Timer control for Pentair UltraTemp 1200

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ptourin

Member
Feb 24, 2024
11
Kihei, HI
Pool Size
12000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
We have a small residential pool with Pentair equipment. Control of the UltraTemp 1200 heater is very barebones: Iʻve set the IntelliFlo pump to run from 9 am to 5 pm; when it stops, the UltraTemp kicks a low flow error and shuts down. This has worked fine, but our situation has just changed. Weʻve added PV solar to the house, and we no longer want the heater to come on whenever the pump is running - I want to wait to turn the heater on till around 10:30, when our solar gain is high and our battery is well charged.

This has to be totally simple - a programmable timer box with a control relay going to... what??? All the UltraTemp wiring information I can find is oriented towards connecting with their automation, and thereʻs nothing I can find that says, "To shut the heater manually, open such-and-such circuit at so-and-so point".

Does anybody know the heater well enough to give me some info? This isnʻt an issue of skill with electrical work - Iʻve spent years in hospital IT work, done a lot of electronics building and repair, and I ran a hydroelectric site for 10 years. The problem is simply that I canʻt get good schematics and information that tell me where the control points for the heater are.
 
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Well mahalo nui loa!! - I figured it had to be totally simple. Iʻm assuming those are basically control leads and the relay doesnʻt have to handle any serious current - that means this is a cinch.

Weʻre in Kihei too, just off the highway near the roundabout by the new high school.

Later.... this actually isnʻt quite a cinch. I figured thereʻd be a million digital programmable switches in a weatherproof box, but theyʻve been hard to find. Iʻd like to find something that functions like this, except with 120vac line voltage:


This would work, but Iʻd use up 2 breaker positions - seems like overkill for a rather simple control application. Do you have any thoughts about an outdoor-rated digital programmable relay in a box?
 
It’s 24V low current.

Out to dinner at Merriman’s but look at the Sonoff Wi-Fi switches. @Rancho Cost-a-Lotta may point you in the right direction.
 
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Thanks Allen, Mike - lemme see if I have this right - I havenʻt messed much with smart home stuff except for a bit of lights and curtains control, but nowʻs a good time to start...

1. The heater now has absolutely no automation - the pump and heater now run from 9 to 5, and when the pump goes off, the heater simply sees no flow, kicks a low flow error and stops heating even if thereʻs a call for heat. I need to control the heater so that itʻs not heating all the time between 9 and 5, only when I choose to have it run.

2. If I pop a control relay between POOL and COM, Iʻm opening and closing the firemanʻs switch - that turns the heat off but leaves the rest of the heater functions active when I open the relay.

3. I donʻt need anything like that Sonoff THR316 as I donʻt need to watch temp or anything else - I just want a relay that I can program with a daily schedule via a timer.

4. So I can get something like a MINIR4 and schedule run times in software from the eWeLink app. I assume that once I set a schedule, the MINIR4 will remember it. So I can simply put the MINIR4 in a waterproof box with 120vac running to it and a conduit with the relay contacts going over the POOL and COM on the heater.

Am I there? Big mahalo - Peter
 
Hi - I have another product question. I understand how the Pentair heater can be controlled by jumpering the POOL and COM contacts. I ordered a Sonoff MINIR4 to use for that purpose - it got lost in the mail but I finally got one yesterday. BUT I didnʻt read the specs correctly. I thought I was buying a control relay that I could switch via a schedule on the eWeLink app, but itʻs really a switchable 120VAC source - not the control relay I need for the heater. Do you have a suggestion for a similar device that has a control relay instead of a switchable voltage source?
 
You need a device that uses dry contacts since the heater circuit carries its own power source. There are variety of wifi switches/relays. Choose one that works with your power source (to power the switch module) and app of choice. The relay linked in Post #5 is powered by 120/240 volts.
 
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Thanks, now that I know the terminology, I see some dry contact units. I picked up a Shelly 1 Mini to play with. So far I canʻt get the Ewelink app to talk to the Shelly and I canʻt get the Shelly app to talk to the MINIR4. But either app would do the job, and I can see that either the Shelly or the MINIR4 with a control relay attached would work - except....

I just opened up the UltraTemp and I see that it has 240VAC in with a transformer that steps down to 24VAC behind the control panel. No center tap on the transformer, so no 120VAC in there. What would you do? I havenʻt found an easily available unit for outside use thatʻll take 24VAC input and give me dry contacts. Would you just pick up a 240-120 stepdown transformer and use what Iʻve got, or is there some other easy way that I havenʻt seen yet?
 
Go back to post #2.

Connect POOL and COM spade lugs through a relay. When relay is open heater is off, when relay is closed heater will run.

Heat Pumps do not like their power being cut. Control the HP with a WiFi relay controlling the remote control connection.
 
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ptourin said:
Would you just pick up a 240-120 stepdown transformer and use what Iʻve got, or is there some other easy way that I havenʻt seen yet?
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Do you have 120 volts at the pad?

My Sonoff switch is mounted in a weather resistant box. I ran power to it from a 120 volt plug at the pad. I ran low voltage wire to the heater to connect to the fireman's switch.

The Sonoff switch linked above is supposed to accept 120-240 volts.
 
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Allen, I understand your post, and thatʻs what Iʻm trying to do - add a WIFI relay to control POOL-COM.

I didnʻt realize until just now that both the Sonoff and Shelly relays can handle 240 vac input. It doesnʻt look like thereʻs 240v up behind the control panel. And so far I canʻt find a different WiFi relay that will run on 24 vac. So what would you do? Would you use that Shelly relay and bring a 240v line up from the relay box below to power it, or would you try to find a 24v WiFi relay?

I understand electronics and electrical control circuitry but Iʻve never done any kind of smart home type control stuff before - Iʻm trying to figure out what to use for relay and app, and I may be asking dumb questions from lack of familiarity.
 
Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
Do you have 120 volts at the pad?

My Sonoff switch is mounted in a weather resistant box. I ran power to it from a 120 volt plug at the pad. I ran low voltage wire to the heater to connect to the fireman's switch.

The Sonoff switch linked above is supposed to accept 120-240 volts.
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Thanks Mike - I just realized after reading Allenʻs post that both my relays will run on 240v. No, thereʻs no 120 at the pad - Iʻd have to either add a 120 breaker at the box that feeds the pool pump, heater and Intellichlor or maybe just take a line off the 120 breaker that feeds the pool lights. But Iʻd have to run a line from the box down into the UltraTemp. Seems like a lot of effort - maybe I just run a 240v line up to the control board area from the power relay area below it, and run the Shelly relay on 240v. The Shelly wouldnʻt be in a weather resistant box, but itʻd be stashed behind the control panel so itʻd be be pretty sheltered.
 
Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:

Heater Control with Automation - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
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I see another issue. Your article says "When using the "fireman's switch" the heater thermostat is not used". If thatʻs true with the UltraTemp Iʻll still have problems using POOL-COM. All Iʻm trying to do it run the UltraTemp on a separate schedule. For example, I have the pump running from 9 am to 5 pm. But I want to run the heater from about 10 am to 4 pm, when weʻre on low daytime rates and the sun is up enough so Iʻm generating lots of solar.

I was counting on the water temp and water flow circuitry still being active, so when close POOL-COM the heater would power up only if there both the water flow and water temp sensors said GO. If using POOL-COM bypasses these sensors Iʻm back to Square One.
 
Your plan should work. You would just set the desired temp on the thermostat. When the switch closes, the heat pump should switch on and heat to the set temp.

There are relays that work off a 24 VAC power source. This is the power source I use to power most of the relays I use for pump speed control and valve actuators. This is the last relay I purchased, and it does work with 24 VAC power. Although the description only says DC power, this photo confirms AC will work.

Screenshot 2024-04-07 181546.png
 
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A WiFi timer has two sides.

The input power that can be 120V or 240V and powers the timer and WIFi controls.

And the relay side which opens and closes on the WiFi commands. The relay contacts can be rated for low voltage or high voltage. You just need a low voltage rated relay for the POOL-COM circuit but a higher voltage rated relay will work.
 
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ptourin said:
I see another issue. Your article says "When using the "fireman's switch" the heater thermostat is not used". If thatʻs true with the UltraTemp Iʻll still have problems using POOL-COM. All Iʻm trying to do it run the UltraTemp on a separate schedule. For example, I have the pump running from 9 am to 5 pm. But I want to run the heater from about 10 am to 4 pm, when weʻre on low daytime rates and the sun is up enough so Iʻm generating lots of solar.

I was counting on the water temp and water flow circuitry still being active, so when close POOL-COM the heater would power up only if there both the water flow and water temp sensors said GO. If using POOL-COM bypasses these sensors Iʻm back to Square One.
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Nothing disables the UltraTemp controls but using two sets of controls often confuses people.

If you can keep it straight it should work for you.

What the UltraTemp will not do is turn itself on when the WiFi control is off.
 
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Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
Your plan should work. You would just set the desired temp on the thermostat. When the switch closes, the heat pump should switch on and heat to the set temp.

There are relays that work off a 24 VAC power source. This is the power source I use to power most of the relays I use for pump speed control and valve actuators. This is the last relay I purchased, and it does work with 24 VAC power. Although the description only says DC power, this photo confirms AC will work.

View attachment 563022
Click to expand...
Perfecto!
 

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