DIY Pool Automation By Adam T.

This article is for those of you who are considering installing a pool automation system on your own.

Thanks to TFP and a lot of web research I completed total automation and converted my pool to salt

water on my. I learned a great deal and I hope what I have learned will help the next person considering

doing the same.

Many of the ideas and suggestions here are from people who helped or responded to me on TFP and

from things I have read. I can’t take credit for them. I just wanted to put them under one roof to make it

easier for the next person.

Some of what I am writing is my own personal experience so like everything you read on the web take it

with a grain of salt (no pun intended). If you have a comment or find flaw please let me know so I can

make appropriate changes.

This is not an instruction Manual; it’s just a summary of the process and pitfalls I went through. There

are photos of my install at the end.

This article basically has 3 parts:

1) Which system I chose what I bought and why

2) The installation/construction process

3) Monitoring, maintenance and tips.

I am a homeowner, not in the trades, but very comfortable with DIY construction projects. I am

comfortable inside a circuit breaker panel, wiring, computers, routers, phone lines and plumbing. Don't

go beyond your skill set because of this-- I don't want anyone to electrocute themselves or their loved

ones......

Brief history:

I have a 20,000 gallon plaster in-ground pool that I have been maintaining on my own for about 14

years. For me, opening, closing and maintaining the equipment has just been easier and far less

expensive. I have a Raypack millivolt natural gas heater and a Polaris floor sweeper and Tagelus TA-50

sand filter. In 2005 I added a Coverstar pool cover. While expensive, the retractable cover made it even

easier to manage clean and maintain my pool. I chose to convert to full automation this year because

my pool pump finally deteriorated to the point of no repair. Needing a new pump I wanted more energy

efficiency. This led me to Pentair's VF and VS pumps (variable speed or variable flow). While I could

have replaced the pump alone these pumps coordinate with Pentair's automation systems. While other

companies have automation systems it seemed to me that Pentair’s was the most integrated. Their web

site had the installation manuals on line for all their products and they even run their own forum where

their own techs respond. I was able to study my options and plan my installation well before I

purchased my system. I find their customer service lines very helpful and even spoke to a rep about my

proposed system long before I bought it.

A word of caution:

I love my new system. My chlorine levels and Ph are fully automated, my pool maintains a constant

temperature all of which I can monitor or adjust from any computer anywhere. I am using far less

energy than my old 3/4 HP one speed pump even though I ran and am still running the pump 24/7.

If everything holds up, works as it should and the pump lasts about 8 years or more then I will probably

save some bucks. But I doubt it will, there will likely be more repairs (there have been some already

which I will go over later) and with this fancy equipment I already know the parts will be expensive.

So, if you are the maintainer and installer of your pool look at this as a fun project, a hobby, as

something you enjoy. If you are truly looking for cost savings get an energy efficient pump and go to

TFP's pool school and learn BBB. It’s cheap, it works and when I think of all the extra dollars I spent on

pool chemicals before I learned it I cringe.

Part 1) which automation system?

There are a few companies with automation systems on the market but I chose Pentair. In my opinion it

was the most complete, integrated and flexible. They support their warranty if you have the system

installed, buy it in a brick and mortar store or buy it from an online vendor as long as it is new and you

have a receipt. Unfortunately, their own website is not particularly clear in helping you to choose what’s

right for you. Many of the devices sound the same (Easytouch, Intellitouch, Intellichem) and it can be

confusing.

A full automation system will include:

A controller (Easytouch or Intellitouch- I refer to this as the brain in this article)

Pump- doesn't have to be VF or VS but these allow the most energy savings.*

Salt water Chlorine generator (Intellichlor)

Device to measure PH and control Chlorine (Intellichem-this device does both)

A way to speak to your system i.e. with your computer (Screenlogic interface)

The controller will control not just the above equipment, but the peripherals as well, such as a heater,

Polaris pool cleaner lights or other things through relays in the controller.

(Pentair has a residential line –Beige and a pro line-black as of this writing I believe there is even a

newer pump the XF bit I think it is VS not VF)

Which Pentair controller (Brain)?

Easy touch or Intellitouch:

Easy touch is a combination of an Automation brain panel (Pentair calls it the personality board) and a

circuit breaker panel (also called a load center) in one box. Easytouch 4 has four relays to control other

devices, Easytouch 8 has eight relays. An Easytouch 4 can easily become an easy touch 8 by adding

more relays if needed. The Motherboard or brain is the same.

Inside this box beneath the brain panel is space for 10 circuit breakers and a transformer to run the

brain. You can order Easy touch with an additional transformer and controller board built into it to run

your Intellichlor salt chlorine generator but you don’t have to use their salt water chlorine generator.

I have an easy touch4 with the built in SWCG (salt water chlorine generator). This had more than enough

flexibility for my limited automation needs.

Intellitouch, which I did not order, is pretty much the same concept, but it not a turnkey unit. You add

the panels you need. This would probably be the system you want if you need endless expandability for

a massive pool, spa and many water features.

Can't add much more about Intellitouch here-- just didn't feel that I needed it. I knew Easytouch 4

would do what I wanted.

A comment I read which I think is true is that the Easytouch with its built in Brain panel (which has a

display) right in the box is easier to work with for the average homeowner. I am only using one relay so

Easytouch 8 or Intellitouch would have been overkill.

Pump:

You can really use any pump you have or want with Easytouch. It can control a single speed pump

through an on/off relay or a two speed pump through a special relay.

If you’re really looking for energy savings and flexibility though, the system is designed to integrate with

their Intelliflow VS (variable speed) and/or Intelliflow VF (variable flow) pumps.

I have actually used both types in my setup. It is basically the same pump, but the VF has a way to

measure flow, not just RPM.

I have had both pumps because about a month after I built my system a lightning strike killed it (not

Pentair’s fault) and I had to order new control boards for the system and a new brain for my pump.

(The components of the automation system speak to one another through low voltage wires, like phone

wire, lightning fried the communication ports on each piece of equipment and even my home router

and switch which were physically connected to the system. When I repaired the system I switched to

Pentair’s wireless communication to my home. Less risk of lightening finding my underground

communications cable again)

I was originally advised to get the Intelliflow VS pump.--The argument: it is simpler and cheaper to run

because it will stay at the rpm that you set it. So I bought the VS.

The VS worked fine, but I regretted the decision. Constant RPM may be good for energy savings control,

but if RPM is constant and my filter gets dirty the flow decreases and shuts down my pool heater and

salt water chlorine generator. So I had to be vigilant about either increasing rpm and or watching for a

low flow error on my chlorinator.

I like the VF much more:

Why?

1) I set the flow rate. If the filter starts to get dirty the pump will automatically increase the rpm to

maintain the set flow and my chlorinator and heater and Intellichem flow switches stay on. Increasing

the RPM will increase the energy cost but I am running so much more efficiently than I used to the cost

savings is still there.

2) I think in GPM. Knowing my pool is 20,000 gallons and GPM lets me easily calculate water turnover.

With a VS pump you either need to use rpm flow charts or add a flow meter.

3) Screen logic (the thing that connects your pool to your home computer wired or wireless) can display

GPM as well as RPM with the VF, but only RPM with the VS. Knowing the GPM Screenlogic can monitor

your increase in RPM to estimate increase in filter pressure (how much the RPM goes up to maintain the

GPM) so it can tell you when the filter needs a backwash. I like this feature.

Loosing the VS and going to VF was the one positive thing about my lightning strike.

Salt Water Chlorine Generator: SWCG

You could turn on/off any SWCG with this system but you will want to get Pentair’s SWCG. If you buy

the Easytouch with the built in SWCG board and transformer the SWCG just plugs into the bottom of the

easy touch box. It speaks directly to the easy touch brain panel and tells you if it is running, your salt

level in the pool and if it has adequate flow.

When you buy the Easytouch with Intellichlor you are buying the salt cell at the same time. They are

sized for 20k, 40k or 60K pools. A number of posts suggest over sizing your SWCG. I agree with this. It

will work less time, increase chlorine levels more quickly and hopefully last longer. I bought the IC40

with my easy touch for my 20K pool. It has no trouble bringing up my free chlorine.

Screen logic interface:

This is how the brain speaks to you through your computer.

The Easy touch built in brain control panel (personality board) can do it all, but it is a cumbersome bunch

of menus and submenus in a small display that hopefully you will set up just once. It would be a pain

deal with most of the time.

Screenlogic is Pentair’s computer program ( installs on a PC OR Mac desktop or laptop) that allows you

to monitor your system , change temperature, ORP level (a measure of your free chlorine), PH and GPM

or pump speed. It comes with a communication device that looks like a small brick and in fact they call

it "the Brick". One side plugs into your router (or computer) the other is attached to your

communication port on the Easytouch either by a glorified phone wire you run to the Easytouch or you

can connect wirelessly through their wireless communication transmitter/receiver which you must buy.

You will still need to set up your system with the built in Easytouch brain- personality panel, but once

set up most of what you will do is through your computer and the screen logic interface.

As noted earlier my system was destroyed by lightning, probably caused by charges going to or from the

pool from my buried cable (even though it was a direct burial phone cable) Because of this, at the

suggestion of Pentair, I have switched to the wireless communication system. I Wish I had that insight

before the lightning strike and before I buried 70 feet of cable.

Pentair offers a prepackaged wall monitor and portable control device that run Screenlogic without a

PC, but in my mind these are already obsolete. If you are reading this chance are you already have a

computer so why waste the dollars?

Pentair now has apps to monitor you pool with Iphone, Ipad and Android, but the apps have less

functionality.

PH and Chlorine level Monitoring.

This area is a bit controversial because chlorine monitoring can be finicky. Ph probes work pretty well,

but measuring free chlorine is more difficult. While probes that monitor free chlorine directly do exist,

they are apparently too costly at present for home automation. Most home automation systems

measure ORP- oxidation reduction potential. ORP is an indirect indicator of the amount free chlorine in

the water. Unfortunately each pool may require a different ORP level to maintain the right amount of

free chlorine. Other chemicals and even temperature of your water can affect the ORP measurement.

For example: In my own pool an ORP of 660 indicates an FC of about 5. For your pool the ORP number

for an FC of 5 may be different. You will have to learn your own number and occasionally confirm it.

With a pump, SWCG, test kit and muriatic acid you don’t need to have an automated monitoring system,

but you will need to be the monitor.

Automatic monitoring is nice because when the SWCG splits salt into sodium and chloride (chlorine) the

ph level of the pool goes up as a result and needs to be brought down. A monitoring system will do this

automatically by adding acid.

I also find that keeping a low but safe free chlorine level is much easier with ORP monitoring and

automation. My old chlorine feeder often left levels too high or too low.

Pentair’s system that does Ph and ORP monitoring is the Intellichem:

Many of the moderators on TFP don't like Intellichem because they think it is more trouble than it's

worth, but so far I like it a lot.

The Intellichem is a controller unit and a flow cell (a bucket that the pool water flows through) the flow

cell holds a probe that monitors Ph and a probe that monitors ORP.

If Ph goes up the unit will dispense either muriatic acid from a special Pentair 4 gallon jug (which you

have to buy), or you can purchase a system that releases co2 into the water to lower Ph. You can use

relays to control non Pentair chemical dispensing equipment as well. If the ORP goes down the system

will turn on your SWCG or add liquid chlorine If you choose a liquid chlorine source rather than a SWCG.

You can order the Intellichem with liquid pump(S) attached if you are using liquid acid or liquid chlorine.

In my system the SWCG is my chlorine source and my Intellichem has one pump to dispense Muriatic acid from the Pentair acid canister I purchased. (It is much easier to purchase muriatic acid than C02

gas).

So in summary I have: The Easytouch 4 with built in SWCG -My brain and load center in one IC 40 salt generating cell- my chlorine generating device Intelliflow VF pump- My energy saving flow device Intellichem and muriatic acid bucket- my Ph and ORP monitor that adds acid or turns on the SWCG They all speak to one another and I monitor the results through my computer with the Screenlogic program wirelessly.

Also controlled by the Easytouch brain is:

The booster motor that powers my Polaris pool cleaner through an Easytouch relay

My natural gas pool heater through the gas heater relay built into the Easy touch motherboard (BRAIN).

Part 2) Installation: Electrical Line voltage:

WARNING: Do not tackle this if it is beyond your comfort level!!!! Easy touch has a built in load center (where the breakers are). I Turned off the 50 amp in my home to my pools subpanel at the equipment pad. I took photos of my existing wiring, labeled the leads and removed the old sub panel. Easy touch recommends a minimum of 50 Amps to the load center but can take more. First I added an outdoor service disconnect at the pool pad as a safety precaution $ 7 from home depot. Now I can turn off all power at the pool equipment pad. A service disconnect manually detaches the two hot (black) leads, the ground grounds the disconnect box and continues to the load center and the neutral passes through to the load center. I mounted the Easytouch 4 load center, hot leads (Black) to the bus bars, Neutral (white) and ground to the grounding bar just like the old sub panel. I put in all new 220V 20 A GFCI circuit breakers to all items outside the load center The load center has 10 spaces for breakers. 220V breakers require 2 slots.

Rigid and flexible Conduit and connectors are easily purchased at most home centers.

My configuration:

2 slots Intelliflow pool pump

2 slots Polaris booster pump

2 slots Coverstar cover hydraulic pump

2 slots pool heater transformer (does not need to run 220but I have mine set up this way)

one slot double breaker 15A each powers an external 110 GFCI outlet so I didn't need a GFCI

one slot 110v 15A breaker to the easy touch brain transformer non GFCI

I powered the Brain transformer on its own breaker so that I can turn off everything else if I want but

still use the Brain.

The hot Leads for the Intelliflow pump go directly to the breaker itself, but this breaker also supplies

power to the first or pump relay which turns on or off the Intellichlor and Intellichem. This way the

SWCG and Intellichem are shut off when the pump is off. It also allows you to use the pump alone if the

automation is shut off.

Most of the transformers in my system (intellichlor, Easy touch brain, heater) can be wired to run either

110V or 220V. There is some controversy on electrical forums whether 220v is a cost savings over 110V,

but until I hear otherwise I tend to favor 220V.

Pentair sells 220v GFCI breakers, but these were far more expensive than Siemens’ GFCI breakers I

bought on the web. Just be sure what you order will fit in the panel correctly (correct breakers are listed

in the door of the Easytouch). The GFCI pigtail goes to the neutral bus.

Note 1: My Siemens breakers take two hot leads, but also can accept a neutral. You only need to

connect this neutral if your appliance has an additional neutral. Most pool equipment that I use runs

220V and has two hot leads, a ground and a single neutral.

With a single neutral, the neutral goes to the neutral bus bar, the ground goes to ground bus bar and

the hot leads go to the breaker.

In equipment that has an additional neutral it usually means that the device has something else built in

to it that uses 120V (gets power from only one of the two hot leads only). When that’s the case the

additional 120v neutral gets connected to the GFCI or it will see a power imbalance and trip the breaker.

So, you do not need to hook up a neutral to this breaker unless your appliance requires it.

Note 2: For each of my pool pumps I have a pool pump plug/ outlet Kit (Hubbell Bryant) each kit is an

outdoor double pole switch (shuts off both hot leads) with a 220V twist lock outlet. Each of my pumps

has waterproof 220V cords and twist lock plugs. Each winter I disconnect the copper bonding wires

unplug my pumps unscrew my PVC unions and take my pumps indoors. Many people leave their pumps

outside but I think warm for the winter in my garage is better. The switch and ability to unplug the

pumps makes servicing easier as well.

The metallic cases of the pumps and heater are all bonded to the Easytouch bonding lugs as is the

bonding wire from my pool. Most hardware stores carry code compliant 8 AWG plain copper bonding

wire and connectors.

Electrical Low voltage:

On the Easytouch Brain panel is a 4 lead Com or Communications port. For your devices to speak to one

another all the com Ports are connected by 4 lead 22awg wires (old style phone wire). Some of the

devices use 2 leads some use 4(two leads provide low voltage power when required the other two are

the data leads). The manual is clear on this. While you could twist and wire nut these leads all together I

think it is cleaner to have a port of its own for each wire. Pentair sell a com port expansion board

separately that screws into the back of the easy touch unit behind the brain. In fact it has room for two.

It would be nice if they were just part of the package.

The Intellichlor control board that comes with Easytouch when you buy it already built in has two extra

com ports built in. All com ports on the same circuit board communicate with one another. So you can

connect devices here as well.

Summary:

Easytouch brain com port speaks to expansion panel com port which speaks to com ports on the

Intelliflow pump, Intellichem controller, built in intellichlor board, and to your Screenlogic brick either

hard wired or wirelessly through a wireless transmitter and receiver.

Connection and installation of the air temp thermometer and water temp thermometer are all clear and

straightforward. Internally the 4 relays that come with the easy touch are plugged into the brain board.

The first relay is by default the pump relay.

For my gas heater-- which I knew would allow external automation I ran a two lead wire to the gas

heater relay on the brain board. My heater came with directions about which leads to use for

automation. I then set my temp all the way to maximum and set the heater for remote operation. The

easy touch turns on my gas heater and turns it off when its monitoring probe reaches temp. Easy touch

has a setting that ensures the pump will run for at least 5 minutes after the heater shuts off to cool it

down.

If your heater is not set up for automation easy touch can still control it through the fireman’s switch on

your heater. All heaters have a fireman’s switch to turn off the heater if it gets too hot. The Easy touch

can tap into this as an on/off switch, Easy touch brain also has ways to hook up non gas heaters and

solar as well.

Plumbing:

In this installation I redid most of my plumbing. I added screw apart unions where I could to make it

easier for me to service and repair my own equipment. Sometimes the manual recommends schedule

80 PVC fittings, but schedule 40 is more common and more than adequate according to many pool pro’s

on the web.

My filter inflow is 1.5 inch PVC and so are the returns to my pool but where I could I used 2 inch PVC to

maximize flow. I changed all my 90 degree elbows to sweep 90's to minimize resistance and turbulent

flow except for the backwash elbow.

A few points that took me a while to figure out:

Inflow to the Intellichem flow cell is just after your filter. At the advice of others I put the Intellichem

return which will sometimes carry muriatic acid before the intellichlor SWCG cell and last in line after all

my equipment. Apparently the acid going through the SWCG is helpful in keeping it clean. You want it to

be at the end of the line before the pool returns so the acid does not eat your equipment.

I planned my piping as recommended: at least 10 inches of straight pipe before the Pool pump inflow.

Heater outflow at least 3 feet from SWCG

16 inches of straight pipe before the SWCG to promote linear flow

The inflow to my Polaris booster pump comes off just before the acid goes in and after my heater. I run

my Polaris after my heater to distribute warm water to the bottom of the pool.

I placed a Jandy two inch one way flow valve after the heater as recommend so generated chlorine or

acid cannot back up into the heater when flow is off.

I have had no problems with this Jandy one way valve but it is a spring loaded valve and I am sure it

restricts flow. When it dies I will look for a non flow restricting one way valve.

Bypass Loop?

I was confused about a “bypass" loop that Pentair recommended around the SWCG for pools with in

floor cleaning systems. I thought my Polaris was an in floor cleaning system... it is not. An in floor

cleaning system is a series of jest built into the bottom of a pool that jets debris away. These systems

apparently require extremely high flow that could damage the intellichlor. While I built a bypass loop

before I understood this I will never need it. Even if I did need it, it is still unclear to me how you would

gauge and automatically adjust the flow through the SWCG (pressure sensing flow valve?). If I had an in

floor cleaner I would probably use an Easytouch relay to totally bypass the SWCG while cleaning.

Part 3) Maintenance:

Some key points that are still a work in progress:

1) a salt water pool with SWCG is not the same as a salt water pool with an Intellichem.

In an open salt water pool a CYA level of about 70 is recommended to stabilize free chlorine. 70 is too

high for the ORP sensor of the Intellichem. High CYA makes the sensor less accurate. With less bound

chlorine in an Intellichem open air salt water pool you may want to run your free chlorine a bit higher,

and your intellichlor will probably work harder (better reason for an oversized unit) and it may not last

as long.

2) A covered salt water pool with Intellichem is not the same as an uncovered pool with Intellichem

In an open pool when the SWCG makes chlorine the PH usually goes up and C02 gas is released to the

atmosphere hence the need for muriatic acid. But when the pool is covered some have observed that

the ph will drop because the CO2 gas cannot escape. Some pool owners discussing this are setting the

intellichlor to shut down for longer intervals to allow this gas to escape.

For now I have not really had a problem with this, but I have the intellichlor sensitivity set to off in my

Intellichem settings. The intellichlor runs immediately when ORP drops but only for short intervals. My

thinking is that these short intervals do not allow the accumulation of too much CO2 at a time. I run my

ORP a little high to elevate the free chlorine because when the cover opens the free chlorine drops

pretty quickly with a CYA between 30 -40. My oversized SWCG maintain FC well even when the pool is

open all day and I have not lost the water at all this season even after my lightning strike where I

temporarily used BBB. My PH has been rock stable.

3) Chemicals:

At opening I added plain pure pool salt. The pool stores wanted to sell their special blends for salt pools,

but these pool salt packages assume a CYA of 70 which is too high for the intellichlor. Just buy plain pool

salt. I added it slowly based upon weight / volume recommendations.

I adjusted CYA to 40. (Had to drain some water to lower the CYA at start up to accomplish this.)

Orp reading is finicky and additional chemicals in the water can mess it up. I have really tried to stay

away from any extraneous chemicals. My SWCG creates chlorine and my PH control is Muriatic acid.

(Dilute it 1 gallon MA to 3 Gallons water for your Intellichem feed bucket and always have protective

eyewear. Pour acid into water not water into acid).My total alkalinity has been baking soda. By keeping

my FC appropriate I have not used algaecide this season. Some algaecides can affect ORP readings. If I

use it at all it will be winter only.

Remember that ORP is only an indirect indicator of your free chlorine. You must still test your pool

chemistry occasionally to be sure the Intellichem readings are consistent with the readings in your test

kit.

I have added small amounts of CYA and calcium hardness increaser; these are the only things I have had

to purchase from a pool store. I got the rest at Costco or Ace.

On the rare occasion I add CYA I have added Clorox at the same time just so that the SWCG does not

have to work as hard or as long to restore the free chlorine that the CYA binds to.

For the most part I only manually added chemicals when my system was killed by lightning this summer

waiting for repair.

I did add 20 Mule Team Borax, to a low level. This is the BBB equivalent of pool optimizer. I have added

two boxes which is a small amount for my pool, I personally think it makes the water feel better and it is

like an additional buffer to ph without increasing total alkalinity. TFP pool school goes over it well. My

ph has been amazingly stable with its addition.

One pool owner observed that his readings would change depending on the flow through his Intellichem

flow cell. I have seen mild changes that happen when the pump speeds up for my Polaris booster. I

noticed this more with the VS pump than with the VF pump. I think because the GPM is more stable

with the VF. I run between 15-18 Gallons per minute, 30GPM when the Polaris is on.

4) Pool water Turnovers:

In an interesting article the author noted that it really takes about 4 full pool water turnovers to get

99% of the water through your filter. While it may seem that at 15 GPM over24 hours 20,000 gallons

would go through, in reality only a percentage of the water reaches your skimmers each turnover.

Therefore most commercial pools shoot for 4 turnovers per day. For residential pools some recommend

2 turnovers or even less. I have followed the advice of a forum responder who says you only need

enough turnovers to keep your water sparkling clear. For me this is at about 15 GPM. If it looks a little

less than sparkling I will run my Polaris for a bit which increases the GPM. I generally turn the Polaris on

when I expect to use the pool.

Run Time:

Energy savings on non peak hours are minimal where I live. I run my pump 15gpm 24/7. It is the

minimum water turnover I need that keeps the pool heater maintaining a constant temp. With a clean

filter I run 15GPM @ about 180 – 200 watts, or about the energy used by 2- 100 watt light bulbs.

Light Niche problem:

With the tight control and lower FC levels I am seeing algae that sometimes come out from the light

niche where circulation is more stagnant. I will likely need an algaecide this winter. I am looking into

which algaecide will have the least impact on my ORP sensor next spring.

Temperature: writing this has taken me into the fall and I am about to close my pool. With the cooler

weather my values for salt and orp are changing as the pool temp goes down. It is not a problem,

because my fc seems to last longer. I do not have enough info to give specific thinking or trends yet.

Flow: sometimes when the flow through the flow cell changes the ph/orp readings can vary. I noticed

this more with my VS pump than my VF. Ultimatly the VF pump seems to compensate for this, but I have

also found keeping the filter clean helps as well.

4) Pentair:

Pentair’s support and customer service has been overall very good. The wait times can sometimes be

long, but it is hit or miss. They have been good to me with warranty support for this self installed

system. When the system was hit by lightning I had to replace the Easytouch board, the Intellichlor

board, the Brick, the Intellichem board and the VS Drive controller (this is when I switched to VF).I added

the wireless communication system too. Acts of god are not covered under warranty, but my local rep

was sympathetic to the destruction of my new system and kept replacement cost parts to a minimum.

While it would have been nice not to have to rebuild the system it was a good learning experience and

was very easy. I will be less afraid of maintaining it in the future.

When the system was up and running after the rebuild the Intellichem Ph readings did not match my

measured values. I was suspicious about this before the lightning strike but had to put it off until my

rebuild. Pentair sent a tech out and it turned out to be a faulty Ph probe cable which they repaired

under warranty.

I am still having a few glitches in the recording history of my ph (even though the system is working).

Pentair will be changing my Intellichem control board this spring.

Constructive comments for Pentair. (If they read this)

Some of the instruction manuals are unclear. Read the blogs at TFP and your own Poolify.com, many

people write good suggestions and answer the questions that should be clearer in the instructions. I am

surprised when your techs respond and many good answers don’t get in the instruction manuals. I.E.

What percent Muriatic acid for your system? How do you dilute it? What solution do you store

Intellichem probes in? It says “as above” in the Intellichem manual, but there is no “above”. A little more

clarity on the high voltage hook ups for the Easytouch/ Intelliflow-It’s there, but still confuses people.

It is very hard to find a way to update firmware. My local Pool store doesn’t do it and the purchase of

firmware upgrade kit it is hard to find and reportedly very expensive for a one time upgrade. Have a

credit card backed loaner program for us DIYer’s. Better yet, make the next generation of boards with a

USB port.

The magnetic flow switch on your Intellichem flow cell sticks and stays on even with no flow.

Please work on the Brick. It gets messed up when the power fails. It needs better stability or refresh

ability. Last week I accidentally turned off its power momentarily. I lost the PH history and after two

firmware reloads and reinstall of screen logic 2 it finally came back, but even your own support team

didn’t know what to make of it.

Please continue your work on screen logic. It would be nice if we could see only what we need in the

interface (same for apps). Example, I don’t have a spa or control lights with my system, but they still

show up in the menus and history.

Continue to hone in the APPs. They are great, but could be similarly more flexible.

Make a note that the wireless com system may minimize the risk of lightning destroying the com. ports.

Please publish a list of chemicals to avoid with Intellichem probes and how they impact ORP readings, or

better yet develop a cost effective FC sensor and ditch ORP.

Cost:

I won’t say here publically what my install cost, but I can say without reservation it cost less than half of

what I would have paid in my area to have it professionally installed even with the repair I had to do

after the lightning strike. Before purchasing my system I reviewed pricing and shipping costs for a

number of online venders and made a spread sheet. I found it the best way to compare apples to apples,

and shipping cost can make a huge difference. Needless to say I chose the best deals mainly at places

that included free shipping. The plumbing and electrical supply cost was minimal.

Final Word:

If you got here, thank you for reading this. I suspect there are inaccuracies here and if you find them

please let me know and I will correct them. This is a work in progress. If I have expressed one of your

Ideas posted elsewhere please forgive me for plagiarizing you. I hope that this summary of the things

that I learned will make it easier if you are considering installing an automation system on your own. I

am grateful to TFP. There are pool experts, chemists and homeowners who combine detailed knowledge

with practical experience. Without this resource I could not have embarked upon this project. Because

of it I understand my pool and its chemistry and my family had or best summer season yet.

Good Luck!

Figure 1 Old Pool Subpanel (Load Center)

Figure 2 Easy touch 4

Note Service dissconnect top left.

Figure 3 Inside Easytouch 4

Easy touch 4 houses its Brain, top panel with circuit breakers below. Inside is a transformer to run the

Brain and Salt chlorine generator.

Figure 4 outlet and plug disconnect for the pumps

I added these a few years ago. They make it easy for me to maintain my pumps and bring them inside in

the winter. They are to code.

Figure 5 my set up

My set up with VF pump. I used unions in the plumbing to make removal easy, 2 inch PVC where I could

and sweep elbows. Grey cover is over the Coverstar pool cover pump. Black lid behind grey cover is the

Pentair muriatic acid bucket.

Figure 6 Equipment broader view

Intellichem mounted on wall behind filter, flow cell with probes to the right of the Intellichem behind

PVC. Flow cell take off after filter (black tube). Return is before intellichlor top right.

Figure 7 outflow to pool with unnecessary bypass loop

One way Jandy valve to the right of the heater outflow. This loop places intellichlor 3 feet from the

heater outflow and has 24 inches of straight pipe before the intellichlor. I do not need the bypass loop

because I do not have an in floor cleaning system. Flow to the Polaris booster pump is the 45 degree

pipe off the loop. Polaris is fed by water after the heater, but before the Muriatic acid inlet.

Figure 8 Example of Screenlogic Interface

This is only one of the Screenlogic pages to give you an idea. Pentair has examples you can see on their

site. This is my pools current chemistry. My salt level is a bit low.

Figure 9 the reason I do all this!!