South Africa C4 user Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 I understand that Control4 recently released a new version of the IntelliCenter driver (version 18) into the online database. There are some massive improvements in the driver. I have been fortunate enough to have interim versions 13 through 15 running on my systems for the last few weeks and I can only assume that (if anything) version 18 is even better). My dealer installed version 18 today but I have not tested it yet. Lots of bug fixes and some great new features, including: 1. Pentair Vacation Mode can be controlled from the driver (my number one wish list requirement on this driver) 2. Circuits which failed to show up as auxiliary circuits previously (particularly on large systems) now show up properly as Extras. 3. Colour lights can be controlled from the UI or programming - a really big plus this. 4. Colour shows (including colour swimming!) can be controlled from the UI and programming. 5. Extras can now be re-ordered for display purposes. I am biased (as I have always used Pentair) but I am pretty sure this is now the best Pool driver / integration out there… and it is free! Well done Control4. Disclaimer: I am assuming that no new bugs have appeared between version 15 and version 18… natejon, macosr, Neo1738 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcwalker5 Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 I see that is IP control. I don't have that and am not familiar with how Pentair works. Is that an upgrade I need to add, or does it come by default and I just need to plug in the ethernet or configure WiFi? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 21, 2021 Author Share Posted July 21, 2021 10 hours ago, tcwalker5 said: I see that is IP control. I don't have that and am not familiar with how Pentair works. Is that an upgrade I need to add, or does it come by default and I just need to plug in the ethernet or configure WiFi? The IntelliCenter is Pentair’s latest control panel (launched around 3 or 4 years ago). With the IntelliCenter, it is simply plug and play. The driver I am referring to is the driver for the IntelliCenter. Pentair has older hardware (EasyTouch, IntelliTouch etc.). An extra module is required to link Control4 in to IntelliTouch. There is no way (that I am aware of) to link EasyTouch to Control4. The driver for IntelliTouch is a different driver than the IntelliCenter driver and does not have many of the bells and whistles included in the new IntelliCenter driver. For anyone with Control4 building a new pool, I would strongly recommend the Pentair IntelliCenter now (especially with the recent driver update). I am also hopeful that they will continue to develop this driver as there is quite a bit more that could be integrated. ejn1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekohn00 Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 Still trying to figure out how to wire into the protocol converter, but now thinking i want to upgrade to intellicenter next summer....... thanks for the info. just to double check....intellicenter is wifi back to C4?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 1 hour ago, ekohn00 said: Still trying to figure out how to wire into the protocol converter, but now thinking i want to upgrade to intellicenter next summer....... thanks for the info. just to double check....intellicenter is wifi back to C4?? You can do either, currently I'm using Wifi and it has been solid. Only once in several months did I have to do a reboot to lock the IP address. Ethernet is preferred as always but wifi seems to be a good alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcwalker5 Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 8 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: The IntelliCenter is Pentair’s latest control panel (launched around 3 or 4 years ago). With the IntelliCenter, it is simply plug and play. The driver I am referring to is the driver for the IntelliCenter. Pentair has older hardware (EasyTouch, IntelliTouch etc.). Thanks for the clarification. I have IntelliTouch. Bummer. Will consider upgrading in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmypop Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 IntelliTouchi9 control through C4 has been garbage at best. I may have to upgrade the board. It looks to be about $800US to upgrade to the new board and take advantage of these features. I may have to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 1 hour ago, timmypop said: IntelliTouchi9 control through C4 has been garbage at best. I may have to upgrade the board. It looks to be about $800US to upgrade to the new board and take advantage of these features. I may have to do that. I have IntelliCenter at my Beach House and IntelliTouch i10 at my main Residence. IntelliCenter is now much much better than IntelliTouch but I cannot bring myself to spend the money on the upgrade (US$5.000 last time I looked here in South Africa). That said, my IntelliTouch integration is fairly stable although I had to do a fair amount of programming to get the stability (for instance, multiple commands in quick succession don’t work - even with delays between the commands so I have created Boolean variable for all of the commands to IntelliTouch and each of these starts the same repeating timer (3 seconds) which repeats 6 times and on each expiry checks the state of all of the Boolean variables (I have 10, that I have linked up this way - more than 10 would require more seconds on the repeating timer) and sends the relevant command to the IntelliTouch with 250 ms delays between the commands). Once I made this change, I had a rock solid link in terms of sending commands from Control4 to the IntelliTouch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 6 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: I have IntelliCenter at my Beach House and IntelliTouch i10 at my main Residence. IntelliCenter is now much much better than IntelliTouch but I cannot bring myself to spend the money on the upgrade (US$5.000 last time I looked here in South Africa). That said, my IntelliTouch integration is fairly stable although I had to do a fair amount of programming to get the stability (for instance, multiple commands in quick succession don’t work - even with delays between the commands so I have created Boolean variable for all of the commands to IntelliTouch and each of these starts the same repeating timer (3 seconds) which repeats 6 times and on each expiry checks the state of all of the Boolean variables (I have 10, that I have linked up this way - more than 10 would require more seconds on the repeating timer) and sends the relevant command to the IntelliTouch with 250 ms delays between the commands). Once I made this change, I had a rock solid link in terms of sending commands from Control4 to the IntelliTouch. wow, the conversion kit is $5000 USD? That's astonishing the price difference vs the US. I would just purchase and have shipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 23, 2021 Author Share Posted July 23, 2021 6 hours ago, ejn1 said: wow, the conversion kit is $5000 USD? That's astonishing the price difference vs the US. I would just purchase and have shipped. That is what I was offered around 6 months ago. My swimming pool guy offered it to me at that time and said it was a great deal he had done for me. I never shopped around so had no idea it was this good… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 Wow, that is high. Even $800 is a rip off for the functionality that you get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 23, 2021 Author Share Posted July 23, 2021 5 minutes ago, zaphod said: Wow, that is high. Even $800 is a rip off for the functionality that you get. I don’t know… ignoring the Control4 integration, the IntelliCenter or the IntelliTouch gives one great pool control and automation and are worth the money. I simply struggle to pay to upgrade from the IntelliTouch (which works really well ignoring C4 integration) to the IntelliCenter (which works even better and now has great C4 integration). The upgrade is almost as much as installing from scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 I just think of what these things have in terms of hardware that could be done with a Raspberry Pi. That's why I struggle to see what it costs $800, as much as an iPhone. I know it is because it is a niche product that has a small market. And my understanding is that some of these pool automation devices don't offer all the functionality that you would desire - such as adjusting SWCG % level. My pool is primarily Jandy/Zodiac but here is what I would want to have for functionality: Pool pump control including speed control for VS pumps Heater control Read pool temperature Pool light control - with colour wheel for RGB lights Read salinity level Adjust SWCG level Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 10 minutes ago, zaphod said: I just think of what these things have in terms of hardware that could be done with a Raspberry Pi. That's why I struggle to see what it costs $800, as much as an iPhone. I know it is because it is a niche product that has a small market. And my understanding is that some of these pool automation devices don't offer all the functionality that you would desire - such as adjusting SWCG % level. My pool is primarily Jandy/Zodiac but here is what I would want to have for functionality: Pool pump control including speed control for VS pumps Heater control Read pool temperature Pool light control - with colour wheel for RGB lights Read salinity level Adjust SWCG level i believe Intellicenter has all of the above functionality... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 Good, the one that was often missing was the ability to control SWCG level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 23, 2021 Author Share Posted July 23, 2021 1 hour ago, zaphod said: Good, the one that was often missing was the ability to control SWCG level. You need extra hardware for that (ie not just the IntelliCenter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 23, 2021 Author Share Posted July 23, 2021 And light control is not via a colourwheel but rather via choosing the relevant colour (both natively in the IntelliCenter App and via Control4). Inside Control4, I have linked this to a UI button which scrolls through 6 or 7 colour options and once I settle on a choir for 10 seconds, it changes the lights to that colour… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 1 hour ago, South Africa C4 user said: And light control is not via a colourwheel but rather via choosing the relevant colour (both natively in the IntelliCenter App and via Control4). Inside Control4, I have linked this to a UI button which scrolls through 6 or 7 colour options and once I settle on a choir for 10 seconds, it changes the lights to that colour… agree, you need some hardware but on the LED, if you use the Pentair Intellibrite, is it not via colorwheel? I have a hayward LED so not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 24, 2021 Author Share Posted July 24, 2021 10 hours ago, ejn1 said: agree, you need some hardware but on the LED, if you use the Pentair Intellibrite, is it not via colorwheel? I have a hayward LED so not sure. I don’t think so. I am slightly hesitant to be definitive in my answer. I have genuine IntelliBrite lights in my main residence (but that is linked to IntelliTouch and no Colourwheel). Pentair South Africa has developed their own light which is cheaper than the Pentair US IntelliBrite and they sell this and it links into the Pentair system as Intellibrites. I have this at my Beach house and they appear as IntelliBrites and have no Colourwheel. I regret my pool builder installing these as the quality is poor and they need replacing too often. Unfortunately, they have been made to fit a standard South African mould (light socket) so I cannot replace these with the US IntelliBrites as a different mould would have been needed at the time of building the pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 6 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: I don’t think so. I am slightly hesitant to be definitive in my answer. I have genuine IntelliBrite lights in my main residence (but that is linked to IntelliTouch and no Colourwheel). Pentair South Africa has developed their own light which is cheaper than the Pentair US IntelliBrite and they sell this and it links into the Pentair system as Intellibrites. I have this at my Beach house and they appear as IntelliBrites and have no Colourwheel. I regret my pool builder installing these as the quality is poor and they need replacing too often. Unfortunately, they have been made to fit a standard South African mould (light socket) so I cannot replace these with the US IntelliBrites as a different mould would have been needed at the time of building the pool. I regret also that I had the Hayward Colorlogic installed and didnt know to question with my pool builder as its difficult to change brands later as the housing sizes are different. The think you are right on Intellibrite, i checked again and it doesnt appear to have a RGB color wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR2 Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 On 7/23/2021 at 12:11 AM, South Africa C4 user said: That is what I was offered around 6 months ago. My swimming pool guy offered it to me at that time and said it was a great deal he had done for me. I never shopped around so had no idea it was this good… I think that they quoted you the entire panel replacement and not the upgrade kit. Attached is the part number list for the processor board upgrade kit that should cost in SA about USD 1100.00 intellicenter-upgrade-kit-brochure[1].pdf ejn1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR2 Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 On 7/21/2021 at 1:15 AM, South Africa C4 user said: The IntelliCenter is Pentair’s latest control panel Are you pumps at your homes wired for 230/240V single phase or 400V dual phase? Are you pumps Pentair variable speed pumps? Pentair Europe does not list IntelliCenter or any of the previous generation panels. Could you provide the part number of your panel? The Spanish have dominated the EU pool equipment market probably due to cost. My vacation home pool in the EU was equipped with Hayward but under the terms of sale the seller had to demonstrate that the pool functions properly, Sadly it was all gutted and replaced with the cheapest equipment possible. I'm currently running Pentair in the US and would like to do the same overseas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 24, 2021 Author Share Posted July 24, 2021 27 minutes ago, JR2 said: Are you pumps at your homes wired for 230/240V single phase or 400V dual phase? Are you pumps Pentair variable speed pumps? Pentair Europe does not list IntelliCenter or any of the previous generation panels. Could you provide the part number of your panel? The Spanish have dominated the EU pool equipment market probably due to cost. My vacation home pool in the EU was equipped with Hayward but under the terms of sale the seller had to demonstrate that the pool functions properly, Sadly it was all gutted and replaced with the cheapest equipment possible. I'm currently running Pentair in the US and would like to do the same overseas. 230V Variable speed pumps I’ll try to remember to check the IntelliCenter panel part number for you next weekend and send it it you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR2 Posted September 3, 2021 Share Posted September 3, 2021 On 7/24/2021 at 11:03 AM, South Africa C4 user said: 230V Variable speed pumps I’ll try to remember to check the IntelliCenter panel part number for you next weekend and send it it you. Hello, Kind reminder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted September 6, 2021 Author Share Posted September 6, 2021 On 9/3/2021 at 10:39 AM, JR2 said: Hello, Kind reminder Apologies. I had forgotten. You won’t believe it but I had a good look at the panel yesterday and could not find the part number (or serial number for that matter) anywhere on the panel. I could find these easily on every other piece of Pentair equipment that I have (pumps, filters, IntelliChem etc.). Sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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