Two days ago I had a Pentair IntelliCenter installed. I had considered an IntelliTouch thinking the Intellicenter would be a huge price jump. The price difference was low enough that the IntelliCenter was an obvious choice. Luckily my long time pool maintenance contractor had just been to training on the IntelliCenter a few weeks ago. Mine was his first install. I already had an Intelliflow pump. I needed the Hayword chlorinator replaced (it had just quit working). I also had a pool light that had been on an X-10 control. The X-10 was not working. There is pool perimeter fiber optic lighting controlled with FiberStar. The remote was not working. The single speed waterfall pump had also stopped working. The solar heater lines were capped off earlier this year but the flow diverter is still in place.
A little re-plumbing was necessary for the chlorinator. An automated valve was also added to divert some water to the waterfall. The old single speed waterfall pump was removed. Being able to "trickle" water through the waterfall during normal pump operation is wonderful! The waterfall has two pockets and the inlet area that held water between use. If the waterfall was not used for a period of time, these areas became really gross with algae and dirt that would have to be cleaned and treated with chlorine tablets. Now it will stay clean all the time. There is also a waterfall circuit for normal flow to the waterfall.
The defined circuits are Waterfall, SkimmerMF, and SkimmerSS. Because there is desert space around much of my yard, a lot of material from the surrounding trees blows/falls into the pool. The skimmer circuits run the pump at low speed to keep the skimmer working, along with the pop-ups. The chlorinator is not on during these extended hours of operation. My electricity is priced by time of use. Now I can keep the skimmer working all day on the weekends but stop the pump during high electricity time on weekdays.
I found out the chlorinator is only on when the "body" named "pool" is active. That is scheduled each day in the morning. A little time will be required to balance chlorinator setting and run time to keep the pool clean and the chlorine level correct. It would be nice to be able to see if the chlorinator is on or off on the PC and app. The display on the chlorinator is helpful.
The two light circuits are a work in progress. The pool light had not been used for some time and the bulb was burnt out. I'm in the process of replacing the 400 watt bulb with a 35 watt LED bulb. This bulb has its own remote to control the color and light show but I'll use the IntelliCenter for on/off (the light remembers its last setting). The fiberoptic was working but has developed a problem that I have to troubleshoot. The IntelliCenter will be used for on/off.
The PC application (via browser) and the Android application are working really good. I did not need a booster for the Wi-Fi even though the pool controls are at the opposite end of my house from the router location. The IntelliCenter Wi-FI unit is mounted about 6' high so I'm sure that helps the signal strength.
So far I'm very happy! Having the equipment working is like having a new pool. Keeping the waterfall clean is fantastic! I'm sure the light circuits will be operational soon (not an IntelliCenter problem). I look forward to re-installing solar heating before too long. It will be controlled by the IntelliCenter. I highly recommend the IntelliCenter.
A little re-plumbing was necessary for the chlorinator. An automated valve was also added to divert some water to the waterfall. The old single speed waterfall pump was removed. Being able to "trickle" water through the waterfall during normal pump operation is wonderful! The waterfall has two pockets and the inlet area that held water between use. If the waterfall was not used for a period of time, these areas became really gross with algae and dirt that would have to be cleaned and treated with chlorine tablets. Now it will stay clean all the time. There is also a waterfall circuit for normal flow to the waterfall.
The defined circuits are Waterfall, SkimmerMF, and SkimmerSS. Because there is desert space around much of my yard, a lot of material from the surrounding trees blows/falls into the pool. The skimmer circuits run the pump at low speed to keep the skimmer working, along with the pop-ups. The chlorinator is not on during these extended hours of operation. My electricity is priced by time of use. Now I can keep the skimmer working all day on the weekends but stop the pump during high electricity time on weekdays.
I found out the chlorinator is only on when the "body" named "pool" is active. That is scheduled each day in the morning. A little time will be required to balance chlorinator setting and run time to keep the pool clean and the chlorine level correct. It would be nice to be able to see if the chlorinator is on or off on the PC and app. The display on the chlorinator is helpful.
The two light circuits are a work in progress. The pool light had not been used for some time and the bulb was burnt out. I'm in the process of replacing the 400 watt bulb with a 35 watt LED bulb. This bulb has its own remote to control the color and light show but I'll use the IntelliCenter for on/off (the light remembers its last setting). The fiberoptic was working but has developed a problem that I have to troubleshoot. The IntelliCenter will be used for on/off.
The PC application (via browser) and the Android application are working really good. I did not need a booster for the Wi-Fi even though the pool controls are at the opposite end of my house from the router location. The IntelliCenter Wi-FI unit is mounted about 6' high so I'm sure that helps the signal strength.
So far I'm very happy! Having the equipment working is like having a new pool. Keeping the waterfall clean is fantastic! I'm sure the light circuits will be operational soon (not an IntelliCenter problem). I look forward to re-installing solar heating before too long. It will be controlled by the IntelliCenter. I highly recommend the IntelliCenter.
