I have an Intellitouch i7-3. I have recently replaced the single speed pool pump with a Pentair IntelliFlo VSF. The pump is not currently connected to the Intellitouch like the old pump was. Right now it is just programed through the pump itself which works, but it kind of defeats the purpose of the automation. I would like to get it set up but I am not sure if it will work without a update on the firmware. Inside remote firmware is 1.060 and Outside is 1.170. I am wondering if 1) do I have to do an update to use the indoor and outdoor automation features with the VS pump? 2) if I update the firmware on this older automation system is there any risk to the system - meaning can it handle the update or is the system too old and I might end up with more problems that I did not bargain for. Unfortunately, budget does not include updating to a newer system at this time. Thanks so much for all your help.
Intellitouch i7-3 firmware update questions
- Thread starter moremargo
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 62,672
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Welcome to the forum.
According to our Wiki = Pentair Automation Systems - Further Reading your 1.170 Firmware should support the VS pump. Do you have the RS485 connection made between pump and automation? Have you changed your pump type in your automation? You also need to have the VS pump wired to the LINE side of the relay (direct wired from a breaker).
@ogdento has much more experience than I with Intellitouch.
According to our Wiki = Pentair Automation Systems - Further Reading your 1.170 Firmware should support the VS pump. Do you have the RS485 connection made between pump and automation? Have you changed your pump type in your automation? You also need to have the VS pump wired to the LINE side of the relay (direct wired from a breaker).
@ogdento has much more experience than I with Intellitouch.
With 1.060 on the indoor you won't see the options available in 1.170 so you might not be able to configure the VSF pump.
There's no issue with your board being old... They haven't changed significantly over the years and old boards can take new firmware - you may have to clear it first (it's described in the release notes).
There is a thread on tfp describing how to diy the upgrade... If that's not your game, a local pentair shop might be able to update it for you, or you can send it to someone who can update it. I can, and I'll send you a private message (they show up in "conversations")
There's no issue with your board being old... They haven't changed significantly over the years and old boards can take new firmware - you may have to clear it first (it's described in the release notes).
There is a thread on tfp describing how to diy the upgrade... If that's not your game, a local pentair shop might be able to update it for you, or you can send it to someone who can update it. I can, and I'll send you a private message (they show up in "conversations")
Hi, thanks for the welcome. The previous pump was connected to the automation and we could control it from the inside, but the installer did not want to connect the new system for some reason that was not clear to me. So I decided to do my own research to understand why I would not connect it to the automation. I started with seeing what firmware I had. I am not sure why the outside and the inside versions are different. Again my biggest fear is that an upgrade will some how do damage to the system because it can't handle the newer software. I had a Pentair tech tell me that and so I don't know if that is misinformation or not. Thank you very much for the link, I will read that. I will take any and all advice.
It's too bad the pentair tech made you think an upgrade could damage your unit... That's just not going to happen, and I'm not sure why they wouldn't know that. The micro controller is the same (with the same memory size) on all intellitouch systems ever made (unlike the easytouch)
The only risk with updating an intellitouch system is that the eeprom has to be cleared if the firmware is super old, but you don't have to worry about that either since your outdoor has 1.170. the indoor should be cleared before a fw update, but it will pull the programming off the outdoor board on the next power up.
The only risk with updating an intellitouch system is that the eeprom has to be cleared if the firmware is super old, but you don't have to worry about that either since your outdoor has 1.170. the indoor should be cleared before a fw update, but it will pull the programming off the outdoor board on the next power up.
Thanks for the reassurance. Are you saying that I could clear the eeprom on the inside board and then the outdoor board will automatically update the inside board to 1.1070 without doing anything else? If so that seems like a no cost easy fix? Am I understanding that right?
No, that's not what I mean... The firmware version and the programming are two different things.
- firmware is the level of software that the device runs (i.e. 1.060 or 1.070). This has to be updated with a special device that can write to the flash memory on the board's micro controller (the flash is not the same as the eeprom)
- The "programming" is stored in the eeprom, and is the data that you as a user have entered for your equipment, circuits, schedules, etc.
If you clear the eeprom on the indoor OR outdoor board, you are just clearing the programming data that you have entered yourself... So your schedules etc will all go away on the device you cleared, and it is now considered to be "blank". The blank one will then try to pull the data from the other. It is probably explained better in the manual, but essentially the indoor/outdoor boards both store a copy of the programming data and each acts as a backup for the other.
- firmware is the level of software that the device runs (i.e. 1.060 or 1.070). This has to be updated with a special device that can write to the flash memory on the board's micro controller (the flash is not the same as the eeprom)
- The "programming" is stored in the eeprom, and is the data that you as a user have entered for your equipment, circuits, schedules, etc.
If you clear the eeprom on the indoor OR outdoor board, you are just clearing the programming data that you have entered yourself... So your schedules etc will all go away on the device you cleared, and it is now considered to be "blank". The blank one will then try to pull the data from the other. It is probably explained better in the manual, but essentially the indoor/outdoor boards both store a copy of the programming data and each acts as a backup for the other.