Just bought a house with a pool, do I not have a control panel?

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gth651t

Member
Jul 26, 2022
9
Castle Rock, CO
Hi All, we just bought a house with a pool and I'm trying to find a control panel. Do I have one? Is there something I can add to make it remote or wifi compatible? It looks like the pump is whisperflor, swg is intellichlo. Any help on how I can automate my system or control it remotely would be great! Thank you!
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Welcome to the forum.
It appears the previous owner used a Pentair automation box for a load center, etc, but it does not have the automation panel. You might be able to add it.
Let's see if @Jimrahbe can give you some suggestions.
 
gth,

That load center is pretty useless without the front panel and the circuit card that goes with it.

I did a quick search and did not see any of the newer style front panels that your load center needs.

Do you have just a pool or is it a pool and spa?

Might try E-bay. Let's see if Tom has any good E-bay sources.

Another option is to upgrade to the new IntelliCenter. But they are hard to come by right now.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Open up the lower front plate and show us the way it is wired.

Let’s see if you have the relays and how many.
 
You have five relays which is good.

It looks like the equipment was never wired to the relays. Everything is very neatly wired direct to the circuit breakers. It looks like if you try and run the equipment wires to the relays to automate things the wires will not reach that high unless they have some slack in the conduit.

There are a wiring problem with that panel that causes me concern:
  • The IntelliChlor SWG is not wired to be powered off when the pump is off.
What type of pool light do you have? Is it a 120V light or an LED light powered through a transformer?

The flow switch on the IntelliChlor is a secondary safety mechanism. There should be a primary means for the cell not to be powered when the pump is off and there is no water flow. This can be with pool automation equipment or a mechanical timer.

Pentair Manuals say:

The IntelliChlor Salt Chlorinator Power Centers must be interconnected with the pool pump motor power source. This ensures the IntelliChlor Salt Chlorinator and pool pump will switch on and off together. [18]

and

WARNING:CHLORINE GAS BUILDUP CAN OCCUR WITH IMPROPER WIRING: To reduce the risk of personal injury the IntelliChlor® Salt Chlorine Generator (SCG) Power Center must be installed on and wirded to the load side of the time clock, electronically controlled switch, or relay load side, so that it will receive power only when the pool pump is on. Otherwise, dangerous chlorine gas buildup can occur. The IECG should never be energized when the pool pump is OFF and water is not flowing through the unit.

Cell explosions do happen...

Here is one report - Explosion near the SWG

And another - Help,, my pipe exploded

What is your pump runtime?

If you run your pump 24/7 then you only need to remember to turn off the SWG when you manually turn off the pump.
 
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Thank you! My pool light is the pool Lux which is led via transformer. I currently run the pump 24/7 because when I moved in and started researching pools on here I read about the dangers of turning off the pump but not the swg. Is it okay to run it 24/7 for now? or is it better to have a timed system?

I only have one small poo, no spa.

If I bought the controls would an electrician know how to wire it or do I need to find a pool person or do people do this themselves? What would I need to buy to make it the intellicenter? Also do you think someone actually took all the stuff off? Bc if so that is shady! We let the previous owners live here for 60 days after we bought the house and we I moved in everything was essentially 0. Zero chlorine, zero cya,
Zero calcium, low ph and the pool was full of
A layer of dirt. Do you think the previous owners took the controls with them?
 
gth651t said:
Do you think the previous owners took the controls with them?
Click to expand...
gth,

No way to tell for sure, but it would be very odd to install what you have now all by itself.

This is what you need to upgrade to an IntelliCenter.


The problem is with logistics as they are hard to find. Pretty easy to install, but you do need some electrical knowledge or background. We can help with the programming.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
gth651t said:
My pool light is the pool Lux which is led via transformer.
Click to expand...

That's good.

gth651t said:
I currently run the pump 24/7 because when I moved in and started researching pools on here I read about the dangers of turning off the pump but not the swg. Is it okay to run it 24/7 for now? or is it better to have a timed system?
Click to expand...

It is ok to run the pump 24/7 with your setup.

Note that your pump runs on 120 volts which limits it's maximum HP.

gth651t said:
If I bought the controls would an electrician know how to wire it or do I need to find a pool person or do people do this themselves?
Click to expand...

Not all electricians know how to wire up pool panels properly.

Not all pool persons know how to wire up pool panels properly.

Most important is to find someone who has experience or who can study the installation manual and plan out the way the pool controls should be connected and work.

I did my own pool panel installation and other homeowners have. You do need to understand the basics of electrical wiring and be comfortable working safely around high voltages.

We have helped many folks through it. Here is my thread on my project...

Replacing an Aqualink with an IntelliCenter

This thread is for me to work out what I do in upgrading my 20 year old pool equipment. Jandy RS8 automation, 1.5HP SS Pentair pump, Pentair Mastertemp 400 NG heater, IC40 SWG, typical pool/spa combo with spa spillover, Pentair JVA actuators on suctions & return Jandy valves, 1HP pump for spa...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

gth651t said:
What would I need to buy to make it the intellicenter?
Click to expand...

Pentair has the IntelliTouch/EasyTouch to IntelliCenter Upgrade Kit sku 522047. This replaces the top panel with the IntelliCenter board.

This pool automation upgrade kit will bring your EasyTouch® or IntelliTouch® Control System up-to-date with all the features of the IntelliCenter Control System.

This thread described how to upgrade an EasyTouch to IntelliCenter.

www.pentair.com

IntelliCenter® Pool Control Upgrade Kit

,,
www.pentair.com www.pentair.com

Pentair Automation Systems - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

gth651t said:
Also do you think someone actually took all the stuff off?...Do you think the previous owners took the controls with them?
Click to expand...

No I do not.

The panel looks like it was wired that way and the wires were never wired to the relays to make the controls work.

I think you will find some wires will not reach up to the relays and will need to be spliced.
 
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Hi, @guinness messaged me ~45 minutes ago about this thread, my control panel is still available, people here can see if it's exactly what you need.

For Sale: EasyTouch 4 P/S Control Panel, Pwr Supply, Breakers

I bought the EasyTouch 4SC-IC40 Pool Spa Combo 520543 and the IntelliTouch/EasyTouch to Intellicenter Upgrade - i10PS | 522048 These were delivered a day apart, the unused easytouch control panel, power supply, & fuses were replaced with the Intellicenter. I received the Intellicenter upgrade...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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FSDpool said:
Hi, @guinness messaged me ~45 minutes ago about this thread, my control panel is still available, people here can see if it's exactly what you need.

For Sale: EasyTouch 4 P/S Control Panel, Pwr Supply, Breakers

I bought the EasyTouch 4SC-IC40 Pool Spa Combo 520543 and the IntelliTouch/EasyTouch to Intellicenter Upgrade - i10PS | 522048 These were delivered a day apart, the unused easytouch control panel, power supply, & fuses were replaced with the Intellicenter. I received the Intellicenter upgrade...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
Thanks! I am going to hold out and see if I can get an intellicenter! Thank you
 
Jimrahbe said:
gth,

No way to tell for sure, but it would be very odd to install what you have now all by itself.

This is what you need to upgrade to an IntelliCenter.


The problem is with logistics as they are hard to find. Pretty easy to install, but you do need some electrical knowledge or background. We can help with the programming.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Do I need to buy anything else first like the easy touch or is the upgrade kit all I need?
 
gth651t said:
I was wondering if anyone can help me with the steps to safely turn off the pump (and the chlorine generator). I don't want to risk accidentally leaving the chlorine generator on when I turn the pump off. Thank you!
Click to expand...

The IntelliChlor does not have an on/off switch. You can set the % to 0 to turn it off or flip off the brekaer it is connected to.
 
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