What exactly is "Man Heat" in easytouch?

[doncaruana]

Read it a dozen times and I'm still not quite sure what exactly it means. It *sounds* like it means that with "Manual Heat" on, the heater won't run during your schedule times and only will run when you manually fire up the pool or spa circuit outside of a schedule.

Did I read that right?

 

[Bama Rambler]

That's the way I understand it. It's a completely manual mode.

 

[09659]

PENTAIR EASYTOUCH HEATER OPERATION

••••••••••••••••••••

Under {MENU} > {HEAT} > {SPA TEMP/SCR},

if you choose {HEATER} (instead of {OFF}),

----------

• If {SPA} mode is AUTOMATICALLY turned on,

and if {MENU} > {SETTINGS} > {MAN HEAT} is {OFF} (instead of {ON}),

the heater will be on and ready to heat.

• If {SPA} mode is AUTOMATICALLY turned on,

and if {MENU} > {SETTINGS} > {MAN HEAT} is {ON} (instead of {OFF}),

the heater will be on and ready to heat.

• If {SPA} mode is MANUALLY turned on,

and if {MENU} > {SETTINGS} > {MAN HEAT} is {OFF} (instead of {ON}),

the heater will be on and ready to heat.

• If {SPA} mode is MANUALLY turned on,

and if {MENU} > {SETTINGS} > {MAN HEAT} is {ON} (instead of {OFF}),

the heater will be on and ready to heat.

• The heater will be on and ready to heat if {SPA} mode is AUTOMATICALLY turned on.

This includes periods of scheduled {SPA} mode operation,

AND FREEZE PROTECTION (if freeze protection is turned on for the {SPA} circuit).

••••••••••••••••••••

Under {MENU} > {HEAT} > {SPA TEMP/SCR},

if you choose {OFF} (instead of {HEATER}),

----------

• If {SPA} mode is AUTOMATICALLY turned on,

and if {MENU} > {SETTINGS} > {MAN HEAT} is {OFF} (instead of {ON}),

the heater will NOT turn on.

• If {SPA} mode is AUTOMATICALLY turned on,

and if {MENU} > {SETTINGS} > {MAN HEAT} is {ON} (instead of {OFF}),

the heater will NOT turn on.

• If {SPA} mode is MANUALLY turned on,

and if {MENU} > {SETTINGS} > {MAN HEAT} is {OFF} (instead of {ON}),

The heater will NOT turn on.

• If {SPA} mode is MANUALLY turned on,

and if {MENU} > {SETTINGS} > {MAN HEAT} is {ON} (instead of {OFF}),

the heater will be on and ready to heat.

••••••••••••••••••••

- If the heater is on and ready to heat, it will heat if there is enough flow of water through the plumbing, and the water temperature is below the programmed water temperature.

- The HEATER (Flame) button does NOT work in {AUTO} mode.

- Freeze protection switches on a circuit if the outside air temperature sensor detects the temperature is getting close to freezing (below 35° F).

Control System
http://www.pentairpool.com/pdfs/EasyTouchSystemUG.pdf
Indoor Control Panel
http://www.pentairpool.com/pdfs/EasyTouchICPUG.pdf
Wireless Control Panel
http://www.pentairpool.com/pdfs/EasyTouchWirelessControlUG.pdf

Pentair Easy Touch EasyTouch Intelli Touch IntelliTouch

 

[doncaruana]

After I posted this, I found the following in the Easy Touch user guide (page 48):

By default manual heat (Man Heat) is set to “On,” which allows your spa to begin to heat whenever it is
manually switched on, (by pressing the Valves (V) button and Filter Pump (F) button on the outdoor control
panel or the Spa button on the Indoor Control Panel), even if the Heat menu setting is set to “OFF” (see page
25). Your spa will also begin to heat when switched on by the iS4 Spa-Side remote. This feature allows you to
program your spa to filter daily with the heater set to off, and then be ready to heat whenever the Spa button is
pressed manually.


The reason this came up is because the people who installed my pool, who were, in basic terms, idiots with regard to how the system functions, told me that "MAN HEAT" was to "Maintain the heat at the temperature you set it to." I quickly figured out what collective morons they were and went on my merry way. As a matter of fact, I ended up doing a fair bit of programming myself because they either had it wrong or couldn't figure it out. They also argued with me that the system couldn't control the pump (an Intelliflo) until you hooked up an Easy Touch remote control - they weren't even trying to sell me a remote, they were just stupid. I had to hook up the pump cable to the ET4 panel myself (they left it in the box because they said it wouldn't work anyway). Same for the heater.

To this day, I'd be willing to bet I know more about the system than they do.

The moral of the story: Do NOT assume that the pool builder/store is that knowledgeable about pools.