Installing an actuator

[doncaruana]

I don't have any actuators installed and I have just two valves - one is for the skimmer/main drain and the other is for the pool jts/deck jets. I'd like to put actuators on these valves, but I'm wondering how difficult that would be to do. From the scant documentation I can find, it seems like all I do is sort of unscrew the regular valve cover and put the actuator in (overly simplified). No idea where I would hook power up in my panel though.

Anyway - the basic question is - is this something I could do myself fairly easily? (I'm pretty handy). Also, would anyone know if I could just wire these two to "valve a" and "valve b" in my ET4? The install guide says "Connect the Valve A actuator cable plug into the INTAKE (suction) 3-pin socket, and Valve B actuator cable plug into the RETURN three-pin socket on the right side of the EasyTouch circuit board" but says it can control 4 valves without any additional equipment, so that part doesn't make sense to me either.

 

[JasonLion]

Installing valve actuators is fairly simple, especially if you already have the ET4 setup. You remove the handle and a few screws from the existing valve, attach the actuator, screw them together, run the cable, and plug it into the ET4.

The ET4 has a total of four places your can plug in valve actuators. Which socket you plug the actuator into determines what that valve is called in the menu system.

 

[doncaruana]

So there is just the one socket to plug in and nothing else? You don't need to run any additional connections for power or anything?

 

[JasonLion]

One cable to run from the actuator to the ET4 and that is all. The ET4 powers the actuator.

 

[doncaruana]

Wow - seems simple and easy! They're Jandy Never Lube valves - any particular actuator recommended for those?

 

[doncaruana]

One other question along these lines...I've read that some ET4 are "single body" systems and therefore cannot control any valve actuators. First, is that the case - that a "single body" system won't control even valve a and valve b? And second, how the heck do you tell which one you have (single body or pool/spa)? The circuits are named pool and spa, but I can't tell if that's an indicator or not and the "tech" who set it up I don't think is knowledgeable enough to have changed it otherwise.

 

[JasonLion]

If you have pool and spa settings then you have the two body version. All versions will control a few actuators, but the pool/spa version can control one more valve than the single body version.

 

[mcaswell]

If you have pool and spa settings then you have the two body version.

This may not be correct. Ours is an Easytouch 4P (which is the single-body system) but it still mentions Pool and Spa circuits in the menu system. I'm pretty sure the Spa-specific functionality is disabled though.

--Michael