Intellicenter Upgrade kit - yes or no?

[Pprior]

We have an ~3 year old Pentair intellitouch controller - originally i5+3 but had some expansion board put in so I think it's equivalent maybe to i7 or i9+3 now.

The app is kinda annoying - you have to login from scratch anytime you ever open it. And things like changing pump speed make it restart from scratch. Also, no integration with smart home at all. Annoyed at our builder because intellicenter was available when we built but they pushed us away but now I think that was just their availability.

Will the upgrade at this point provide benefits? Has anyone done it themselves? Appreciate any advice.

 

[mknauss]

Assume you are using Screenlogic? Something is not right if you have to login each time you open it. Your login should be saved. Are you using a VPN on your phone?

 

[Jimrahbe]

P,

I have been using ScreenLogic for about 5 or 6 years and other than the weather, it has worked perfectly.

I have to push one icon to open the app and push one icon to connect to the system. If you have to do anything else, something is wrong.

From an operational standpoint, upgrading to the IntelliCenter will not provide me with anything new that is of use to me.

That said, if I were building a new pool today, it would have the IntelliCenter.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[guinness]

The app is kinda annoying - you have to login from scratch anytime you ever open it. And things like changing pump speed make it restart from scratch. Also, no integration with smart home at all.

If you're willing to do a DIY project you should try out NodeJS Pool Controller. All you need is an Elfin EW11 for about $20 to install inside your IntelliTouch panel and a computer indoors like a Raspberry Pi to install the aforementioned software. That will allow you to change configurations remotely just like ScreenLogic. It can integrate into most smart home applications like Home Assistant. I actually have an IntelliCenter but find myself using njsPC instead of the Pentair app anyway.

 

[Pprior]

Assume you are using Screenlogic? Something is not right if you have to login each time you open it. Your login should be saved. Are you using a VPN on your phone?

I am using screen logic.

Well I don't have to "log in" but every time I go to another app or the phone closes the app basically reloads and goes to the local/remote section and then after second will show main menu. It basically re-connects every time instead of just keeping it open. It's only a few seconds but what can I say I'm very impatient when it comes to technology and having to sit and wait on it just is annoying.

@guinness that has been on my to do list for probably 2 years now. It sounds good but my eyes start watering when I actually get down to trying to understand how to do it.

If intellicenter will easily integrate with my smart home system (hubitat and Alexa largely) and allow me to build an easy touch pad interface and voice control then it's worth some money. I just don't really know what I get for the upgrade.

 

[mknauss]

Well I don't have to "log in" but every time I go to another app or the phone closes the app basically reloads and goes to the local/remote section and then after second will show main menu.

That is normal. I do not see that as a big deal.

 

[guinness]

@guinness that has been on my to do list for probably 2 years now. It sounds good but my eyes start watering when I actually get down to trying to understand how to do it.

The wiring of the Elfin is easy. You need the one with external antenna and cable kit. It's small and can fit in the low voltage raceway of the panel. You just connect it to screw terminal J7 with four wires (GND, -DATA, +DATA, 15VDC) as indicated in the IntelliTouch Installation Guide. You would then connect to it using WiFi and change a few settings via the admin web pages.

The harder part depending on your skill level is installing the software onto a computer. However there are people on these forums and also on the GitHub repo that would be able to assist you with that. Maybe you could enlist the help of a family member or friend. Someone with the right computer skills could do the basic setup in a few hours to get you the dashboard web interface.

If intellicenter will easily integrate with my smart home system (hubitat and Alexa largely) and allow me to build an easy touch pad interface and voice control then it's worth some money. I just don't really know what I get for the upgrade.

Even if you get the IntelliCenter it doesn't have much in the way of smart home system integrations. It does work with Alexa though, but you can get that already with ScreenLogic. If you have njsPC installed you can then get the Hubitat plugin which will integrate the IntelliTouch into your smart home system.

 

[Fresnoboy]

The Screenlogic 2 easily connects to Home Assistant with the Pentair integration.. There is an integration there that gives you full control of all the pumps, etc.. And then you can integrate HA with Google, Alexa, etc...

App support from Pentair is really poor if you use Android. the iPhone app is better, but with Home Assistant (runs on a Raspberry Pi), you can pick whaetver you want as a user platform.