Pentair Intellibrite issue working w Pentair intelliflo pump. Help please.
- Thread starter CrazyMuttz
- Start date
C,
Looking at the pics, you can see where the wiring going to the pump and the wiring going to your light controller are all crammed together and touching each other.. This is not an issue for the electricity, but it does allow noise to jump from one wire to the other..
You can try to rearrange the wires to separate the power going to the light controller from the other wires. It may or may not help, the only way to know would be to try it.
I suspect that a simple noise filter will fix your problem as has been stated above.
Thanks,
Jim R.
Looking at the pics, you can see where the wiring going to the pump and the wiring going to your light controller are all crammed together and touching each other.. This is not an issue for the electricity, but it does allow noise to jump from one wire to the other..
You can try to rearrange the wires to separate the power going to the light controller from the other wires. It may or may not help, the only way to know would be to try it.
I suspect that a simple noise filter will fix your problem as has been stated above.
Thanks,
Jim R.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,233
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I can't see everything going on int he box and where wires are going from the pics you posted. To fully understand the problem we have to understand where each wire runs to the pump and light which you are not showing us.
I agree with Jim that the wires crammed together create the possibility of cross coupled EMI or electromagnetic voltage induction sufficient for the electronics int he LED light to get confused about the control pulses.
The fix may be a noise filter. Or the fix may be to rewire and separate the electrical circuits for the pump and lights within the electrical box. Where the pump wiring comes into one side of the box and the light wiring comes into the other side of the electrical box. Each wiring connects directly to the CB and never crosses or comes near each other. A few inches of separation may be all it needs.
If you are not comfortable doing electrical work and need to hire an eletrician then having a noise filter installed would be the first thing to try. If that does nto work then the electrician needs to restructure the electrical box. Maybe use a larger box to give more seperation between circuits. And there may be other things going on with your wiring that we have not seen yet.
I agree with Jim that the wires crammed together create the possibility of cross coupled EMI or electromagnetic voltage induction sufficient for the electronics int he LED light to get confused about the control pulses.
The fix may be a noise filter. Or the fix may be to rewire and separate the electrical circuits for the pump and lights within the electrical box. Where the pump wiring comes into one side of the box and the light wiring comes into the other side of the electrical box. Each wiring connects directly to the CB and never crosses or comes near each other. A few inches of separation may be all it needs.
If you are not comfortable doing electrical work and need to hire an eletrician then having a noise filter installed would be the first thing to try. If that does nto work then the electrician needs to restructure the electrical box. Maybe use a larger box to give more seperation between circuits. And there may be other things going on with your wiring that we have not seen yet.
I will try separating the wires first. Thank you soo much guys!
Is a noise filter fairly easy to install?
Also, not sure if I mentioned it but when the light is affected when changing colors and pump running after trying to change colors a few times and getting random colors then the light fails to come on at ALL until I shut off pump and turn light on again. Not sure if that bit of info tells you anything. Lol
Is a noise filter fairly easy to install?
Also, not sure if I mentioned it but when the light is affected when changing colors and pump running after trying to change colors a few times and getting random colors then the light fails to come on at ALL until I shut off pump and turn light on again. Not sure if that bit of info tells you anything. Lol
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,233
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I think it says that the light control electronics are getting confused by all the noise generated by the pump.
We can dump on Pentair for the poor design of analog light controls in an age of digital electronics or why Pentair didn't design the electronics to filter out the nose or why a Pentair pump generates electrical noise that confuses their light. But it is what it is and we need to deal with the inferior pool products companies give us.
Last edited:
LOL! Agreed. I find it disconcerting that their own products don't "like" each other.
Which noise filter would you recommend and is it fairly self explanatory to install? Thanks !
Which noise filter would you recommend and is it fairly self explanatory to install? Thanks !
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,233
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Jim posted links to noise filters. I have not needed to use them since I have well designed electrical boxes.
It is fairly explanatory to an electrician how to install. You need a few more bits then just the noise filter. And in the process of installing the noise filter is an opportunity for the electrician to clean up and separate the wiring in the box which may also help.
A hack electrician will just wire in the filter and say good luck. An electrician who has some understanding of the problem you are trying to solve may suggest you change the electrical box and fix the wirng while putting in the filter.
Hello gentlemen.
So I installed the noise filter the way you both suggested and it solved the flicker problem immediately......however.....now when pump is running and I turn the light on it lights on last lit color and thats it! It doesn't shut off and back on like normal operation and it won't change color when try changing the color dial. So the flicker is gone, yay but stuck w whatever color was previously selected. Works fine still w pump off.
Any thoughts on the new problem?...lol
So I installed the noise filter the way you both suggested and it solved the flicker problem immediately......however.....now when pump is running and I turn the light on it lights on last lit color and thats it! It doesn't shut off and back on like normal operation and it won't change color when try changing the color dial. So the flicker is gone, yay but stuck w whatever color was previously selected. Works fine still w pump off.
Any thoughts on the new problem?...lol
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,233
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
C,
Ok..
No matter what I said before, the noise filter has to go on the wiring between the pump and the circuit breaker...
If you put the noise filter on the power line going to the light, it sees the relay switch as noise...
The relay or light controller quickly switches the power on and off to make the light change colors..
Reconnect the lights as they were before and make sure the lights still work as they should, then move the filter between the pump circuit breaker and the pump..
Thanks,
Jim R.
Ok..
No matter what I said before, the noise filter has to go on the wiring between the pump and the circuit breaker...
If you put the noise filter on the power line going to the light, it sees the relay switch as noise...
The relay or light controller quickly switches the power on and off to make the light change colors..Reconnect the lights as they were before and make sure the lights still work as they should, then move the filter between the pump circuit breaker and the pump..
Thanks,
Jim R.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,233
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Read what I said in post #28 about cleaning up the wiring in the box and separating the pump wires from the light wires.
The wires are close enough that you are probably getting coupling from the pump wire noise into the wires coming out of the noise filter. The grey light wires run right past the pump electrical wires.
The only way to find out for sure what is going on is to connect an oscilloscope to the lines and see what noise and waveforms are on them. Otherwise you just have to keep on trying different things until you find one that works.
I don't think you will fix this until the light wires and pump wir4es are well separated.
The wires are close enough that you are probably getting coupling from the pump wire noise into the wires coming out of the noise filter. The grey light wires run right past the pump electrical wires.
The only way to find out for sure what is going on is to connect an oscilloscope to the lines and see what noise and waveforms are on them. Otherwise you just have to keep on trying different things until you find one that works.
I don't think you will fix this until the light wires and pump wir4es are well separated.
Last edited:
Ok, so the pump wiring coming into the box is 2 black and a ground. So the 2 blacks im assuming doesn't matter what each connects to on the LINE side of the noise filter??
Thanks!
Thanks!
Crazy,
Does not matter which wire goes to which input (Line side) of the filter.. Same with the output (load side)
Jim R.
Does not matter which wire goes to which input (Line side) of the filter.. Same with the output (load side)
Jim R.
Ok. Just tried that and I tried to separate the wires as best I could w the space thats there. Filter on pump line and light works exactly the way it did without the filter. Light comes on, flickers off then comes back on to a random color. This way didnt seem to affect anything. Filter on light line got rid of flicker but couldn't change color. Ugh.. lol...any other suggestions? Thanks so much!
Attachments
Hello,
Wanted to let you both know that my light issue seems to be resolved!!!! A friend of mine suggested replacing the 2 20 amp breakers w a single 40 amp breaker for the pump. We did that and tried the light about 20 times and worked correctly every one!!
Thanks again for all your help!
C,
Thanks for the feedback.. On the surface, the solution does not make any sense, but that just goes to show you want a weird problem you had..
Glad you were able to get it working.
Jim R.
Thanks for the feedback.. On the surface, the solution does not make any sense, but that just goes to show you want a weird problem you had..
Glad you were able to get it working.
Jim R.
Wait, I'm confused... so if you got rid of the tandem breaker for a single, the pump is now running at 120v instead of 240. can the intelliflo run at 120? (i thought it only ran at 240)
(Not to mention your supply cable is probably too small for a 40A breaker)
(Not to mention your supply cable is probably too small for a 40A breaker)