Intellicenter 8PSIC40

[Aquaman7]

Hello,

The Intelicenter 8PSIC40 comes with two valve actuators. Is one valve actuator plumbed to the pool and one to the spa? Or is one plumbed to pool and you can control either the pool or spa this way. Hope this makes sense. Or maybe a little simpler explanation would be. I going to have to control a pool, spa, waterfall and slide. How many valve actuators do I need.
The pump is intelliflo.

Thanks!

 

[ajw22]

To switch the plumbing from the pool to the spa takes two valves, one moving the suction line and one moving the return line. So if you have a pool and spa you use two actuators. Then you need one actuator for each water feature.

 

[Jimrahbe]

A7,

Here is how they work...

In the Pool mode... The pump sucks water through the Intake valve from the pool and then pushes it through the filter, any heater, then through the Return valve back into the pool.

In the Spa mode... The pump sucks water through the Intake valve from the Spa and then pushes it through the filter, any heater, then through the Return valve back into the Spa.

On most pool with spas, there is also what is called a manual make-up valve that allows some water to go to the spa when in the pool mode.. This is what makes the spa water spillover into the pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Aquaman7]

Thank you aj and Jim.
Can I program the intelicenter to tell the intelliflo vs pump to increase the rpm when switching from pool mode to slide mode?
Or increase the gpm when feeding multiple features such as the waterfall and slide?

 

[JJ_Tex]

Yes, you can change the RPMs for the different circuits you program on a VS pump. If you really want to control the GPM, you can get a VSF pump. I have one, but really see no advantage over a VS pump since I just use RPMs.

For mine, I have one for pool, one for skim high, and one for spa. The interface is like this:

 

[Jimrahbe]

A7,

As you can see in JJ's example above, pump speeds are controlled by which "Circuit" is on..

Pool and Spa are fixed circuits that come with the IntelliCenter.. You can set up many more.

You can make the pump speed change with any circuit.. Not that you would want to, but you could change the pump speed when the pool light came on.

Circuits that have relays are called Aux circuits and are designed to control things that run off of 120 or 240 volts, hence the need for a relay. Things like lights, booster pumps, spa blowers, ect..

Circuits that do not have relays are called Feature Circuits and they are used to do things like change pump speeds, move valves, almost anything that is internal to the IntelliCenter.

JJ's example of "Skim High" is a Feature circuit that he names\d Skim High, and he uses it to tell the pump to run at 2,200 RPM.

The pump will always run at the highest speed that is on at the time. The best way to make this work is set the lowest speed you want to use say 1200 RPM (just an example) and assign "Pool" a speed of 1200 RPM.. Then schedule the pool for the entire time you want the pump to run. Say 7 am until 7 pm. Using this example, the pump will run at 1200 RPM from 7 am until 7 pm, but if you schedule Skim High from 10 am until 1 pm, then at 10 am the pump speed will increase to whatever speed you set for Skim High and at 1 PM, the pump will go back to 1200 RPM.

In your case you would also set a speed for the waterfall circuit and another speed for the slide circuit.

Keep in mind that you can only go up in speed by turning on circuits.. To decrease speed you must start turning off the fastest circuits.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Aquaman7]

Lots of great info. Thanks guys.
Does the the intelliflo have an internal timer that can be programmed to turn on/off at certain times of the day/week? Or change rpms at different times/days?

 

[Jimrahbe]

A7,

I think you are missing the whole point of having an IntelliCenter.. The IntelliFlo pump is connected to the IntelliCenter by an RS-485 cable that comes with the pump. When using the IntelliCenter the control head on the pump is basically disabled and all programming is done via the IntelliCenter.

If your pump has no cable, it is wired wrong. If it does have a cable, and the pump's display says "Display Not Active", that means the IntelliCenter is in control.. If the display does not say "Display Not Active", then the pump and IntelliCenter are not communicating. Note that if you are in the Service mode, the communications with the pump is shut off and the pump will have its normal control screen.

But, to answer you questions directly, yes, the pump can be programmed by itself, but there is just not one logical reason to do that when you have automation.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JJ_Tex]

As Jim said, the Intellicenter is basically a computer that talks to all of your equipment. You can have up to 99 programs set to have your pool turn on/off features, speed up, slow down, etc. on a daily or weekly schedule.

I'm assuming you are still in the construction phase and not yet operational. Is that the case, or is your equipment turned on and you are having issues?

 

[jimbethesda]

A7,

Here is how they work...

In the Pool mode... The pump sucks water through the Intake valve from the pool and then pushes it through the filter, any heater, then through the Return valve back into the pool.

In the Spa mode... The pump sucks water through the Intake valve from the Spa and then pushes it through the filter, any heater, then through the Return valve back into the Spa.

On most pool with spas, there is also what is called a manual make-up valve that allows some water to go to the spa when in the pool mode.. This is what makes the spa water spillover into the pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

There is also Spillover mode...The pump sucks water through the Intake valve from the Pool and then pushes it through the filter, any heater, then through the Return valve into the Spa. The water then spills over back into the pool.

This is important as it makes the manual make-up valve not necessary. I wish I knew this and requested my PB not to install one. I have mine closed all of the time.

 

[Aquaman7]

You guys a really knowledgeable on automation.
I’m going to have low wattage landscape lighting and 12v pools lights. Do I still need to install a low wattage transformer or can I wired the light right into the intellicenter?

 

[Jimrahbe]

A7,

You will still need low voltage transformers... If you have a light in your pool and a light in your spa you will need at least one step down transformer.. "If" you want both lights doing the same thing at the same time.. If you want the lights to work independently, so that they can be different colors, or on and off by themselves, you will need a transformer for each light.

For all practical purposes, the IntelliCenter has no low voltage outputs that are there for the pool owner's use..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Aquaman7]

A7,

You will still need low voltage transformers... If you have a light in your pool and a light in your spa you will need at least one step down transformer.. "If" you want both lights doing the same thing at the same time.. If you want the lights to work independently, so that they can be different colors, or on and off by themselves, you will need a transformer for each light.

For all practical purposes, the IntelliCenter has no low voltage outputs that are there for the pool owner's use..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Got it Jim. I was just trying to justify the added expense of the intelicenter.

Thank you

 

[Jimrahbe]

A7,

Automation systems are not needed for almost any pool.. You could just go out and manually turn things on and off..

But, if I loaned you an IntelliCenter for 90 days, when I came to get it back, you would beat me with a stick to prevent me from taking it back.

The best time to install an automation system, is when the pool is being built.. In the big picture the automation is not usually a lot of dollars when compared to the overall cost of the whole pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Aquaman7]

A7,

Automation systems are not needed for almost any pool.. You could just go out and manually turn things on and off..

But, if I loaned you an IntelliCenter for 90 days, when I came to get it back, you would beat me with a stick to prevent me from taking it back.

The best time to install an automation system, is when the pool is being built.. In the big picture the automation is not usually a lot of dollars when compared to the overall cost of the whole pool.

Thanks,

Jim R.

ROFLMAO. That was a good one Jim. Ok I guess I’m going to splurge.

Joe

 

[Aquaman7]

Jim,
Does the intelicenter measure the pool water parameters. I see a lot of member with their pool logs. Is it from the intelicenter or are they using manual test kits like the TF100. ?

 

[JJ_Tex]

It measures water temp, but everything else is from a test kit.

There are some non-manual testers like Water Guru, but I dont think they talk to the automation systems.

 

[Jimrahbe]

A7,

You can get the IntelliChem, which measure the chlorine and pH, but it is not recommended by TFP or by most of our members. A good analogy is Tesla's autopilot. It works great right up until it doesn't.

We believe in open loop systems that keep the pool owner involved. A SWCG is a good example.. It just produces the amount of chlorine that you tell it to produce. It has no clue what the chlorine level in the pool is, it just makes what you tell it to make. You have to be the brain and decide what your current level is and how much you need to add to get to your target level.. It is very easy to do and only takes a few minutes.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Aquaman7]

Got it. Thanks.