Intelliflo3 VSP I/O Board - Heater and SWG

[PoolStored]

We are getting wrapped around the axle on the solutions.

There are two solutions with existing equipment proposed (pump i/O board and heater)
1. Use the relay on the firemens switch. The heater will think that the pump is acting as the thermostat (which it is not), so in this configuration, when programmed to run, the heater will heat to 104 and ignore the thermostat in the heater.
2) Use the relay on the 240v service to the heater. It will turn the heater on, and the heater will act like a heater and use its own thermostat.

You need to decide which direct and accept associated pros and cons.
You understand the issue with solution #1.

 

[loamyroots]

Haha yes I apologize, felt like I was going in circles!

Solution 1 is definitely out of the question. Don’t trust myself to remember to manually shut the heater off once it hits temp so I’d end up heating to 104 and having a lovely gas bill.

Plan is to hook it up tomorrow with soliton 2. Thanks for the help everyone, will keep you posted on how it goes!!

 

[PoolStored]

 

[Poolbreh]

I think there is a misunderstanding on how the fireman switch and 3 and 2wire remote connection work in heaters. They act as an on off switch, so when the heater is on it will heat to the desired temp set on the heater.
If you have it set for 85f on the heater it will not exceed that. The fireman switch/2/3wire isn’t reading any external thermostat. Now automation have their own thermostats that read the temp and will turn the heater on and off based on demand. But if the heater is set to 85f it will never exceed that. That’s why when it’s connected to automation you would max the temp on heater. It is in a sense “being controlled by a remote thermostat”. The 3 wire system is used for toggle switches where the temp settings can be saved on the heater and be controlled via switches. You connect pool/com it heats the pool desired temp on heater, you connect spa/com it heats spa desired temp on heater.
I like the original plan, swg on 15amp and Fireman on 5amp. The 5 amp terminal is really small, and I don’t think any thing thicker than 14awg will fit in 15amp.

 

[PoolStored]

I think there is a misunderstanding on how the fireman switch and 3 and 2wire remote connection work in heaters. They act as an on off switch, so when the heater is on it will heat to the desired temp set on the heater.

Breh,

I think you are right (at least on the 3 wire side), so thanks for the clarification. With this particular heater, in the two-wire remote thermostat connection, you put the heater into "bo" mode, and the remote connection is considered a thermostat and will heat to 104 Degrees without regard to the internal thermostat.

However, if you use a 3-wire connection, even if you use only two wires (on the pool side/com), and put the heater into "standby," when the Pool side is switched (by the pump), the heater will heat to the internal thermostat temperature.

 

[Lake Placid]

Appreciate the clarifications as well. I don’t work on a lot of Hayward heaters….usually max e therms, mastertemps and some Hayward HP. This dive has been helpful. Both relays on the intelliflo3 are setup to use 14 ga wire. Smaller wire will work if wiring to a fireman’s switch. A very small standard screwdriver is require to tighten the set screws on the terminals.

 

[loamyroots]

Yeah wish it was more straightforward but this ended up being very educational, so I appreciate the help!

So if I connect the heater’s power to the device terminals in the relay, can I place a jumper from the pump’s 240V to the relay supply terminals or should I run a completely separate 240V line to the relay terminals and have the heater on a separate breaker?

They’re currently on 2 separate breakers so I’m guessing that’s probably the best/safest option.

 

[Lake Placid]

Yeah wish it was more straightforward but this ended up being very educational, so I appreciate the help!

So if I connect the heater’s power to the device terminals in the relay, can I place a jumper from the pump’s 240V to the relay supply terminals or should I run a completely separate 240V line to the relay terminals and have the heater on a separate breaker?

They’re currently on 2 separate breakers so I’m guessing that’s probably the best/safest option.

If you’re going to power the heater using the relay, you’d wire from the current heater breaker to the pump relay. One hot would terminate at supply L1 the other hot at supply L2. Then run two new wires from Device L1 and Device L2 from the same relay to the hot wires to the heater junction box.

 

[Poolbreh]

i think you are right poolstored the bo locks the temp at 104f which is a horrible design. You should still be able to use standby mode and the pool com and control it remotely while using internal thermostat.

 

[PoolStored]

i think you are right poolstored the bo locks the temp at 104f which is a horrible design. You should still be able to use standby mode and the pool com and control it remotely while using internal thermostat.

I agree and think that is a better approach than wiring the heater 240 through the pump.

 

[loamyroots]

Ok so I had a disappointing day on Saturday. I hooked up the pool pump and wired the SWG to the 5A relay to start, however I received a warning error message on the pump stating that there's a "Communication breakdown between drive cover assembly".

I found an old post where someone mentioned the same issue. Apparently there was a batch of bad pumps that shipped out in 2022. For some reasons the pump thinks it has a 1.5HP motor instead of 3HP. Sure enough when I go in the app to look up the pump specs, it lists it incorrectly as having a 1.5HP motor.

Of course, this was on a Saturday so I couldn't get a hold of anyone from Pentair's support. Reached out today and hopefully will get a response tomorrow.

Unfortunately, this was all after I removed the cover off the pool so now my pool is uncovered but stagnant

Plan is to finish connecting the heater tomorrow. Heater is going to be supplied 240V from a separate breaker to the 16A relay. Then I'll run 2-wire communication cable from the 16A relay to the COM (white) and POOL (orange) cables within the heater. That way when I place the heater into Standby mode, the pump will be able to turn the heater on/off and the heater will maintain its own thermostat.

 

[Lake Placid]

Ok so I had a disappointing day on Saturday. I hooked up the pool pump and wired the SWG to the 5A relay to start, however I received a warning error message on the pump stating that there's a "Communication breakdown between drive cover assembly".

I found an old post where someone mentioned the same issue. Apparently there was a batch of bad pumps that shipped out in 2022. For some reasons the pump thinks it has a 1.5HP motor instead of 3HP. Sure enough when I go in the app to look up the pump specs, it lists it incorrectly as having a 1.5HP motor.

Of course, this was on a Saturday so I couldn't get a hold of anyone from Pentair's support. Reached out today and hopefully will get a response tomorrow.

Unfortunately, this was all after I removed the cover off the pool so now my pool is uncovered but stagnant

Plan is to finish connecting the heater tomorrow. Heater is going to be supplied 240V from a separate breaker to the 16A relay. Then I'll run 2-wire communication cable from the 16A relay to the COM (white) and POOL (orange) cables within the heater. That way when I place the heater into Standby mode, the pump will be able to turn the heater on/off and the heater will maintain its own thermostat.

Please clarify exactly what you’re planning to hook to the 16A relay… your post sounds like you’re going to run 240 into the relay (L1/L2 supply) from the panel….. then com wire to the heater from the relay L1/L2 load? The relay should handle 240 only or com only…..not both. Perhaps I’m confused by your description of your wiring plan.

 

[PoolStored]

Please clarify exactly what you’re planning to hook to the 16A relay… your post sounds like you’re going to run 240 into the relay from the panel then com wire to the heater from the relay? The relay should handle 240 only or com only…..not both. Perhaps I’m confused by your description of your wiring plan.

Yeah, at first I had the same thought, then I read them as separate statements.

Heater is going to be supplied 240V from a separate breaker to the 16A relay.

Run 240 from a breaker, not the 16A. (separate breaker to = separate breaker than).

Then I'll run 2-wire communication cable from the 16A relay to the COM (white) and POOL (orange) cables within the heater.

2 wire from the 16A to the heater.

OP can confirm.

 

[Lake Placid]

Yeah, at first I had the same thought, then I read them as separate statements.


Run 240 from a breaker, not the 16A. (separate breaker to = separate breaker than).

2 wire from the 16A to the heater.

OP can confirm.

I hope. 240 and com wire doesn’t play well. Not to mention @loamyroots will be looking to repair a heater…..

 

[loamyroots]

My bad, sorry for the confusion! Yes I plan on running 240V from a separate breaker to the heater and having 2 communication wires run from the 16A relay on the pump to the heater.

For the SWG I want to share the same 240V that the pump is on. Should I just place a jumper cable from the 240V supply of the pump to the supply terminals on the 5A relay? And then run an additional 2 wires from the 5A relay to the RJ60+ controller?

Got word today that they need to send me a completely new pump. They sent me an old 2022 pump that has a known defect with the drive controller assembly, hopefully it gets here by the weekend.

 

[Lake Placid]

My bad, sorry for the confusion! Yes I plan on running 240V from a separate breaker to the heater and having 2 communication wires run from the 16A relay on the pump to the heater.

For the SWG I want to share the same 240V that the pump is on. Should I just place a jumper cable from the 240V supply of the pump to the supply terminals on the 5A relay? And then run an additional 2 wires from the 5A relay to the RJ60+ controller?

Got word today that they need to send me a completely new pump. They sent me an old 2022 pump that has a known defect with the drive controller assembly, hopefully it gets here by the weekend.

Yes you can do it that way. Assuming you’re a 20 amp circuit, the intelliflo draws 11.2A and the SWG about an amp. So you’ve got headroom under 16A which is the 80% loading threshold of the circuit.