Goldline Prologic PS-8 vs PS-8-V ??

[learthur]

OK, I love using bleach, but I am tired of putting it in every day.... it is just not going to happen they way it needs to.

The Liquidator sounds intriguing but my life is too short for modifications.

So I have decided to install a Goldline Prologic PS-8 with SWG. Getting ready to order it, but there appears to be 2 slightly different models... the PS-8 which controls 8 relays and the PS-8-V which controls only 4 relays and has 4 soft keys.

So what is the difference? I need about 6 relays for:

pool pump
spa pump
polaris pump (I run mine when the pool pump is OFF...long story)
spa blower
lights
ozonator

What are "soft keys" and do I need 4 of them?

The Goldline controls website has very little info on it. The Hayward site has a little more including the manual, but it still isn't very clear to me what this suttle difference is. Is the difference a simple configuration change done in software that makes one physical device behave like another model?

Just want to order the right thing so I can start generating chlorine. And obviously I will order the SWG option in addition to the above controller. Gotta automate some of this stuff....doing everything by hand right now.

Thanks

Lee

 

[JasonLion]

I recommend the PS-8. You always end up wanting more relays than you think you want. You already need at least 4, and maybe 5, from the list you gave, and are sure to want more in the future.

A PS-8-V is kind of like a PS-4, but with a bunch of extra programming flexibility. The virtual devices allow you to have more modes in which your system can be running. Programming is somewhat limited on the PS-4, so that makes some sense. The PS-16-V makes less sense to me. It is difficult to come up with a situation where you would really need it instead of a PS-8.

 

[learthur]

Thanks for the rec Jason!

I have no experience with such an automated pool controller so don't know how many virtual modes I need. Right now I operate in these modes:

Pool mode
spa mode
Polaris cleaning mode (I will have to turn off the pool pump/booster interlock function)

Don't know if these are considered "modes" or just independent functions:

heater on/off
blower on/off
lights on/off

I think in general a PS-8 with SWG is a good way to go. This SWG may not be as refined as an Autopilot, but I really desire an integrated solution with the control/timer functionality.

Thanks,

Lee

 

[JasonLion]

The heater does not need a relay. There is a separate low voltage heater control.

The main pump, spa pump, booster pump, and lights each need a relay.

You can put the blower on the spa relay, so the blower is on any time the spa is on. If you want independent control over the blower it needs a relay.

That is why I said you need 4 or 5 relays.

Soft buttons could be setup to control combinations of existing relays. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense in this setup. Say you have three light circuits. Each would have a button that turned them on and off. With a virtual button, you could add a button that turns them all on at once with a single press, and another button that turned on say the path lights and the spa lights, but not the pool lights again with a single press. In this case you could get the same effect by using the individual buttons, but there are more complicated situations where virtual buttons can get you combinations that aren't possible with the individual buttons.

 

[Guest]

Soft keys are macros. This will allow one button to control several features at once, i.e., one button can set spa mode for the valves ,turn on the pump, spa blower, heater, lights, etc. instead of having to hit maybe 4 separate buttons on the controller to do this, which is a LOT of extra work! :lol:
Don't want to tire out your finger hitting all those buttons, do we?

If you want to compare models it should be the PS-8 vs the PS-16V. They are basically the same except the 16V also gives you 8 macro keys.
The only advantage to the macros, IMHO, is that it will make it easier for someone that does not know how everything works to use the spa or pool or turn features on and off. (This is not always a good thing, IMHO!)

 

[budster]

Besides, with the PS-8 you can create groups for control of multiple relays. The "v" version is a nightmare.