Two IntelliChlor Cells with one IntelliCenter?

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I’m thinking of going with njspoolcontroller and scheduling the IC40 for pool to be on for 12 hrs, shut it off via relay; then go with IC20 for spa and run this for 12 hrs, again controlled on/off via relay.
Can njs schedule the intellichlor to be on different percentages for each 12 hr period? It would be telling the pool to run at 40% and the spa at 4%, but it wouldn’t know that it’s actually telling the different intellichlors what to do because only 1 would be on at a time.
Take a step further: would this scheduling also work for REM system?
 
TopJimmy said:
I’m thinking of going with njspoolcontroller and scheduling the IC40 for pool to be on for 12 hrs, shut it off via relay; then go with IC20 for spa and run this for 12 hrs, again controlled on/off via relay.
Can njs schedule the intellichlor to be on different percentages for each 12 hr period? It would be telling the pool to run at 40% and the spa at 4%, but it wouldn’t know that it’s actually telling the different intellichlors what to do because only 1 would be on at a time.
Take a step further: would this scheduling also work for REM system?
Click to expand...
@TopJimmy,
I'm not so sure that would work but I don't want to say positively. The developers of njspC & REM can do some pretty creative things, so maybe they have some sort of work-around that might just help you out with your dilemma.
You can create an account on github.com (only takes a minute), and then pose this question to them there.
Here is the link to the njspC discussions page on github...
tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController · Discussions
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Does that require running two rs-485 cables to the rasp-pi? One from intellicenter (which has one intellichlor) and the other direct from the other intellichlor?
 
TopJimmy said:
Does that require running two rs-485 cables to the rasp-pi? One from intellicenter (which has one intellichlor) and the other direct from the other intellichlor?
Click to expand...
Yes you set it up on an aux port in njsPC. The issue with IntelliChlor is that it only knows one address. This is an issue with the surge board and cell so I am not sure how they have this on their roadmap without requiring changes there but interestingly the IntelliCenter config reserves slots for 4 chlorinators.
 
Before I start ordering stuff, if someone can give me a sanity check I’d appreciate it!
What I’d like to do is have automatic SWCG control via ORP sensor. I haven’t had a problem with pH, so I was not inclined to incorporate auto acid dispensing so I didn’t think a pH sensor necessary.
What I am thinking of buying:
- Raspberry pi 4
- 2 RS-485 USB adaptor
- 2 Atlas Scientific industrial ORP probe
- 2 2” PVC T with 3/4” NPT on the top

I already have enet cable, ipad usb ac adaptor and cable, 32gb SD card and relays available in my Intellicenter to turn IC40 and IC20 off and on (if necessary). Once I get it set up I’ll deal with enclosure/DIN rail. The raspi will be in my basement.
(Both pool & spa have auto covers and are mostly closed)
 
How far is the distance between your basement and pool pad? The pi will need to be out at your pad so that you can hook up your probes. Also, you will need a carrier and 2 EZO-ORP circuits.

This will likely take some tuning and understanding of how ORP works on your pool. I have found that unlike pH, ORP changes can take a very long time to register in the pool. This timing seems to increase with increased levels of CYA and will in fact spike then drop rapidly only to return hours later. This means that seeking an ORP setpoint can be tricky. You may have different experiences though since I have a lot more water and still running an IC40.
 
Distance is like 3 ft. Total e-net length probably 10 ft.
I’m leaning towards a T1 carrier, due to possibly adding pH dosing in the future (would need a total of 4 ezos). What do you think about that?
 

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Thx, I can see that now. I'll have to stack T3: 1 for pool and 1 for spa.
Some more questions:
Do I need a temp probe? Can I not get that info from the intellicenter's probe via software?
If I don't need another temp probe, then I don't need the EZO RTD, right?
Does this hold true if I want to add pH sensing/acid dosing in the future?
 
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I set up dashpanel and I have my spa intellichlor on a separate RS-485 from the Intellicenter. Everything seems to be fine with the intellicenter, but I don't see the spa IC20 salt readout on dashpanel.
How would I control the IC20 or read the salt concentration? The IC20 for the spa is on USB1

1704676729837.png
 
AAAAnnd nevermind. I figured it out. I had to first set up my Pool IC40 as the 1st instance. Then add a second IC20. It's the 2nd instance where you can specify the USB (RS-485) port. All is well for now! Thx
 
Thanks for steering me to that feature. Project is coming along slowly. I have most of the materials (maybe lacking a few things) so hopefully get it done before the season starts.
 
What I’d like to do is control my acid pump which I’d have on relay Aux8 in intellicenter. But in REM, I can’t see how I can assign. Is this even possible with REM/DashPanel?
 
You should let REM Chem control this not the IntelliCenter controller. There are lots of reasons for this but the primary one is there is no latching watchdog in the Pentair panel although that pump has some models that are reaaaaaaallllly slow. Use a relay from the pi stack to switch this on and off.
 

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