Prevent Pentair Intellichlor Self-Desctruction - UL approved this?

[@Big_Blue_Eyeland]

So that’s how you do it. Thank you sir. I think I’ve seen many many failures arising from the chlorinator being energized off of a mech timer without the pump running due to power outages or pumps being run in manual mode and somebody hitting stop or a run error occurs.

[@bruceha1615]

You can just use the comm cable and have it connected between the intelliflo pump and the power center. They will communicate with each other so whenever the pumps, the cell also stops at the same time.

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

I wondered but didn’t try that. Pentair told me a suntouch or other automation system was required to do this.

[@bruceha1615]

​@@OVER-bENGINEERED I think your setup works pretty well for the Pentair Superflo or anyther pumps that can't be communicated with the power center. I'm a pool service man and I am not quite sure how your current sensing relay and the AC contactor work. Do you have any video or is there a website that shows you instruction to install those devices? Thanks!

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

Is that feature documented anywhere? At the time I thoroughly checked all documentation and found nothing like this.

[@SUBZEROUKS]

Where does it say you can connect intelliflo to salt cell generator via communication wire

[@rickfarias2078]

You saved me tons of money. Thank you so much. Best Regards from Brazil 🇧🇷!

[@andym9955]

this is a great solution. Think it will cost around $40 to implement. Looks pretty simple too. Thank you.

[@joeyboy676]

Our electrical dept wanted the intellichlor plugged into a separate wall outlet. We had 2 go boom in the middle of the night.

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

Ouch. Well I hope I can save a couple of souls with this video.

[@easylivingsherpa]

Pentair has the incredible stigma of customer service. New IC20 arrived DOA. Took then 2 months to replace it amongst many unanswered emails and several calls with empty promises of callbacks. Only when I turned to the BBB and social media did they do something. Thay have 2 star ratings across the board. Will be buying another competitor when this one breaks. 1300 every 3 to 5 years is an expensive nut to crack. They also lied to the BBB stating they left several voicemails when it never happened.

[@HomesteadEngineering]

Hello Benjamin, I have just implemented your exact idea on my system and it appears to be working well. Thanks!

[@peterrobitaille7763]

I'd like to understand this better...I was just told via a phonecall that the IC40 truly does stop producing chlorine when that red light is lit (IE low-flow or no-flow is sensed). I do not have the fancy Pentair pump controls...I have an ECM pump that is scheduled with its own built in programming. After speaking with Pentair tech, I am under the impression that there is no safety concern, as long as the IC40's flow switch is working properly and creating that "red light" condition when flow is low or off. I was going to do your solution (nice job BTW) but now feel that it is an unneeded safety redundancy...?

[@escaplen]

I'm guessing you had it wired to the line side, not the load side. Line side is always hot, regardless if the pump is running or not. When wired to the load side, the SCG will not even power up unless the pump is running and chlorine will not generate until you get a minimum of 20 GPH.

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

Eric Scaplen Hi Eric, it sounds like you are assuming that there is a contactor controlling my pump, but there is none. The pump has an integrated VFD in the pump assembly, so it just gets constant AC power. The VFD control has schedule, clean and safety strategy that can change or stop the pump without cutting the line AC input. So the pump is always hot unless I turn off it’s AC breaker. So this means the pump could perform a scheduled stop or vacuum safety shutdown without an AC power cut. Thus there is no method to interrupt AC to another device such as the IC40 chlorine generator. I assumed that the low flow status on the IC40 would halt cell operation but Pentair support told me this is not true, the generator will continue to operate even with no flow. Support said they have seen units completely melt down because of this...

[@escaplen]

Have you been able to verify that chlorine is indeed being produced when the red 'flow' light is illuminated? I understand your argument that the AC power can remain hot even with no water flow and the unit still receives power. However, without adequate flow (

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

Eric Scaplen According to Pentair technical support the unit will continue to electrolyze when the flow status is bad, and the unit will be damaged if this occurs. I called bullshit on Pentair’s statement because you just can’t design stuff that way... but I don’t know for sure how the flow status affects the unit. I’ll test this some time and get back to you.

[@ericrandall3539]

Has this been fixed by Pentair in the newer versions? Was this a software bug? Why would they implement a low-flow sensor and not actually USE the data to shut itself down??????

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

Baffling isn’t it? I don’t know if they fixed this. Moved and don’t own a pool any more!

[@jeancliffordbrutus6027]

Hi Benjamin, great job and solution! do you have a list of parts or schematic? i want to build the same thing. i have the same issue.

[@jeanb2201]

Hi Benjamin, why do you have the green wire from the switch go to terminal 3? shouldnt they go to A1 and A2?

[@alejandrosantiago4596]

Maybe he can go get it for you. Do some work !

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

If you need a schematic for such a simple control, you should hire a pro.

[@PeterEggenberger]

Thanks for this info. Can you please clarify two points? First, are you saying that there can be conditions where the 'flow' LED is red, but the unit is still operating (IE - still producing chlorine)? Second, what are symptoms (failure mode) of '...buildup of heat, chlorine gas and hydrogen...'? I ask because I'm interested to learn if the symptoms match those of my failure: The unit began oozing water out of the LED holes! :o When I removed the unit, I found that the plastic grate piece, at the inlet, was deformed (looks like it melted somewhat). Am I correct in concluding that the unit overheated due to being energized through a period of lack of flow (for hours, I presume?). Thanks Again!

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

First point, flow LED is red and unit continues to operate, as described to me by Pentair support. Second point symptoms are not POSTing properly, not producing sodium hypochlorite, and as described by Pentair catastrophic failure from overheating chamber and accumulation of hydrogen gas. I no longer own this hardware or have a pool.

[@PeterEggenberger]

@@OVER-bENGINEERED - Thanks. That's unexpected, but I've also confirmed directly with Pentair. It happens that my system was installed incorrectly, resulting in the cell being destroyed due to system going into a state where there was no flow but Intellichlor system remained energized.

[@bruceha1615]

I recently bought the exact same current sensing switch and can this be wired to 240 volt ac contactor?

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

Probably, just check the specs.

[@kennyrogers3919]

Mine stops making chlorine if the flow is too low. I set my pump On a Low setting at night to save money and if I don’t have it hi enough it stops working

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

It doesn’t stop making chlorine, it just warns that the flow is too low for safe operation. I did exactly what you are doing and ruined a unit. Huge warrantee fight over this.

[@eric-1125]

Our ic40 flow light is constantly blinking green even after we cleaned it. You say it dosent shut off generating chlorine. Is this correct?

[@Big_Blue_Eyeland]

Make sure your at or over 20gpm so most pools that’s 1800 to 2150 rpm. The light that’s meant to blink green is your salt level indicator it would be blinking if there is too much salt at or above 3700 ppm solid green 3600 and below. I’ve seen a blinking green flow sensor indicator once when the VS pump was running low speed 1800rpm and a check valve for a waterfall was out causing a water hammer effect. This system was also 8 feet below pool water level grade.

[@keithvillanueva576]

is the flow light supposed to stay green if the filer isnt running or should it be red?

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

Keith Villanueva filter? If the pump is on and creating enough flow the flow status light should be green. It turns red under no flow or low flow conditions, or a faulty paddle switch.

[@gregsmith4016]

My status light has been blinking green. The intellichlor is making chlorine still but at a very slow rate now. I have a variable speed pump that I leave on 24/7 but it does slow down very slowly at night. I tried cleaning the unit but that didn't help. I've only had the intellichlor ic40 for 2 1/2 years. Did I burn it out? Is it bad to have the pump on so slow at night? I held down the more button and the green lights were at 60% which means that its only at that point in its lifespan I believe. Thanks for your help!

[@Big_Blue_Eyeland]

60 is the percent that it’s generating chlorine. Add cyuranic acid also known as stabilizer to 30ppm to increase lifespan of your salt cell. People often forget this important step. Not sure how you arrived at the 60% as being an indicator for remaining or completed lifespan of your salt cell. Read the manual it’s not wizardry.

[@Archbiddy]

Greg I have the exact same situation as you. My cell same age, flashing green status light, barely producing any chlorine. According to the IC40 manual, if you hold down the MORE button for a few seconds, the cell flashes briefly then displays the consumed life of the cell in the 20, 40, 60, 80 lights. But mine gives inconsistent results when I do that.. it shows NO lights lit, which is just weird. I asked a Pentair warranty tech about that, he told me they don’t really use the MORE button to make any judgments.

[@OVER-bENGINEERED]

Hi, sorry I can’t help. I no longer own a pool and the purpose of the video isn’t to troubleshoot them. I too, ran my pump at min speed at night while the cell active and it wrecked it. Thus the current sensing relay interlock was born!

[@cyberbillp]

@@Big_Blue_Eyeland The manual tells you how to run a diagnostic, which he did and he got 60%. Maybe YOU should read the manual...