Remotely activating a Pentair IntelliFlo VS Pump

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rob nelson

0
Apr 19, 2014
13
Henderson (Las Vegas), NV, United States
I had a Pentair VS pump installed a couple of years ago. It works great, saves a lot of electricity and has paid for itself.

The only issue is that because of the plumbing layout, the digital digital display is near the back wall (away from the pool). So you have to lean over the top or walk around to turn on the "4" speed when you want to use the spa.
also the stupid cover on top falls off half the time because of that hinge design. (any good fix for that?)

I would like to just install a remote on-off switch that would activate speed 4. It looks like the only way to do that is to connect the pools RS-485 cable to a nearly $500 Intellicom control box, then connect a switch to that. Does anyone make a cheaper or simpler way of doing this? Maybe someone has made a raspberry Pi or something that I could use instead. I am an electronics technician/engineer, so I don't have a problem soldering up a PCB.

If not, does anyone have a good photo showing how they've rerouted their pool pipes so that the pump is spun 180 degrees so that the display faces the pool like the valve controls do?

thanks!
 
The only way to go with a commercial off-the-shelf product would be to invest in an automation system which, as you know, is expensive. You could build a RaspberryPI controller (some on here are doing that), but it requires knowing the RS-485 commands that are specific to the pump and I'm not sure that is publicly available knowledge from Pentair. People may have used snoopers to get the commands sent, but I'm not sure about that.

In your situation, a Pentair SuperFlo VSP probably would have been a better choice as the interface is simpler BUT it allows for external relays to control the speed settings. So one could buy a couple of cheaper relays and build a fairly simply controller to do speed selection. The IntelliFlo VSP is really designed to be used with an EasyTouch control panel.

The newest models of IntelliFlo's now have the digital display rotated 90 degrees because the "Geniuses" at Pentair realized that 99.999% of all pump installations have the back of the pump near a wall thus making it impossible to stand behind the display and read it like a normal human being...gee guys, only took you all 10 years or so to figure that out!!!

Good luck finding a simply solution and welcome to TFP :wave:

PS - It would be really helpful if you updated your signature with your pool specs and equipment specs; it helps us help you better. Also, please be a bit more location specific than "United States".
 
I bought a suntouch from ebay at the price of $80, like this:

Pentair SunTouch Pool, Spa And Solar Controller - NEW! | eBay


It should work with the pump. I have not installed it and will do coming summer.


rob nelson said:
I had a Pentair VS pump installed a couple of years ago. It works great, saves a lot of electricity and has paid for itself.

The only issue is that because of the plumbing layout, the digital digital display is near the back wall (away from the pool). So you have to lean over the top or walk around to turn on the "4" speed when you want to use the spa.
also the stupid cover on top falls off half the time because of that hinge design. (any good fix for that?)

I would like to just install a remote on-off switch that would activate speed 4. It looks like the only way to do that is to connect the pools RS-485 cable to a nearly $500 Intellicom control box, then connect a switch to that. Does anyone make a cheaper or simpler way of doing this? Maybe someone has made a raspberry Pi or something that I could use instead. I am an electronics technician/engineer, so I don't have a problem soldering up a PCB.

If not, does anyone have a good photo showing how they've rerouted their pool pipes so that the pump is spun 180 degrees so that the display faces the pool like the valve controls do?

thanks!
Click to expand...
 
The IntelliComm adapter can be had new for $164 if that helps (I see other sellers at $170-$190):
Pentair IntelliCom 2 Interface Protocol Adapter 521109 | Pentair 521109

I actually repositioned my pump completely so it is sideways on the pad to make the controls somewhat accessible, but I was redoing most of the pad plumbing anyway. The IntelliComm adapter is going to be the cleanest way to add remote switching (or to force the pump on when a booster pump etc is running).
 
Did I miss something? Intellicomm is just an adapter? You still need a controller, right?


jmastron said:
The IntelliComm adapter can be had new for $164 if that helps (I see other sellers at $170-$190):
Pentair IntelliCom 2 Interface Protocol Adapter 521109 | Pentair 521109

I actually repositioned my pump completely so it is sideways on the pad to make the controls somewhat accessible, but I was redoing most of the pad plumbing anyway. The IntelliComm adapter is going to be the cleanest way to add remote switching (or to force the pump on when a booster pump etc is running).
Click to expand...
 
I got a new Intellicom 2 on ebay for about $100 two years ago and use it with my 20+ year old Jandy automation system. Works great! You would also need a small power supply to run it and a place to keep it dry.
 
yangcha1 said:
Did I miss something? Intellicomm is just an adapter? You still need a controller, right?
Click to expand...

The Intellicomm is an adapter that takes four discrete inputs and converts them into a serial command to the Intelliflo. Normally these inputs would come from 4 relays inside a non-Pentair automation system. But, manually pushing 4 individual switches should accomplish the same thing. Four pre-set speeds would be set up on the Intelliflo control panel and then selected by one of the four manual switches.

Jim R.
 
Thanks. Can it communicate with pentair intellichlor?

Jimrahbe said:
The Intellicomm is an adapter that takes four discrete inputs and converts them into a serial command to the Intelliflo. Normally these inputs would come from 4 relays inside a non-Pentair automation system. But, manually pushing 4 individual switches should accomplish the same thing. Four pre-set speeds would be set up on the Intelliflo control panel and then selected by one of the four manual switches.

Jim R.
Click to expand...
 

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yangcha1 said:
Thanks. Can it communicate with pentair intellichlor?
Click to expand...

Jimrahbe said:
Sorry, but I can't see how that would be possible..

Jim R.
Click to expand...

I suppose if you were adept at setting up the relays you could wire an additional relay to power on an IC PowerCenter when a particular speed was chosen, e.g., say the relay that controls Speed #2. This way, activation of the speed selection relay determines if the IC is powered which implies the pump must be running. Then, the flow switch would act as a backup fail-safe in case something stops the flow of water...just a thought...
 
It should be pretty simple to build something to remotely select an override speed. I have a cheap Solar Touch control for my solar system and it activates preselected speed selection E-1 when the solar comes on. Since it doesn't actually control the speed, but just activates a setting that was programmed on the pump, I'm sure it's a simple relay signal to turn the override speed on and off.
 
chiefwej said:
It should be pretty simple to build something to remotely select an override speed. I have a cheap Solar Touch control for my solar system and it activates preselected speed selection E-1 when the solar comes on. Since it doesn't actually control the speed, but just activates a setting that was programmed on the pump, I'm sure it's a simple relay signal to turn the override speed on and off.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's basically what I am looking to do. i already have a simple solar controller, it turns on the solar valve actuator when the sun is out and pool is cold. I would take voltage from that same output and run it into the Intellicom 2 which would tell the Intelliflo VS pump speed to kick up faster to pump the water up onto the roof. paying over $100 for essentially a relay kind of irks me though.

as Yangcha1 said, the Pentair Sun Touch pool and spa and solar controller may be the way to go - it would do the pump speed, but also give me some other automation features too. I just really don't like the idea of going through a menu though to make my choices. Sounds complicated and I don't think I can make it set valves "half-way" on for return to spa and pool. Is that what you have? does it look like this? Pentair SunTouch Pool, Spa And Solar Controller - NEW! | eBay
 
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