to use the IpH with an IC60, because of the excessive current draw of the 60. Guess what Pentair, it happens with an IC40, too! They should have recalled every last one of these!
== END OF RANT ==

Others here have pursued how to replace that connector. But I figured why do that? Just so it can happen again? My plan was to remove it and solder the wires to the board.

So I sliced off the connector with my Dremel. I managed to do that without slicing through the board, too. Man, those Dremels can MOVE. I almost sliced through that white component next to the connector, but it survived! I left the eight pins soldered to the board.

I tried to solder the wires to the pins, but that was a no go. The wires are fat, and stranded, and the pins are neither. I got a few soldered, but then they started popping off. Solder was bridging between the pins. The pins started melting out of the board. It was a real mess, and very frustrating.

So I abandoned that idea. On to plan B. I desoldered the pins and cleared out their respective holes in the board. I re-stripped the wires: I bared about 3/8", then I cut most of the strands at about 1/4". I left about 5 or 6 strands poking out about 1/8". These I used to thread through the holes in the board, which were too small to accommodate all of the strands. I didn't expect those few strands to carry the current, rather just to hold the wire in place while soldering. The solder flowed down all the strands, through the board and made a good connection.



I abused the board so much, doing this twice, that I fully expected it to be fried. I soldered and desoldered and re-soldered and bridged holes and cleaned and scraped. Normally I'm quite skilled at this kind of thing, but the wires are so fat and the holes so close together... ugh. But I held my breath and powered it up and son-of-a-gun it worked. And still is working. So I pulled it off.

This repair is not for the faint of heart, for sure. But it's possible, and I still contend that soldering the wires to the board is better than replacing that connector, even if you could find one somewhere. That said, I still put a pox on you Pentair!!

 

[Dirk]

I also replaced my IpH pump tube, and fixed my leaking three-way, and replaced my cleaner's tires! Quite a weekend. Next weekend I clean the filter then restore my CYA. I'll continue to ignore my expansion joint. As I have been. Maybe I can get to that next month. Pools... yah, lots'o'fun.

And lastly, I rebuilt my IpH stir stick! The first one broke off at the tip. This one is heavier duty. I use it to dilute my IpH mix. I pour one gallon of 31% acid and one gallon of water directly into the IpH hopper, then connect my stirrer to my drill and spin up the mix. Diluting the acid is better for the IpH components. I tried other ways to dilute the acid, but I ended up getting too much on the deck, or myself. I also tried bragging about this stupid stick in another thread, but couldn't impress anybody over there, so I'm trying again here!!

It's a fiberglass rod I found at Lowes, and a piece of plexiglass I found in my garage. I created a slot in the rod, and epoxied the plexiglass to the slot. I held it over a candle enough to soften the plexi to twist it into shape. It's dimensioned to fit through the grid in the top of the IpH hopper. It works great, well enough to create a whirlpool funnel in the tank.

OK, summer, I'm ready for ya!!

 

[ajw22]

Tease

 

[kul]

I don’t have a SWG yet but was immediately intrigued! Gosh well now I will wait to hear the scoop.

 

[Newdude]

....... and TOTALLY redeemed yourself

 

[Dirk]

Ugh, I lost a whole post somehow. Gotta redo, errrrr....

 

[Dirk]

OK, now it's ready!

 

[ajw22]

OK, now it's ready!

Standing by.

 

[Flying Tivo]

You went all out! I did try a few voltages to the stenner and what it does is just like a brushless motor, higher or lower rpm. So i figured it wont burn it. It hasn't till now. I also abused very much the iph board and im also quite skilled in soldering, just ran out of wits. Bypassed and solder directly to the IC board.
Great work @Dirk.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Nice job ... remind never to buy an IpH ... jug dumping acid is way easier.

Where to begin .... well, I'm not really sure why you need a winter mode. My pH barely moves at all during the winter. In fact, this past winter, I think I made one acid addition between Dec and March. Also, when the IC shuts off, my FC loss goes down to nothing. So much so that I simply float a few trichlor pucks and my pool is golden all winter long. Seems like you're dosing a lot of chemicals when the water is too cold to swim in .... why?

Where to end .... really, a cordless drill stir rod?!?! So, here's the thing about muriatic acid and water ... they mix well, and the mixture is almost complete by the time you close the bottle up. HCl has an enormous solubility in water and, unlike sulfuric acid, is not very viscous so it mixes very well. If you add your jug of water to the IpH (yes, add that first) and then your jug of acid to the IpH, you can stick a plastic rod into it, give it three turns of your hand and then close up the holding tank. By the time you clean up all your tools and take a sip of beer, the solution is mixed. Using the nuclear powered paint spinner is wildly overkill .... then again, I come to expect nothing less from @Dirk

But, at the end of the day, if you're happy then that's all that matters ...

 

[Flying Tivo]

If its not broken, then Fix it!

 

[Dirk]

The Clapping Picard Award! "You like me! You really like me!" Oh my gosh, I didn't even prepare a speech. Well, first I'd like to thank...

Nah, you guys don't get it. It's not about the convenience, it's about the build, and the bragging rights!! Heck, it took me more time just to write this thread, let alone the build, than my Winter Mode switch will ever save me!!

My FC loss does go down, but I still need about 4FC a week in the winter. Just following Pool Math on that! And acid demand goes down, too, but for whatever reason my pool needs acid every week. My pool gets a lot of sun? Or mild temps? I dunno. If I don't add acid weekly, the pH test is 8.0+, so I have no idea how high it gets. Even at 8 my CSI is not happy. So I will get good use out of the setup. Plus, the IpH, in either mode, distributes the dispensing across the entire week, not just a blast once a week. I'm convinced this is better for my pebble, over many years. My CSI doesn't fluctuate very much at all, over the week, even hour to hour.

Assuming I don't change my EasyTouch, I designed the circuit to be independent of the IpH and IC. By that I mean, should the IpH controller or the IC cell poop out, their replacement is plug and play, just as it was, no rewiring needed. No warranty issues, either. As for manually adding acid? No thanks. Auto-dosing acid, for me, is just as nice as auto-dosing chlorine is. I wouldn't want to do without either (which, of course, was the whole reason for this project). Except for 12 doses of chlorine in the winter, I spend 5 minutes a week on my pool, without handling chemicals. That works for me. Well, five minutes not counting fixing all this junk, that is!!

Granted, most of the time and effort I put into building my automation systems (pool and house), will never be offset by the time and effort they save me. I've known that forever. But I like doing it, hobby wise, and then get to reap the convenience reward as a bonus. Without the hobby angle, I could not argue that most of my projects are worth doing...

Ha, but if you think this project was geeky, wait until you get a load of my next thread!! Coming to a theatre near you.

PS. Thanks for the info about the acid mixing, @JoyfulNoise. I wasn't sure how those two mix. It'll certainly be less trouble to use the stir stick manually, for just a few swishes, I may give that "a whirl."

Though you might be missing part of the picture. The IpH hopper is sealed off from above by a non-removable grid of plastic that only has 1" x 1/2" holes in it, getting even smaller as they get closer to the center (like a spider web). So it's not like stirring a bucket. That's what inspired the use of a drill, and the custom-made skinny bit, because you can't really get the liquid moving well with the grid in the way.

 

[Flying Tivo]

Great Speech!

 

[Dirk]

Huh, I just found an unexpected use for my Winter Switch. Since turning on my IntelliChlor (IC) for the first time this season, I'm in the typical, annual "adjustment period." My IC over-produced last week, so I have to shut it down for a few days to let the FC slip down a bit. So I could pull the fuse on my IC's Power Center, or I could schedule some other EasyTouch circuit that wouldn't power on the IC, or I could set the IC output to zero. But all three of those will also turn off my IntellipH! The IpH won't dispense acid when the IC is set to 0 (some sort of safeguard Pentair thought was necessary).

But now with my nifty Winter Switch (that's right, I said "nifty"), I can just flip the switch. The IC will stop producing, but the IntellipH pump won't stop dispensing!

I have an EasyTouch relay scheduled to operate the IntellipH pump for a few minutes a day when the switch is in Winter Mode. I can leave that schedule in place all year long, because while the schedule will still operate the corresponding ET relay, the relay can't power the IpH pump when the switch is in Normal Mode. So I can use Winter Mode to stop the IC from running for a few days, which also stops the IpH controller from powering on, but the IpH pump will then be connected to the ET relay that will continue dosing acid while the IC/IpH are powered off. Neato. (That's right, I said "neato!")

 

[JoyfulNoise]

…. Or, for a whole lot less money and hassle, one can simply buy a Stenner pump and tank, hook the pump up to an available AUX relay and schedule it to run whenever you want to add acid regardless of what the rest of the system is doing. You can even safeguard it to the pump running by pulling power for the AUX relay from the PUMP (AUX1) relay LOAD side.

Or, just do what @Dirk did …

 

[Dirk]

The Stenner pump and tank solution is certainly a viable one. The Pentair IntellipH system costs about $700. You can get the tank and pump alone (no controller) for about $300. How does a Stenner solution compare price-wise to either of those? You'd need to include all the cables and hoses, the saddle clamp and injector as well, to make a fair comparison.

Why not IntellipH?
- The glaring downside is that you have to own an IntelliChlor to run an IpH. But since I already had one, that was a non-issue for me.
- The IpH stops working when the IntelliChlor goes down for cold water, or for any reason, really (unless your name is Dirk)
- The IpH tank only holds about four gallons (see below)

Why IntellipH (with IntelliChlor)? It has some niceties you don't get with Stenner:
- It can run as a stand-alone system. without an automation controller or a timer (though that is not ideal due to safety concerns).
- The IpH can control the output of an IC in fine increments, without the need for a Pentair automation controller
- The IpH makes use of the IC's flow sensor (a built-in safety mechanism)
- The IpH limits the amount of acid injected for each cycle (another built-in safety mechanism)
- The IpH dispenses acid once an hour, all day long (or as long as your pump is running), so you get a more even distribution of pH adjustments
- Adjusting pH is a simple push of a button, no reprogramming timers or automation schedules
- The IpH turns off the IC while it is pumping acid, so that acid isn't flowing over the IC plates while they're producing chlorine
- The IpH tank has a very handy built-in system for adding one gallon jugs of acid
- The IpH tank reduces errant acid fumes around itself and your pad by sealing the tank with an o-ring and venting fumes elsewhere via a vent tube*
- The IpH has a wide base for stability and can be bolted to the pad for safety*
- The IpH tank only holds about four gallons, so should a catastrophic failure occur, you're not going to end up with more than that in the pool†

* Not sure if Stenner tanks come with these features
† To be fair, you can limit the amount of acid used in a Stenner tank, too, but that would rely on the user.

I'm sure there are additional line items for each list... and would love to hear them... but until then:

I'm quite happy with my purchase, and if you offered me a Stenner solution along with the cash difference, I wouldn't take it.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Or you can just add acid by hand which is by far easier and use all the money you save to buy beer … that’s my approach

 

[Dirk]

Well, discussing this with Matt is always fun, but IMO, adding muriatic acid by hand to a swimming pool is by no stretch of the imagination easier than having an automated system do it for you, especially in pools that require any sort of regular acid dosing. Perhaps he meant to write "far cheaper," which is true. The convenience of automation costs money, it's up to each of us whether the convenience outweighs the cost, which is true for any type of pool automation.