IntelliCenter 2.006 Firmware

[MyAZPool]

Also a release that only seems to have bug fixes should not use a major release functional enhancement increment. This should have been given a minor release increment within 1.x .

@TonyR68
Yes, but Firmware v2.006 had more incorporated in that release than just bug fixes.

What they call "Key Features" were also wrapped up in there which includes the following:
- Improvements to touchscreen response.
- Enhanced RS-485 communications.
- Advancements to support Hybrid Heaters, Solar and Spa Command Functions.

I may know more tomorrow about the bug fixes (Internal Jira references) when everyone comes back to work.
r.

 

[ajw22]

Also a release that only seems to have bug fixes should not use a major release functional enhancement increment. This should have been given a minor release increment within 1.x .

They say they rearchitected the firmware. Here is what I speculate happened:

• Pentair is not a software company and nobody internally had done development of their automation software since the late 1990s EasyTouch development
• Likely they had little institutional knowledge left of the ET firmware
• They either hired a new software team to develop the IntelliCenter firmware or outsourced it to a contractor
• Whoever developed release 1 of the IntelliCenter did a poor job of architecting it for future maintenance and testing and it showed in the early releases
• We heard that Pentair made changes in their software development that took a while to get out 1.064 release to get something stable that reasonably worked
• I believe when that team worked on 1.064 and saw what the prior development done looked like they decided major internal architecture changes were needed
• That is not unusual in software development where it often takes until Release 3 for the developers to have a good understanding of what the company and end users really want
• There are many hints of their internal issues in the coordination problems between the IntelliCenter firmware, the apps, and the website. Which all looks like they have multiple teams and communication issues. And also their inability to get their IntelliValves to be Intelli.

So as customers let’s hope that Pentair learned from Release 1 and has put that behind them and has a strong team that now owns the Release 2 code base and can put out bug fixes and enhancements more rapidly.

We will see how much Pentair wants to be the leader in pool automation technology. It is there for the taking but they need to be willing to make the investment in technical talent.

 

[Concours14]

You in pool mode when you try it?

You in pool mode when you try it?

Im a relatively new pool owner (3 years old pool). By Pool mode, will that mean the pool is turned on? If so, whether is on or off, it still will activate the pump, only the light . I did manage to keep the pump running by turning on my spa jets (runs off the same pump) and then shutting the spa off and it continued, but that was just once. At this point, everything on my pool has a mind of its own.

 

[MyAZPool]

1. They say they rearchitected the firmware.
2. They either hired a new software team to develop the IntelliCenter firmware or outsourced it to a contractor.
3. We heard that Pentair made changes in their software development that took a while to get out 1.064 release to get something stable that reasonably worked
4. There are many hints of their internal issues in the coordination problems between the IntelliCenter firmware, the apps, and the website. Which all looks like they have multiple teams and communication issues.
5. And also their inability to get their IntelliValves to be Intelli.
6. We will see how much Pentair wants to be the leader in pool automation technology. It is there for the taking but they need to be willing to make the investment in technical talent.

1. Yes, a re-arch did occur.
2. Nothing drastic.
3.
4. Multiple Teams yes but I know that they do coordinate.
5. The IntelliValve firmware is reported to occur in two phases (Phase I - adding RS-485 support on both the actuator side and IntelliCenter side and Phase II. - more advanced valve controls added to IntelliCenter features.)
Phase I work is reported to begin sometime shortly after this last firmware update and Phase II completion around Q4 of this year. We'll see.
6.
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[Concours14]

I updated the firmware this morning and everything stopped working. I couldnt even get the Pool to turn on at all, even manually, and had all sort of time issues as others had mentioned. I eventually gave up after multiple removes and adds of items and rolled it back. The firmware rollback post above was a life saver. The minute it rebooted, everything worked again like it never happened.

I updated the firmware this morning and everything stopped working. I couldnt even get the Pool to turn on at all, even manually, and had all sort of time issues as others had mentioned. I eventually gave up after multiple removes and adds of items and rolled it back. The firmware rollback post above was a life saver. The minute it rebooted, everything worked again like it never happened.

Thank you for this information. I did this and everything worked normal again. Do you know if firmware updates are required? Will it cause an issue in the long run if I dont update?

 

[Cabby]

Thank you for this information. I did this and everything worked normal again. Do you know if firmware updates are required? Will it cause an issue in the long run if I dont update?

Required, unlikely, or not for a very long time. Again, I don't think "normal" folks are out at their panel very often so would likely be unaware of the update's existence. However this Intellicenter development cycle isn't how normal hardware/software operates so it's unclear to a novice such as myself. I would imagine it would run seemingly forever without an update. It works now, so there's no reason it wouldn't continue to work unless you go swapping out hardware.

 

[MyAZPool]

When I heard about all of the problems people were having, I went out to my OCP and saw that I had received the push notification.
Pressing NO was my response. I think I'll wait a while and see what transpires.


Just saying....

 

[Concours14]

Required, unlikely, or not for a very long time. Again, I don't think "normal" folks are out at their panel very often so would likely be unaware of the update's existence. However this Intellicenter development cycle isn't how normal hardware/software operates so it's unclear to a novice such as myself. I would imagine it would run seemingly forever without an update. It works now, so there's no reason it wouldn't continue to work unless you go swapping out hardware.

Thank you for the response. That recent update is so bad that I will definately be reluctant to ever do another update unless I have too. Everything seems to be working fine again at the moment and I will just leave it that way. I will keep an eye on all the Schedules tomorrow to verify. Thanks again

 

[SA Pentair User]

What they call "Key Features" were also wrapped up in there which includes the following:
- Improvements to touchscreen response.
- Enhanced RS-485 communications.
- Advancements to support Hybrid Heaters, Solar and Spa Command Functions.

I may know more tomorrow about the bug fixes (Internal Jira references) when everyone comes back to work.
r.

@MyAZPool - do you know what the enhanced RS-485 communication does? Will this improve communication between master and slave panels by any chance (a pet bugbear of mine as I have 2 slave panels) and commands sometimes get lost / misinterpreted (particularly on the lighting front).

 

[MyAZPool]

@MyAZPool - do you know what the enhanced RS-485 communication does? Will this improve communication between master and slave panels by any chance (a pet bugbear of mine as I have 2 slave panels) and commands sometimes get lost / misinterpreted (particularly on the lighting front).

@SA Pentair User
Yea, that one kind of piqued my curiosity as well.
Give me a couple of days and let me see if I can get some details on it.
r.

 

[TonyR68]

@MyAZPool I still have one outstanding issue, that was not resolved with 2.006. It is the ability to connect an IntelliValve to a Connected MasterTemp heater to manage the auto by-pass valve. It still gets stuck in Cooldown phase and does not re-open the bypass. I was told above 1 year ago that this issue was reproduced internally and required an update to the IntelliCenter firmware. Could you by chance find out if a fix for this was applied in 2.006? I'm thinking that I may need to update the MasterTemp firmware as well to get this issue resolved. My MasterTemp uses firmware 1.0 and I believe it currently ships with firmware 1.1 (or higher).

Best regards

Tony

 

[MyAZPool]

@MyAZPool I still have one outstanding issue, that was not resolved with 2.006. It is the ability to connect an IntelliValve to a Connected MasterTemp heater to manage the auto by-pass valve. It still gets stuck in Cooldown phase and does not re-open the bypass. I was told above 1 year ago that this issue was reproduced internally and required an update to the IntelliCenter firmware. Could you by chance find out if a fix for this was applied in 2.006? I'm thinking that I may need to update the MasterTemp firmware as well to get this issue resolved. My MasterTemp uses firmware 1.0 and I believe it currently ships with firmware 1.1 (or higher).

Best regards

Tony

Tony... I'll see what I can find out about it.
ITMT, have you tried contacting Tech Support and posing the same question to them? They just might be able to assist you if you get the right TSR. If you're not satisfied with the response from the level I TSR, ask to talk with a level II TSR. They're more experienced and don't just follow some canned "yes/no" flow chart/troubleshooting script.
Back in the infancy of IntelliCenter (Q4, 2018), I had fairly good luck using that method.
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[TonyR68]

@MyAZPool, Thanks. I did call Technical Support, they opened a case (TS02311514). I will reach out agin and ask to speak to level II support.

 

[SA Pentair User]

I seem to have found another new bug… I have 2 slave panels (one of which has lights on it - as does the main panel). Every time I turn my pool lights on, the main panel pool lights come on perfectly but the slave panel lights seem to have lost their previous colour setting and instead of simply turning on, they flash through the change in colour sequence and end up on the right colour…. Feels like the current colour setting is no longer being save for lights on a slave panel. I need to investigate this further and then report yet another bug to Pentair. I have reported 6 so far and had (only) the first 2 acknowledged…

 

[MyAZPool]

I seem to have found another new bug… I have 2 slave panels (one of which has lights on it - as does the main panel). Every time I turn my pool lights on, the main panel pool lights come on perfectly but the slave panel lights seem to have lost their previous colour setting and instead of simply turning on, they flash through the change in colour sequence and end up on the right colour…. Feels like the current colour setting is no longer being save for lights on a slave panel. I need to investigate this further and then report yet another bug to Pentair. I have reported 6 so far and had (only) the first 2 acknowledged…

Yes sir... Good idea..
I highly encourage anyone that discovers any discrepancy/bug to call tech support and get a trouble ticket number. That's the only "official" way of insuring that those issues get to the right team for action.

Maybe someone could volunteer to compile a list in a "living" thread of those squawks along with their associated ticket numbers.
Then I could have a roll-up of them and try to reference those issues from time-to-time with Pentair and report back.
Can't hurt.
r.

 

[MyAZPool]

BTW,
Can anyone who has the time, please pass along to me what you like (or don't like) about that last update to the the mobile app versus the previous version.

For iOS, the version is: 2.5.36 Not sure what it is for Android. There were a lot of changes.
1. Design enhancement to dashboard, login and system screens.
2. Convenient access to frequently used functions such as Heaters, Lights and Features.
3. Improved connectivity with pool-side control panel.
4. "Contact Us" added to user menu.
5. Defaulted Auto-Login "On"
6. Resolved session timeout issue.

Just as important as it is to let them know what's "bad", I think it's equally important to let them know what's "good" right?
Feedback (+ or -) is a good thing.

Thanks very much!
r.

 

[TonyR68]

@MyAZPool, Thanks. I did call Technical Support, they opened a case (TS02311514). I will reach out agin and ask to speak to level II support.

I reached out to Pentair Technical Support as recommended by @MyAZPool . For my issue from about a year ago, they will come back to me.

Technical Support also advised that Pentair will be sending out a bulletin with a MANDATORY switch back to firmware 1.064. Too many bugs with 2.006. Anyone else hearing this? I would like either an email from Pentair or some other confirmation.

 

[MyAZPool]

I reached out to Pentair Technical Support as recommended by @MyAZPool . For my issue from about a year ago, they will come back to me.

Technical Support also advised that Pentair will be sending out a bulletin with a MANDATORY switch back to firmware 1.064. Too many bugs with 2.006. Anyone else hearing this? I would like either an email from Pentair or some other confirmation.

Thanks for this feedback Tony.

 

[TonyR68]

Here is hint from Pentair, but not definitive. The IntelliCenter download page no long has 2.006 posted.

 

[MyAZPool]

ALCON,
Here is a notification from a Senior PM regarding v2.006 and who has given me the okay to put out here. Also an answer to the question posed by @SA Pentair User in a previous post above. I placed a couple of comments in underlined italics for clarification.

"Great question regarding RS485 enhancements for ITC (IntelliCenter).
And yes your assessment is correct. With the new RS485 enhancements in version 2.006, the overall bus and endpoint communications to the WCP (he might have meant OCP here), ICP, and expansion panels in the system has dramatically improved. The optimization in the protocol reduces latency at the panel and remote controllers – while rendering much faster communications driving automated lighting / water jet shows."

The Important part of the message...
"That said there is a delay in the 2.006 FW release at the moment specific to pool / spa configurations. If you have received the IntelliCenter 2.006 FW update notification, and you have a pool / spa configuration – we ask that you decline the update for now. Glitches happen - we are working on correcting the issue with an interim patch release going out by OTA in Feb. Apologies in advance as we continue to tweak for maximum performance gains in improvements."

r.