Pentair IntelliCenter upgrade kit question

Jump to latest Follow Reply
autigers1970

autigers1970

Member
Apr 17, 2023
10
Alabama
I have a Pentair IntelliTouch System i9+3s currently (Pentair part #521221) and was looking into the IntelliCenter upgrade kit for my system that's having some issues. They no longer make these panels but I understand they make an upgrade kit called IntelliCenter for these older systems to bring them up to date with current tech.
The available panels are:

Pool & Spa combo panel for systems built between 2003-2012, Pentair part # 522046
Pool & Spa combo panel for systems built after 2012, Pentair part # 522048

Pool OR Spa panel for systems built between 2003-2012, Pentair part # 522045
Pool OR Spa panel for systems built after 2012, Pentair part # 522047

Just not sure which is the one I need. My system controls a variable speed pump, salt cell/chlorine generator, a heat pump water heater, a side wall vacuum with booster pump, a waterfall feature, lighting and laminars. Don't know if that's relevant but thought I'd give you an idea of what I have. Any help you guys could give would be appreciated.
 
Welcome to TFP.

Do you have a spa?

Pentair used two different cabinets pre 2012 and post 2012 which is why there are two different kits.

Post pics of your IntelliTouch panel opened showing the wiring inside. There may be labels with dates on the back inside of the cabinet.

@ogdento can probably describe the cabinet differences.
 
here are the main differences:
new cabinet/load centers:
  • high-voltage AC breakers are aligned along the left side, making room for an internal salt cell transformer on the right
  • low-voltage breakers (in the top right) are arranged in a 2x2 grid (there is an adapter to use the new layout with older panel cabinets)

old cabinet/load centers:
  • high-voltage AC breakers are arranged in 2 center columns. salt cell transformer is external.
  • low voltage breakers (still in the top right) are in a 1x3 row.

what's been going wrong with your current i9 system?
 
1970,

I have the EasyTouch and love it. I really want to upgrade to the new IntelliCenter, but to be honest, I'd gain nothing. My EasyTouch does everything I need it to do. There is just no real advantage to upgrade for me.

That said, if I were building a new pool today, there is no doubt that I would go with the new IntelliCenter.

What can't you do with your current IntelliTouch???

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
ajw22 said:
Welcome to TFP.

Do you have a spa?

Pentair used two different cabinets pre 2012 and post 2012 which is why there are two different kits.

Post pics of your IntelliTouch panel opened showing the wiring inside. There may be labels with dates on the back inside of the cabinet.

@ogdento can probably describe the cabinet differences.
Click to expand...
Hey, I ended up reaching out to Pentair and they were able to determine I have a pre-2012 system and said that the Pentair part number 522045 model of the upgrade kit is what I need since it only controls a single body of water (no attached spa). I just have a heat pump water heater, a waterfall feature and some laminars.
 
Jimrahbe said:
1970,

I have the EasyTouch and love it. I really want to upgrade to the new IntelliCenter, but to be honest, I'd gain nothing. My EasyTouch does everything I need it to do. There is just no real advantage to upgrade for me.

That said, if I were building a new pool today, there is no doubt that I would go with the new IntelliCenter.

What can't you do with your current IntelliTouch???

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
ogdento said:
what's been going wrong with your current i9 system?
Click to expand...

The board is going bad and I've lost the wireless functionality to control the system with the Screenlogic app or check water temp, salt level and so on. Everything has to be done manually which also affects the schedule for the vacuum and such too.

I probably won't do it right away, but I just needed to know which panel to get whenever the time comes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jimrahbe
Jimrahbe said:
1970,

Sounds like you have lost your RS-485 serial communications.

Let us know if you want to try to troubleshoot what you have now.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thank you! So the pool company I use came over and did the following:

Rebooted the Pentair Screenlogic box inside next to my router.
Rebooted my wifi router and cable modem.
Moved the indoor antenna closer to the outdoor one.
Replaced both the indoor Screenlogic box and indoor wifi antenna.
Replaced the outdoor wifi antenna.
Shut off the power to the panel outside and restarted everything.
Verified power going to the outdoor antenna.
Unplugged and reseated the cable from the outdoor antenna to the Intellitouch panel.

I think that's everything. Their diagnosis is that the panel is going bad and won't operate the wifi stuff anymore allowing me to run schedules, see water temp and control the pump and other features via the app anymore. I am able to connect using the app to the ScreenLogic interface, but it just doesn't show me any actual stats on the system or allow me to control it.

What are other troubleshooting steps I could try?
 
1970,

The EasyTouch talks to ScreenLogic using the RS-485 com port.

What else do you have that uses this com port? Do you have...

1. An IntelliFlo VS pump?
2. An IntelliChlor (IC40) SWCG?
3. Pentair Remote?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Jimrahbe said:
1970,

The EasyTouch talks to ScreenLogic using the RS-485 com port.

What else do you have that uses this com port? Do you have...

1. An IntelliFlo VS pump?
2. An IntelliChlor (IC40) SWCG?
3. Pentair Remote?

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
IMG_2224.jpeg
The circled one is where the outdoor WiFi antenna connects. The other one goes to the Intellichlor ic40 salt chlorine generator.
 
do you have an intelliflo/variable speed pump? it gives us an easy way to diagnose comm issues but i don't see one connected to the comm port... if there's a surge board for your salt cell, it might have other rs485 devices attached to it.

also, if you suspect your screenlogic is bad, i would do the following:
1. inspect the cabling to the outdoor transceiver (antenna thing that's in the small egg-shaped housing)
2. if the wiring to the transceiver is good... temporarily connect the protocol adapter directly to the outdoor board with a cable rather than the wireless link, and see if it can control anything
 
if your ic40 is working fine, i "think" that means it must be able to talk to the outdoor board... but I don't have one so I'm not positive
 
1970,

If you can use the main panel and adjust the IC40's output %, and the lights on the cell change to the right %, that should mean your main card's com port is working.

Can you see a salt level when using main panel??

Show us a pic of your main pool pump..


@ogdento Tom, Does the IntelliTouch have two RS-485 chips or just one? Can one be bad, while the other one works?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
the intellitouch boards from rev C and later have 2 comm chips, but they're both connected to the same single comm bus... if one of the chips dies it will usually screw up the whole thing.

Even though there are two physical connectors on the i7 and i9 (only one on the i5), there's still just one comm bus... the two comm port connectors are in parallel with each other
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jimrahbe
1970,

Great!! You do have an IntelliFlo pump.

If you want to prove that your main card is bad or not, here is how to do it..

There should be a cable that connects your IntelliFlo pump to the automation. It just has two wires, a yellow one and a green one.

Disconnect everything from the RS-485 com ports except the one cable from the pump.

You do that with the power off. Turn the power back on, put the automation in AUTO. wait for about five minutes and go look at the pump's display. It should have a display that says "Display Not Active". This means that the main card is talking to the pump. If the display is showing an RPM screen, then that means more than likely your main card has bad RS-485 chips. If the pump's screen is blank, that means your pump is wired wrong and is not getting constant AC power like it should.

Let us know what happens.

I'm pretty sure that Tom can fix your main card, if needed. PM him and see what he says.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply