What is the best pool automation that has a phone app which is easy to use and gets rave reviews? Is there such a one??? I am getting more than a little frustrated because we want to purchase pool automation and the most important part to me is to be able to seamlessly control everything from my phone. We have a pool, spa, salt cell, water feature, spa and pool lights, and yard lights all of which I would like to control from my phone. The problem I am running into is that it seems like every single automation package I have read about sounds like the best thing since sliced bread until I read through the user reviews. It seems like every phone app all anyone has to say is how horrible they are, i.e. "it's a great idea, if they only knew how to write better apps...". Is there a phone app out there that can control all these things that doesn't have issues connection, that is user friendly, that people love??? Please tell me such a thing exists and it's not just a pipe dream! I am ready to spend possibly thousands and want to be sure my money is well spent!
Pool Automation - Phone App
- Thread starter jeremyjohnolson
- Start date
Jeremy,
Welcome to TFP... a great place to find the answers to all your "Raised from the ashes" automation questions...
Pool automation is stuck in the 80's and is very brand specific... Meaning that you can't mix and match brands and expect the automation to work..
As an example; to control most VS pumps and Salt cells, the automation system, the VS pump and the salt cell all need to be the same brand so that they can "talk" with one another.
The three industry leaders all have about the same automation packages, with the same basic features.
I personally have Pentair equipment with ScreenLogic2 and love it.
If you already have a pool and are looking for automation, then your current equipment may dictate the automation you will need to buy... Tell us more about your pool and equipment.
I would not get too excited over on-line reviews as at least half of the issues appear to be user errors and the other half, as you put it, having "Pipe Dreams" on what to expect.
Thanks,
Jim R.
Welcome to TFP... a great place to find the answers to all your "Raised from the ashes" automation questions...
Pool automation is stuck in the 80's and is very brand specific... Meaning that you can't mix and match brands and expect the automation to work..
As an example; to control most VS pumps and Salt cells, the automation system, the VS pump and the salt cell all need to be the same brand so that they can "talk" with one another.
The three industry leaders all have about the same automation packages, with the same basic features.
I personally have Pentair equipment with ScreenLogic2 and love it.
If you already have a pool and are looking for automation, then your current equipment may dictate the automation you will need to buy... Tell us more about your pool and equipment.
I would not get too excited over on-line reviews as at least half of the issues appear to be user errors and the other half, as you put it, having "Pipe Dreams" on what to expect.
Thanks,
Jim R.
Thanks Jimrahbe. I have all Hayward equipment: Ecostar VS pump, The Californian induced draft heater series (by Hayward), and two Goldline Valve Actuators. I also have yard lights, a pool light, and a spa light. I already have a pool automation but it's old and I am wanting to upgrade it. Our salt cell recently broke so we need to replace it. I don't know that much about it, but I know that when we installed the Ecostar the guy who put it in for me said that our pool automation hardware was too old and could not fully control the VSness of the pump (currently we have an old version called "Aqua Logic" by Goldine Controls). He had to set it up to where we have a couple different speed settings, but we cannot select any other speeds in between. I was hoping if I update to a more recent pool automation that it would make it so I can have like a slider or something on my phone to increase or decrease the speed of the pump (for when I am in the spa and want to turn the jets up or down to my liking). I don't know if that's possible or not because I have searched all over the internet for demo videos of Hayward automation phone apps that would show how it operates variable speed pumps and have not yet found a single one in existence, kind of frustrating. I see what you mean about stuck in the 80's, seems like chat on the internet about them is also stuck in the 80's (i.e. before the mainstream internet even existed for the consumer).
Another feature that would be really nice, if it exists, is to have is the automation to give me the choice to open or close a valve partially instead of the way my hardware currently works where the valve is either all open or all closed and if I want it partly open I have to manually turn the valve on via the 3-way rocker switch until it's in the desired location then manually turn it off myself. This would be helpful to suck a little bit of water from the pool when on spa only so the spa water level doesn't slowly decrease, or to be able to automatically change percentage between skimmer and vacuum via automated scheduled cleaning tasks (I would need to get another actuator for that because the one I have on vac/skimmer valve is just manual right now).
I have looked at Omnilogic. I also looked at AquaPlus with an AquaConnect to get the phone app. I have read bad reviews on both and have been told that the Omnilogic is overkill and too complicated (I don't mind complicated set up if as long as I got it all set it is easy to control and operate). What I don't know and have not been able to find an answer to is whether the phone app is the same or different for the Omnilogic versus AquaConnect, or if either of them would give me a slider to control the speed of the VS pump or only give me 2 or 3 set choices of speeds, like I have now (I want a slider).
Lastly, I liked the idea of sense and dispense to keep my chlorine (from SWG) and ph in balance automatically until I read reviews and talked to a pool maintenance guy who said he uninstalled all the ones that he installed because they didn't work. If they don't work, why is there not a class action lawsuit because the manufacturers are still pushing them and selling them saying that they do work and how great they are?!? I am a little frustrated with this whole processes, if you can't tell. What I would love is for someone to tell me that sense and dispense works great and not to listen to the pool guy because he is only saying that it is junk because it would put him out of business lol. But if it doesn't work, it's a lot of money to spend to find out it doesn't work, so I need to know before I put down the money for it.
Edit: I forgot to mention, I also have a water feature with an old pump on it that is probably about to go out. One thought I have is if Pentair or Jandy or some other company makes automation software far superior to Hayward, I could put the Ecostar on the water feature and get a new pump for the spa which is made by the other company so I could get their automation, assuming the other company could still control my Hayward gas heater and actuators and I already have to get a new salt cell, so I will just wait to get that until I know which one I need. I don't really care about the water feature pump speed, just to be able to turn it off and on is all I would need.
Another feature that would be really nice, if it exists, is to have is the automation to give me the choice to open or close a valve partially instead of the way my hardware currently works where the valve is either all open or all closed and if I want it partly open I have to manually turn the valve on via the 3-way rocker switch until it's in the desired location then manually turn it off myself. This would be helpful to suck a little bit of water from the pool when on spa only so the spa water level doesn't slowly decrease, or to be able to automatically change percentage between skimmer and vacuum via automated scheduled cleaning tasks (I would need to get another actuator for that because the one I have on vac/skimmer valve is just manual right now).
I have looked at Omnilogic. I also looked at AquaPlus with an AquaConnect to get the phone app. I have read bad reviews on both and have been told that the Omnilogic is overkill and too complicated (I don't mind complicated set up if as long as I got it all set it is easy to control and operate). What I don't know and have not been able to find an answer to is whether the phone app is the same or different for the Omnilogic versus AquaConnect, or if either of them would give me a slider to control the speed of the VS pump or only give me 2 or 3 set choices of speeds, like I have now (I want a slider).
Lastly, I liked the idea of sense and dispense to keep my chlorine (from SWG) and ph in balance automatically until I read reviews and talked to a pool maintenance guy who said he uninstalled all the ones that he installed because they didn't work. If they don't work, why is there not a class action lawsuit because the manufacturers are still pushing them and selling them saying that they do work and how great they are?!? I am a little frustrated with this whole processes, if you can't tell. What I would love is for someone to tell me that sense and dispense works great and not to listen to the pool guy because he is only saying that it is junk because it would put him out of business lol. But if it doesn't work, it's a lot of money to spend to find out it doesn't work, so I need to know before I put down the money for it.
Edit: I forgot to mention, I also have a water feature with an old pump on it that is probably about to go out. One thought I have is if Pentair or Jandy or some other company makes automation software far superior to Hayward, I could put the Ecostar on the water feature and get a new pump for the spa which is made by the other company so I could get their automation, assuming the other company could still control my Hayward gas heater and actuators and I already have to get a new salt cell, so I will just wait to get that until I know which one I need. I don't really care about the water feature pump speed, just to be able to turn it off and on is all I would need.
Jeremy,
The sense and dispense uses probes to sense the pH and FC levels and when the probes work, the system seems to work.. The problem is that the probes need constant calibration and tend to fail. Not all, but most users have found the system does not do what they had hoped..
What we recommend here at TFP, is that you become the "probe" and then set up your system accordingly. Basically you test the pool water and set the SWCG to supply the amount of chlorine your pool needs and then set an automated acid system to add the right amount of MA to keep your pH stable.
"Pie in the Sky" systems that do everything for you, tend to not work well and to make matters worse, pool owners that have them tend to not have a clue how their pools work... the TFP way is to teach the pool owner how their pools work and to use automation to "assist" in maintaining their pools....
Since I am a Pentair kind of guy, I'm not up on Hayward products, but I am sure their Phone app allows you to select any speed the pump is capable of running. Below are a couple of screen shots of my system just to give you a taste... The Hayward's screens might not look the same, but I'm sure they function the same basic way... (I use my PC rather than a phone, but the idea is the same..)
This is how I can set the pump speeds.. The system automatically sets the pump speed based upon mode of operation you are in.. So, when I turn on my waterfall wall, the speed will automatically increase to 2800 rpm and opens a valve to turn on the water... but on the fly, I can manually change that 2800 to any rpm I want with the up or down arrow keys...
This is how I adjust my SWCG's output... Again, by using the up and down arrows...
Your are basically out of luck when it comes to valves operating in the three positions.. They are either fully one way or the other.. You can mechanically adjust them to always be partially open or closed, but they always rotate from one stop to the other stop...
If the water in your spa drops while in the spa mode you have something wrong...
Let's hope one of our Hayward members chimes in with their input...
Thanks,
Jim R.
The sense and dispense uses probes to sense the pH and FC levels and when the probes work, the system seems to work.. The problem is that the probes need constant calibration and tend to fail. Not all, but most users have found the system does not do what they had hoped..
What we recommend here at TFP, is that you become the "probe" and then set up your system accordingly. Basically you test the pool water and set the SWCG to supply the amount of chlorine your pool needs and then set an automated acid system to add the right amount of MA to keep your pH stable.
"Pie in the Sky" systems that do everything for you, tend to not work well and to make matters worse, pool owners that have them tend to not have a clue how their pools work... the TFP way is to teach the pool owner how their pools work and to use automation to "assist" in maintaining their pools....
Since I am a Pentair kind of guy, I'm not up on Hayward products, but I am sure their Phone app allows you to select any speed the pump is capable of running. Below are a couple of screen shots of my system just to give you a taste... The Hayward's screens might not look the same, but I'm sure they function the same basic way... (I use my PC rather than a phone, but the idea is the same..)
This is how I can set the pump speeds.. The system automatically sets the pump speed based upon mode of operation you are in.. So, when I turn on my waterfall wall, the speed will automatically increase to 2800 rpm and opens a valve to turn on the water... but on the fly, I can manually change that 2800 to any rpm I want with the up or down arrow keys...
This is how I adjust my SWCG's output... Again, by using the up and down arrows...
Your are basically out of luck when it comes to valves operating in the three positions.. They are either fully one way or the other.. You can mechanically adjust them to always be partially open or closed, but they always rotate from one stop to the other stop...
If the water in your spa drops while in the spa mode you have something wrong...
Let's hope one of our Hayward members chimes in with their input...
Thanks,
Jim R.
Thanks Jim.
- - - Updated - - -
So just to be clear, the Pentair automation would not be able to fully control the variable speed on the Ecostar pump, right?
- - - Updated - - -
So just to be clear, the Pentair automation would not be able to fully control the variable speed on the Ecostar pump, right?
Jeremy,
Correct.. In most cases, one brand of automation will not be able to control VS pumps and salt cells made by a different manufacturer... There are some limited exceptions, but not many..
Thanks,
Jim R.
Correct.. In most cases, one brand of automation will not be able to control VS pumps and salt cells made by a different manufacturer... There are some limited exceptions, but not many..
Thanks,
Jim R.
I think I like the idea of a Stenner to automatically add acid on a timer. Do you have a link to what parts I would need and possibly how to install it? Thanks!
I found this. Would this work for acid, or is there something better, cheaper?
The Stenner Chemical Injection System - Stenner Injector System by Water Softeners Filters | Water Softeners Filters
The Stenner Chemical Injection System - Stenner Injector System by Water Softeners Filters | Water Softeners Filters
- May 3, 2014
- 58,310
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40