Screenlogic, Intellitouch / Intellichem / Salt Cell Issues

[scipio05]

Problem

• App is twitchy, see video below. It flashes and changes state every second or so while it is on making it hard to control
  • I can still turn things on/off as long as I toggle when the correct data is showing
• ph/ORP readings show fine and then do not show at all
• Alert: "pH/ORP: Communication lost" - sometimes appears in the app (more often than not)
• Pool lights and spa lights do not turn on as scheduled while 120v wall lights and low voltage landscape lights (both also controlled by pentair) do turn on normally and can be toggled in the app. (could be unrelated issue, but prob realated as the issue happened at the same time the twitchy app happened)
• pH and ORP readings match what the Intellichem screen says and acid is being automatically dispensed, but it does not seem that the salt cell is generating chlorine at all, FC and TC were down to 0 and stayed that way. I think the twitchy connection is causing the salt cell to reboot and does not let it generate chlorine

Attempts at fixing

• Replaced the load center and 3A low voltage breakers
  • I posted this issue last year where my load center connector had corrosion/short and was able to get it working again after cleaning it out and adding silicone grease. Fix lasted about a year until the issues noted above started happening for a week before everything shut off and no cleaning of the connector would help. As such after failing to find a replacement for the connector I bought a whole new load center. This fixed the power issue and brought power to everything but the twitchy app continued along with the other issues.
• Replaced the SCG surge board
  • I was hoping this would fix the issues as I have two comm connectors going into this and I found a new one on ebay for $33 so why not, but it did not fix anything
• Cleaned out the connectors with electronic contact cleaner
  • I removed the com plugs, unscrewed the wires and cleaned it all out with electronic contact cleaner before reconnecting and making sure the cables were seated properly. This did nothing and everything is as before.

As such, I am out of ideas and could sure use the help of you knowledgeable folks...


Pinging our residend experts @Jimrahbe @ogdento , I am in your debt

 

[ogdento]

I can't speak to why the app is behaving that way... but on your comm port you have the screenlogic, salt cell, intellichem and 2 intelliflo pumps?
are they all working and communicating correctly without the app? do you have an intellitouch indoor panel?

 

[scipio05]

I can't speak to why the app is behaving that way... but on your comm port you have the screenlogic, salt cell, intellichem and 2 intelliflo pumps?
are they all working and communicating correctly without the app? do you have an intellitouch indoor panel?

Connected to the comm port I have screenlogic, salt cell (ic60 about 6mo old), 2x Pentair Intelliflo VS pumps (one for pool, one for spa), 2x Pentair Intelliflo pumps (one for laminars, one for waterfalls), intellichem w acid tank, mastertemp 400, intellibrite & magic stream.

I have only ever used the app so I do not know how to control these without the app, but there is an intellichem outdoor panel outside and I can manually change pH settings and have it add acid through the screen in the intellichem. I tried to control the salt cell manually but found out I cannot as it is connected to intellichem and cannot be used even when the pool is set to Service mode. For the pumps, I can manually control those through their screens on the pump when in service mode, otherwise the screen reads "Display not active".

I do not have an indoor panel, I do hav a MobileTouch II, but that thing is really old and seems to have died. I replaced the battery thinking that would fix it but it only briefly lights up and dies, no text or anything displays on the screen.

re the app, it does this in both local and remote connections as well as on both android and IOS so it's not an app bug, seems to be a comm issue

 

[Jimrahbe]

05,

I do not have a clue what the problem is...

But if this were my pool, I'd start by temporarily disconnecting the IntelliChem from power and the RS-485 com port. Plug the SWCG back into its normal connection.

Then run the pool in that configuration for a couple of days and see if the problem goes away or not.

If still bad, I'd start disconnecting any other RS-485 device, one at a time, in an effort to find the 'bad' device..

If none of that worked, I'd temporarily hard wire the com port to the protocol adapter.

And... if nothing worked, I'd upgrade to the new IntelliCenter for about $1,000 bucks.. Gives you a color touchscreen, with actual WiFi control, and no ScreenLogic..

My 'guess' is this is not a ScreenLogic issue, but some kind of RS-485 com port issue with one of the RS-485 devices..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[scipio05]

Main Problem left

• Need help troubleshooting my salt cell and why it is not generating chlorine.
  • It shows up fine in screenlogic and I can toggle ORP and pH. pH works fine and adds acid on its own via intellichem, but ORP keeps dropping as salt cell is not generating any chlorine.
  • IC60 turns, on, lights are solid green, etc, but FC and TC are at zero and water is getting green

@Jimrahbe @ogdento where can I get more info on how to disconnect the IC60 from the intellichem and connect it so I can manually control it? I see I have the option of tuning off "Chlorinator present" as well as "intellichem present" via screenlogic config, but I assume I need to physycally disconnect some wires as well. If I can manually control the IC60 that can help me rule out if the IC60 itself is bad or if the issue is with the communication or intellichem

Update since last post

• I was able to fix the pool/spa lights, it was an unrelated issue after all. I had reset all the GFCI breakers, but turns out the outlet needs to have power in order for the reset to take, so I had to turn on the pool/spa lights circuit via screen logic and then reset the GFCI and that did the trick!
• I managed to get a pc (only had mac, which pentair does not support) and was able to eventually upgrade the screenlogic protocol adapter to the latest 5.2 build 738.0 (I had 733 before). That upgrade actually messed up my configuration in that no other circuit buttons showed up in the app screens anymore, but adding them back through the iOS SLConfig app solved that issue.
• I tried to see if I could upgrade the controller firmware but even though I dl the firmware, seems like you need special boards and sw to install it on the board, shame as I am on version 1.160. I found an old thread here where ppl tried to diy but it was not clear if they got it to work or not or if there is an easier method now
• Pentair support was less than helpful, after being on hold for 1hr I was transferred to automation which took another hour of waiting. The guy I got was really rude and kept saying they did not support DIY and that they could only refer me to pentair technicians, even basic questions he refused to answer saying I needed to hire a tech. Even though it turns out my IC60 is less than two years old he said I would need to hire a tech first and then if they decided it was under warranty they would proceed with a replacement but that I still needed to pay for them to come out and evaluate first.