Mixed Instructions - VS Pump & SWG

Circupool has the smartflow automation:
Same thing, but less $$$

Enzodast said:

Discount salt pool recommended i buy a plug in timer to make sure the salt gen only gets power certain hours per day primarily when the pump is in lower speeds and not when it first turns on. Is this ideal?

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Doesn't matter. Use the pump add on automation. You'll be fine.

Enzodast said:

Others have said the salt gen is smart enough to just stay on and plugged in....will it be more wear and tear on it just letting it have power full time? So even when the pump turns off it wont sense flow (i know it has a flow sensor) it just wont activate itself...but i think DSP was trying to say it might save components in the salt gen only being on 12 hours per day versus 24/7.

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You don't want power full time. If pump fails, hydrogen gas is explosive. Good read:

Get the automation add-on, power the Core from there. Clean your filter, turn the VSP down until the flow sensor turns the SWG off, then run your pump at 200 RPM above that speed.

If you have other needs, read this:

Enzodast said:

many it seems use the aux option on their pumps to drive the salt gen...but i dont think the circupool pump has that. Please correct me if it does and i can't find it in the manual.

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The CircuPool pump does not have this option and I don't believe the automation panel adds this feature. Can you confirm otherwise @PoolStored? I thought the automation interface only provided control of the pump speeds.

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:

The CircuPool pump does not have this option and I don't believe the automation panel adds this feature. Can you confirm otherwise @PoolStored? I thought the automation interface only provided control of the pump speeds.

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Mike, really? Twice in one day...I need to go to bed.

You are correct. It only controls the pump speed using automation. My head is stuck in intelliflo3 land...

As always, keep me straight. Love 'ya brother! Maybe I need some goats to keep me straight!

Here are your SWG control options:

The SWG you're installing has its own Wi-Fi enabled automation. You install the app and set the schedule. When you do your scheduling make sure the SWG is powered off when the pump is off.

I was mistaken. There are pumps, like the intelliflo3 that can turn on/off a cell.
The Circupool pump cannot. The Circupool pump can be controlled by automation through relays.
The $88 part will not help you. But may be needed if you add the Core Control. I'm sorry for that.
The core control is a new product. I have not seen an installation on TFP yet.
The pump control is not available, per Circupool, until 2026.

Enzodast said:

i know the core control is wifi enabled but i dont think it will "power off" the unit.... at this point i may be one of the first putting this together and posting about it on here. i'll see what the app and controls look like and talk about where things end up after all turned on.

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I tried to research how the system works on the CircuPool site and left with more questions than answers. I would be very surprised if it did not allow the ability to set SWG schedules through the app, but I can't find confirmation that it does. Can you link SWG system you are gonna install...

I'd wire the pump directly to a GCFI breaker.
My *OPION*, the only way to know the pump is not running is to have a Current Sensing Relay (which is what I have...)

Review this again, particularly,
A Variable Speed pump (VS) should have continuous power and not be connected to a timer. The pump runtime should be controlled by its internal control panel and clock. A separate mechanical timer can control the SWG. Care must then be taken for the SWG timer to turn on 15 minutes after the pump begins running and SWG power off before the pump turns off. This can become a problem when house power is lost, and the pump retains the proper time while the mechanical timer does not.

SWG How It Works - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Discount Salt Pool and CircuPool are the same company. They probably have not yet updated the websites. For some reason their pricing structure is a little different as well.

@ol_whistle_britches installed one of these systems recently. Maybe he can advise if a separate timer is required or if scheduling on/off can be done via the app...

Down the rabbit hole I go once again….

Enzodast said:

Thoughts on this? What do others do? I'd love to hear from someone that has the same pump/SWG combo...

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Yup… I’m that guy running that same setup. I put the Calimar pump in instead of the circupool pump, but it’s generally accepted here as the exact same thing.

Enzodast said:

many it seems use the aux option on their pumps to drive the salt gen...but i dont think the circupool pump has that. Please correct me if it does and i can't find it in the manual.

Click to expand...

Nope. It sure don’t.

Enzodast said:

Discount salt pool recommended i buy a plug in timer to make sure the salt gen only gets power certain hours per day primarily when the pump is in lower speeds and not when it first turns on. Is this ideal?

Click to expand...

My old mechanical timer solely serves as a junction box for my pump and SWG now. I’ll delete it when the plastic cover rots off.

Enzodast said:

Others have said the salt gen is smart enough to just stay on and plugged in....will it be more wear and tear on it just letting it have power full time? So even when the pump turns off it wont sense flow (i know it has a flow sensor) it just wont activate itself...but i think DSP was trying to say it might save components in the salt gen only being on 12 hours per day versus 24/7.

Click to expand...

I wouldn’t call it “smart”. I would call it “packaged”. I don’t know what DSP was trying to tell you. I had a very in depth technical discussion with the GM at Circupool when I was trying to decide between the RJ series and the Core Control, and we discussed this specifically. It’s a PWM style generator. Run it at 50% for 24 hours or 100% for 12 hours. You’re putting the same time on the cell, electrically speaking.

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:

The SWG you're installing has its own Wi-Fi enabled automation. You install the app and set the schedule. When you do your scheduling make sure the SWG is powered off when the pump is off.

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Nope. No scheduling involved in the app. It’s pretty simple. If the unit has power and the flow switch is closed, she makes the chlorine. End of story.
______________________

Here’s what you’re gonna do (I’m speaking from my [very low] throne now):
A) Wire the core control into power. I chose to wire it to my pump circuit, so that it would fail if the pump circuit breaker blew, but that’s personal preference. This thing draws minimal power. Run it on 110V or 240V. It doesn’t care.
B) Program the schedule on your new VS pump to run 24/7, and then run the pump in schedule mode. You have to do this. From the factory, it comes set to run 18 hours/day. I run 3 speeds - Hi (4 hrs IFCS) / Med-Lo (10 hrs 1500rpm Skim) / Lo (10 hrs 1100rpm SWG).
C) Start the SWG at 50%. Given your pool size and latitude, I suspect you’ll end up 40-50%.

By scheduling the pump to run 24/7, you’re always flushing any gas buildup away by default. That’s primary safety #1 here. If the pump goes bust for some reason, then the flow switch kicks in as safety #2. When you backwash, stop the pool pump with the VS controller instead of just killing the power to the circuit so that the controller stays powered up and you can check that the red “low flow” alarm come on and verify its still working.

It’s that simple.

Can you give us a bullet list of what you can do/control with the app? Maybe some screenshots?

Thank you for the response. I knew yours would be thorough. With the app control, seems unbelievable to me that there would be no way to schedule the SWG to turn on and off during set times.

PoolStored said:

Can you give us a bullet list of what you can do/control with the app? Maybe some screenshots?

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With the firmware as it stands:

Control:
SWG % with pool cover open
SWG % with pool cover closed
SWG Turbo (100% up to 72 hours)

Read:
Alarms (active and historical)
Chlorine output (24/7/30/90)
Water temp (24/7/30/90)
Salinity (24/7/30/90)
Pool cover open/closed

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:

With the app control, seems unbelievable to me that there would be no way to schedule the SWG to turn on and off during set times.

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I suspect this may come in a later firmware, but don’t quote me on that. They’ve built a lot of expansion potential into the circuitry on the control board. I’m hoping they sell the heck out of these units and are able to develop it to its fullest potential.

ol_whistle_britches said:

Nope. No scheduling involved in the app. It’s pretty simple. If the unit has power and the flow switch is closed, she makes the chlorine. End of story.

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I'm curious.. do you have Alexa? If so, does Alexa recognize the Core Control as a device? Does the app allow you to turn chlorine production on and off?

One thing I should add: If you have the ability to hard wire it to ethernet instead of using the included wifi adapter, I would do that. The wifi adapter actually gets surprisingly decent range, but honestly I feel like the wifi functionality is still somewhat buggy and hardwiring the unit simply involves unplugging the wifi adapter from the PCB and plugging in another ethernet cable.

That being said, I haven’t jumped off my rear to do it yet. I didn’t even mount the wifi adapter. I just wedged it behind the control unit. Until the last 48 hours I’d never had any connectivity issues, and they’ve resolved just now.

And no - I don’t see it as an Alexa device. That doesn’t mean it isn’t. I’m not fully invested in Alexa and I still need to finish setting up my home network.