Pentair controls confusing - what am I getting

[aiannar974]

I have a single body of water pool with a vs pump, swg, waterfall , cleaner pumpand a light. I am planning on adding a heater and changing the light to a colored led light. Al equipment is and will be pentair. I also have a diy acid doser.

I find pentair controls confusing. I am looking at an easy touch 4. I cannot tell if this means I can control 4 things in addition to my swg, pump and heater or if that means 4 including those devices. The reason I am looking at the easy tough vs the suntouch is that the easy touch will control the color led light. The separate control for this is pretty expensive and I thought the upgrade might be worth it.



Please give me some insight.

Anthony

 

[Jimrahbe]

Tony,

Here is a quick run down of an EasyTouch 4..

1. The "4" means it has 4 relays inside.
a. One relay will be used to control your SWG
b. 2nd relay will control your light
c. 3rd relay will control your cleaner pump, which I encourage you to not buy.. Use a robot instead, in my opinion, they are much better. You won't need the additional booster pump and won't need to use this relay.
d. 4th relay is open for now. I suspect you PB will want to use it for a pad light, which will use up your last relay.

2. Assuming your are getting the Intelliflo (Which you should) the Easytouch will control that via a special cable provided with the pump

3. Your waterfall will be controlled via a valve. The EasyTouch have two user programmable valves, the waterfall will use one of them

4. The EasyTouch will control many heaters via a couple of wires added by you PB. Depending on the heater, this might require a relay. (If needed this will use your 4th relay)

5. The system should be programmed by your PB, before turning the system over to you.

6. I suggest that you should have your PB also install the Pentair ScrenLogic2 , which you can buy on-line for about $475. Makes using the EasyTouch 10 times easier that trying to use the control panel. You can control everything from your PC.

Good luck with your new system,

Jim R.

 

[aiannar974]

Jim - that is a great run down. I already have the pool. Thanks for all the info. I do have a robot and I do like it better. The other pump for now sits idle. it looks like I am set. Is the screen logic a diy option or should I buy from the installer?

Thank you,

Anthony

 

[Jimrahbe]

Jim - that is a great run down. I already have the pool. Thanks for all the info. I do have a robot and I do like it better. The other pump for now sits idle. it looks like I am set. Is the screen logic a diy option or should I buy from the installer?

Thank you,

Anthony

Yes, it is a pretty simple DIY job. Sumplay.com has the whole set up for about $375. Comes with a program you load on your PC, a protocol adapter which speaks "Pentair" on one end and "Ethernet" on the other end, and a transmitter and receiver module. You can just run a cable to the Easytouch, or use the Receiver/Transmitter in place of the cable, whichever makes the most sense for your location.

You do need to have a router in your house that connects to the internet that has an open port you can use.

Jim R.