Pentair Intelliflo 3 VSF and Intellicenter Wiring / Home App

[RenoDataGuy]

Hi everyone. Hoping this hasn't been asked before, and if it has I apologize in advance. I've written this like 5 times, and it ends up being a novel and I think jus tasking the question versus telling the whole story works better for everyone. Brand new pool and new pool owner.

I got the new pump added to the Pentair Home app, and for some reason the Home App doesn't see my pool. I think it's because I created my account for the Home App before I had completed my Intellicenter account. The Home App sees the pump, and I can connect to my pool when I enter the Intellicenter's IP. I can log into the Intellicenter2 app and I can see my pool, but I can't see my pump. I know why Intellicenter2 can't see it. It's because I don't have the green and yellow wire connected on the back of the pump to the J4 or J5 com ports in Intellicenter.

Question - Can I have the pump setup in the Home App, and connected via the com ports in Intellicenter at the same time?
I would just have to figure out how to redo the pump schedule on the Intellicenter side versus what I have in the Home App, or should I just leave it as is?

Secondary Question - Anyone know how I can get the Home App to automatically see my pool so I don't have to use both apps? I was never asked to upgrade like the instructions state from Pentair.
Before you ask. The network side of things is perfect.

 

[ajw22]

Hi everyone. Hoping this hasn't been asked before, and if it has I apologize in advance. I've written this like 5 times, and it ends up being a novel and I think jus tasking the question versus telling the whole story works better for everyone. Brand new pool and new pool owner.

I got the new pump added to the Pentair Home app, and for some reason the Home App doesn't see my pool. I think it's because I created my account for the Home App before I had completed my Intellicenter account. The Home App sees the pump, and I can connect to my pool when I enter the Intellicenter's IP. I can log into the Intellicenter2 app and I can see my pool, but I can't see my pump. I know why Intellicenter2 can't see it. It's because I don't have the green and yellow wire connected on the back of the pump to the J4 or J5 com ports in Intellicenter.

You need to connect the RS-485 cable between the IntelliFlo3 and IntelliCenter.

Question - Can I have the pump setup in the Home App, and connected via the com ports in Intellicenter at the same time?

Yes.

But when the IntelliCenter controls the pump it uses its pump schedule not what was set in the pump by Pentair Home.

You then only use Pentair Home IntelliFlo3 pump control when the IntelliCenter is in SERVICE mode and not controlling the pump.

I would just have to figure out how to redo the pump schedule on the Intellicenter side versus what I have in the Home App, or should I just leave it as is?

You should have different pump speeds if the MasterTemp heater is on or off which only the IntelliCenter can do.

The pump speeds should be controlled by the IntelliCenter. Right now you are running the IntelliFlo3 independent of the IntelliCenter.

Secondary Question - Anyone know how I can get the Home App to automatically see my pool so I don't have to use both apps? I was never asked to upgrade like the instructions state from Pentair.
Before you ask. The network side of things is perfect.

I think you need to use the IntelliCenter2 app to control the IntelliCenter until Pentair upgrades you.

Pentair has really confused the transition in IntelliCenter apps. If the IntelliCenter2 app does not work for you then you will need to call Pentair Support to try and straighten out your app access.

 

[RenoDataGuy]

@ajw22 - Thank you for your response. So, another frustration... I have the pump connected to Intellicenter via the green and yellow wire. Now, how do I go about setting it up on / in Intellicenter. I somewhat fumbled around to create a circuit and a pump, but when I check status it's telling me it can't communicate to the pump. Anyway you tell me what the order of operations are? Thanks in advance.

 

[ajw22]

What color is the CONNECT LED on the pump?

Do you have the display panel on the pump?

Show me how you have the pump setup in the IntelliCenter.

 

[RenoDataGuy]

What color is the CONNECT LED on the pump?

Do you have the display panel on the pump?

Show me how you have the pump setup in the IntelliCenter.

Ok, so I moved the wire from Com Port B (J4) to Com Port A (J5), and re-setup a circuit and a Pump. When I turned the power back on to the pump the CONNECT LED turned to purple / magenta, and I can turn the pump on and off from the panel and the Intellicenter2 app.

I can't explain it, but I'm happy. Now, how to program this thing now. Any advice?

 

[ajw22]

What program do you want to setup?

Are you programming from the OCP, IntelliCenter2 web page, or which app?

I find the web page is the easiest for programming.

 

[RenoDataGuy]

@ajw22 - I totally agree with your web page comment. End goal is to have a schedule to heat the pool, and have the proper speed for the pump going while the heater is running.
Below are the steps I did to get a schedule to work. Please let me know if this is the right way to do it. I'm a Data & AI Consultant at Microsoft, and I'm so used to setting up work flows, and this is Dang near close to what I do for customer's data ingestion.

Also I should let you know we have a HUGE temperature shift from day time to night time. It was a high of 62 today, but a low of 37 tonight. We will hit freezing a few times over the few weeks, and then late February early Mach will be in the low 40s in the evening.


What I ended up doing is setting up to additional feature circuits.


Then I added those two circuits to my pump.


Then for a test I set schedule to run 10 minutes after I set it up. I'm on the west coast so it's only 5:25 here right now.

 

[ajw22]

Better to run the pump in RPM rather than GPM. Using RPM you can see when your expected flow rate drops due to your filter getting dirty, or skimmers clogged, or other pool problems. Running in GPM can hide developing problems.

I run my pump 24/7. Schedule POOL to run 8am to 8am at the lowest speed you want your pool to run. For my pool I need 1700 rpm for my SWG.

I set the heater to run at 2400 rpm which gives me about 40GPM. Whenever the heater turns on the pump speed is automatically increased.

I have a Polaris pressure side pool cleaner and a cleaner circuit that has a pump speed of 2400 RPM. My skimmers need 2400 RPM to skim the pool. The cleaner circuit runs from 6am to 9am and gives me a clean pool for the day.

I have feature circuits for Pump 2400 and Pump 3000 that show as a feature so I have buttons to select if I want a faster flow for a period of time.

Why do you have Pool Pump at 50 GPM and Day pump at 75 GPM? What needs 75 GPM all day?

If POOL mode circuit is set for 50 GPM then the pump will not go to 30 GPM at night. You can have multiple speeds active across programs and highest speed will always win. So your basic POOL mode speed needs to be the slowest speed.

 

[RenoDataGuy]

Why do you have Pool Pump at 50 GPM and Day pump at 75 GPM? What needs 75 GPM all day?

Great information! I will be switching to RPM versus GPM.
No real good answer to your question other than getting used to the interface. Great advice about show feature. I do have two water falls, and will need to bump up the RPMs when they are turned on.

THANK YOU very much for all of your information!

 

[ajw22]

Your waterfalls on separate pumps or actuators? You should be able to set the pump speed desired when the waterfall is turned on.

Somewhere on the pump status page it tells you the GPM you are getting for the RPM it is running. Vary the Rpm settings and see what GPM you get. That gives you a baseline for your pump and filter performance.

 

[ajw22]

Here are the pump speeds I have set...

 

[RenoDataGuy]

Thank you so much!!!! I appreciate your screen shot. Great template to go off of. I set the POOL to be from 8am to 8am like you suggested. That kicked the pump on right away. Then I set a test schedule to kick up the pump to 2450, and then five minutes later I had it kick on the heater. It ran the heater for an hour, and then shut down as expected, and the pump went back down to the 1700 rpms.

Truly appreciate your input. Thank you very much.