Intellitouch Not Communicating with IntelliPro Pump - FIXED

[birdman579]

I have an existing pool/spa with separate equipment. I did not perform the install and everything was in place when I bought the house. The pool is about 15 years old. I think the automation system is about 10 years old. The automation system is the Intellitouch i10+3D and the pump is the Intellipro VS P6E6VS4H-209L. The pump is installed and controlled using a relay. There is a RS-485 cable, but I always get the Pump Communication error due to the use of the relay. I wanted to switch to use the RS-485 interface for additional flexibility, but it does not seem to work. I wired the pump directly to the circuit breaker so it gets power all the time. I no longer get the Pump Communication error, but the pump is not being controlled. The screen on the pump also never is disabled. I confirmed the pump address matches ScreenLogic and even tried different addresses. I have 2 of the Intellipro pumps (1 for the main pool and 1 for the catch basin) and neither is talking to Intellitouch. The pump runs all the time independent of the Intellitouch being in Auto or Service mode when wired directly to the circuit breaker.

What can I check? Or what did I do wrong? Other than setting the pump address, are there any other settings needed at the pump? I think the original installer (before I owned the house) defaulted to the existing relay interface because they couldn't get it to talk either. I have an expansion board and tried bypassing that, but no luck. Other communication systems like the 4 button spa side remote and wireless ScreenLogic interface all work fine. Its posssible the Intellitouch was previously connected to 4 Intelliflo pumps that were replaced by the previous owner. Are there unique RS-485 cables for Intellipro vs Intelliflo?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[Jimrahbe]

B-man,

When you have two pumps one needs to be at address #1 and the other at address #2.

The pump(s) will not run unless several things happen..

The pump filter relay must be closed. (I know it is not connected to the pump anymore, but the relay still must be closed.. It should close anytime you are in the pool mode or spa mode. This means that the Pool mode or Spa mode must be scheduled.

The pump must know what speed to run.. This is done by the following speed set up page... (This is from an EasyTouch, but assume yours would be the same) Pic is from a PC and not a useless phone.

Set up page 4.JPG

• Jimrahbe
• Apr 19, 2019

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When the RS-485 connection is recognized by the pump(s), the pump's display should say "Display not Active" and none of the pump's buttons should work.

Please show me a pic of where the RS-485 cables are connected inside your IntelliTouch...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[birdman579]

Here is the wiring showing the RS-485 cables attaching to the expansion board and the wire from the expansion board to the main board.

There are 4 of the RS-485 cables at the panel, but only 2 of them are connected to a pump (pool pump and catch basin pump). My assumption is 2 of my Whisperflo pumps used to be IntelliFlo or IntelliPro pumps and were removed for some reason.

I confirmed I have the pool pump as Address 1 and the Catch Basin as Address 2.

Your comment on using a circuit even though I’m not using the relay might be the issue. I configured the Catch Basin as a feature and assumed I could use the relay for something else. I guess not. I’m focused on the Catch Basin pump first since that has the easiest wiring to adjust/troubleshoot.

I’ll update the setup to use the circuit and not a feature.

Question: do I still have the relay connected to the Intellitouch board? There will be no powered wires, just the digital side connected, correct?

I feel like we are making progress.

 

[Jimrahbe]

B-Man,

Sorry, I got confused and am leading you down the wrong path...

You have to be in the Pool or Spa mode to close the Pump/Filter relay so that you can turn on a SWCG.

The pump should run as long as you have the speeds assigned to the circuits that you want to run, as long as you are not in the Service mode, and the circuit is turned on.

I'd start with just one pump and ensure that when NOT in the Service mode, that the pump's display says "Display not active"...

The IntelliTouch has two com port connections.. I am not sure if both ports run off the same chip set or not.. If the have different chip sets, it could be possible that the port going to the pumps is not working, while the other port is working..

Let's see if Tom knows... Calling @ogdento

No matter what, if the pumps do not say "Display not active", then the automation will never be able to control them.

Sorry for any confusion.

Jim R.

 

[ogdento]

I'll just add to Jim's post... the personality board has two comm connectors, but it's a single rs485 bus... the power and data lines on both connectors are connected together.

Now, if you've got a mainboard that's rev. B or earlier it will have a single driver chip (u4) whereas rev C and later have two (u4 and u16... both connected to the same 485 bus). I don't know how the system decides which one to pay attention to, and it seems that the system will run just fine with only u4 - so I really don't know why they added u16.

 

[ajw22]

Disconnect the unused RS-485 cables from the board and one of the cables going to a pump. So you only have a single RS-485 cable connected going to one pump. See if you can get that pump to go DISPLAY NOT ACTIVE.

Confirm you have no splices in the RS-485 cables going to the pumps.

 

[birdman579]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I will try these updates and report back!

 

[birdman579]

UPDATE: Root cause identified!

It turns out the pins of the 4 pin RS485 connector on the personality board are oxidized and not providing a reliable connection. I discovered this by ohming out the pins after trying everything recommended by others on TFP. I connected the pump interface to the other RS485 connection (the same one as the wireless interface) and it connected to the pump and I got the Display Not Active.

Unfortunately, the wireless interface and pump connection became unreliable. I jiggled the connector and was able to get the wireless pod to start working again.

Does anyone have thoughts on how to make the connection more reliable? Can I buy a replacement on Digikey and solder it down? I need to find the replacement P/N.

For a brief moment, everything was great. Ugh.

 

[ogdento]

just so I'm clear... it's the 4-pin terminal block (and/or the pins on the board that it mates to) that has the corrosion? you can try and clean it out or replace them and maybe add a little dielectric grease before re-attaching.

the terminal block itself is a Riacon 4 PIN, Metz Connect, 31007104. see this thread:

RS-485 Connector - Help me identify source this

Hi Help me source this connector, please. Its a 4 terminal removable block on Hayward VSP and Jandy. I have googled high and dry without finding it and am loathe to wire up using maybe crimp connectors with the high voltage around. Thanks

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[birdman579]

Yes, the pins on the board that the 4-pin terminal block plugs on to are oxidized. When I touch my multi-meter probes from one end to the other of 1 pin, I get high resistance. I'm measuring either end of a continuous piece of metal so it obviously should be very low resistance.

 

[ajw22]

Have you tried polishing the pins with some emery cloth?

Then put Stabiliant 22 on it...

Amazon.com

 

[birdman579]

Polishing the pins with an emery cloth is definitely a good idea. I don't think I have any, but I'll try that. Much easier than swapping out the pins.

 

[birdman579]

Final update: I got some emery cloth and polished the oxidized contacts. I confirmed continuity with my multimeter and everything works now! I can now see and adjust the RPM using ScreenLogic. Thanks for all the help everyone! TFP is awesome!!!