Pentair IC 40 Intellichlor Communication troubleshooting

[gbhumphrey]

Hi I have a Pentair IC40, and it seems to work, lights are all solid green, it just doesnt communicate with the Screenlogic App any longer. I know it did at one time but cant say when. The App controls do nothing and in the Delays and Alerts -> System Alerts I see " Chlorination: Communication Lost.
I'd like to know any troubleshooting tips please.

 

[Jimrahbe]

gb,

Can you use your ScreenLogic and do simple things like turn a light on.. If you can turn the light on, and visually ensure the light is on, then that means the RS-485 bus is working.

What kind of SWCG power center do you have? An Internal one inside the EasyTouch or an External one in a separate box...

In both cases, the J20 RS-485 bus needs to talk with the cell. I'd make sure that all 4 pins of J20 are connected to either the internal power supply card or external power supply card.

I assume that when you use the EasyTouch's little LCD that you cannot make the output % change on the Cell.. Is that correct??

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gbhumphrey]

Hi Jim
Yes, I can operate all lights, pumps etc from the ScreenLogic app, so the RS-485 Bus is working.

I have internal board Pentair Water PCBA 521593. The antennas plug into that as well.

Sure seems like all pins of the 4 pins of J20 are connected.

I just jiggled all the wires that were plugged in and now I can adjust the salt level output.
The ScreenLogic and Mobiltouch 2 both say the correct %, but there's 2 settings one for Pool and one for Spa. I only have one Chlorinator device. I assume the Spa setting take effect only when the Spa is enabled.

Meanwhile, the ScreenLogic App reports Salt Level as 0, and the Super Chlorrination button doesnt work and Alerts still say Chlorinator Communication lost.
On the IC40 device itself I have solid green lights for salt and flow.

So seems like it's communicating, but not fully.

 

[Jimrahbe]

gb,

The salt level reading zero is a know issue with the IntelliChlor.. As long as the cell has a green salt light, then the cell knows what the salt level is.. It is just not providing that info to the Easytouch.. It has not effect on how the cell works, it just does not allow you to see the salt level.. More of a pain that a real problem.

When the cell is connected to the EasyTouch, the More and Less button should not work.. If you want to go into super-chlorinate then just do it in ScreenLogic.

The EasyTouch and ScreenLogic have two places for SWCG output %.. Pool and Spa.. This is because when you are using the Spa, you really don't want a lot of chlorine being sent to the spa with you in it.. Keep in mind that without two setting you'd get the same amount of chlorine that would normally go to a big pool being sent to a tiny spa.

I am not sure why your system says "Chlorinator Comm Lost"?? Other than your salt level thing, everything seems to be working.

As a test, go out and look at the Cell and confirm it has lights, also confirm that the pump's display says "Display Not Active".. Then put the system in the Service mode at the panel.. Confirm that the cell now has no lights and that the pump's display is in a manual mode and that the Display no longer says "Display Not Active"... Then put the system back into Auto Mode.. It may take a few minutes for everything to fire back up.

Let me know how that test turns out..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gbhumphrey]

Hi Jim
"The salt level reading zero is a know issue with the IntelliChlor" - UGGGG this is the one piece of information I need on the ScreenLogic App.
Pool and Spa separate controls, got it. My spa overflows into the pool, it's all connected.
Yeah I turned everything off and back on a couple times. Still have the "Communication Lost" message. Oddly in the ScreenLogic App, the adjustment controls work, but not the Superchlorinator button.
I understand all the lights on the Chlorinator now. What was happening was I had a bunch of sand in the pool, which clogged the filters, reducing the flow, which stopped Chlorine Production, which created Algae, which clogged the filters, reducing the flow, which stopped Chlorine Production, etc etc etc.
I't our vacation home and I was guessing the pool service would have noticed this and adjusted. Guess not.
Ok thanks for you help, I think that's about as good as that's going to get.

 

[Jimrahbe]

gb,

The zero problem has been fixed by "almost" changing any part in the system.. Often the flow switch assembly will fix it.. A pretty cheap fix if it works. The power supply card , the cell of course and the main board in the EasyTouch have all "fixed" the problem.

If you really need the salt level, I'd try a new style 3 wire flow switch and see what happens.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gbhumphrey]

Oh. Well. Here is the problem. Its never been cleaned in 2 years. So I cleaned it.

 

[Jimrahbe]

gb,

I am lazy and only look at mine every six months when I clean my filters.. But two years is a little excessive..

I have never seen one as bad as that.. I would have thought you'd be having a flashing cell light long before all that happened.


Thanks for the feedback,

Jim R.

 

[gbhumphrey]

gb,

The zero problem has been fixed by "almost" changing any part in the system.. Often the flow switch assembly will fix it.. A pretty cheap fix if it works. The power supply card , the cell of course and the main board in the EasyTouch have all "fixed" the problem.

If you really need the salt level, I'd try a new style 3 wire flow switch and see what happens.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Hi, just circling back to this finally. Do you have a link to the "3 wire flow switch" ?

 

[gbhumphrey]

Hi, just circling back to this finally. Do you have a link to the "3 wire flow switch" ?

Ok, got a new flow switch, it had 4 wires. There was a wiring diagram that showed how to connect 3 wires to it. However, this didnt fix it. In fact, on the Amazon page, it says "This part will not fix low salt readings" .

 

[Jimrahbe]

gb,

The problem is that this problem has been "fixed" by replacing several different things.. We have seen this problem being fixed by just replacing the following..

Flow Switch
Surge card (Power supply card)
Main EasyTouch card
Salt cell

It appears to me that this is a timing issue and that changing anything in the entire circuit can cause it to work or not work... Obviously, the flow switch is the cheapest part to replace.

While the flow switch often fixes this problem, sometimes it does not. I don't believe that Pentair has a clue what is causing the issue.

Sorry,

Jim R.