Automation - Pentair Screenlogic or wireless remote??

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G

grumpiebk

0
Jun 22, 2016
906
FL
We have the Pentair EasyTouch 8 being installed and the control system wireless remote showed up in the mail today. What is the difference between this controller and screen logic? The remote is big and bulky and when I looked it up online it is around $500 - the same price as screen logic. Is this remote needed even if we add screenlogic? Or can I dump this controller and just use screenlogic?


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I have the EasyTouch 8-button remote and I'm happy with it.

You know how many times I've had to reboot my remote or upgrade its firmware or have it crash in the last 4 years?

Exactly ZERO times.

ScreenLogic is fancy and nice and gives you smartphone control BUT at the cost of more cost and complexity. It is certainly true that programming with ScreenLogic is more intuitive but I've done all the programming I need to do using my remote and I don't often have to change that.

Tongue-in-cheek aside, it comes down to what you want. Some people just want simplicity and that's ok. Others want more complex controls and greater flexibility. To each his own...


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JoyfulNoise said:
I have the EasyTouch 8-button remote and I'm happy with it.

You know how many times I've had to reboot my remote or upgrade its firmware or have it crash in the last 4 years?

Exactly ZERO times.

ScreenLogic is fancy and nice and gives you smartphone control BUT at the cost of more cost and complexity. It is certainly true that programming with ScreenLogic is more intuitive but I've done all the programming I need to do using my remote and I don't often have to change that.

Tongue-in-cheek aside, it comes down to what you want. Some people just want simplicity and that's ok.


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Click to expand...

Then your lucky.
The issue is the connection on the "old hand held" easytouch remotes. If yours works well, then that's great, but your in the minority. Those things were my biggest headache. They stopped upgrading the antennae's, and are not putting any more time or money into that old dog. I'm surprised they are still making them.
Plus it is actually more expensive then the "fancy Screenlogic"
 
im really looking more for convenience than anything. But it is an either/or? I dont need the remote before I get ScreenLogic? I have an extra iphone that can be left at home on wifi as our "remote" while i use screenlogic from my current phone when i am away from home (i.e turning spa heater on during drive home from dinner, etc).

Matt, you say "at the cost of more cost". Can you clarify? if it is an either-or, they are both priced similarly, no?

From a programming perspective, our PB is going to program it initially. I will just need to deal with updates and changes going forward.

In the chance that we eventually hire someone to manage our pool, does the remote or screenlogic make a difference? or will they do everything they need to from the control panel?
 
At the time when I had to choose, I believe the original ScreenLogic v1 was only available (about 4+ years ago). At that time the remote was a lot cheaper than SL and my PB was not impressed with it at all. I do believe the original SL was pretty bad.

Today, SL2 is available and I think it's a much better product and likely costs as much as a remote.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of WiFi'ing everything in my life. The thought of fiddling with a pool pump or spa controls while away from home has no appeal to me. I have a fairly large home and my equipment is a very far distance from my wireless router (with several signal dampening walls in the way). It would likely take a lot of tweaking to get it to work for me. I have enough WiFi debugging issues to deal with having 4 kids and a dozen or so WiFi devices to manage. Adding more is not a selling point to me.

So, luck of the draw aside on my setup, I'm happy to go a little retro with my pool remote and spend more time in my pool than behind my computer trying to make the pool work.

Yes, your PB and any service personnel would likely use the EasyTouch panel to control what they need.


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I did some research last night and the reviews on the screenlogic2 are not very good. Average of 3 stars. It either works great or terrible from what I've read. Given that info, it seems it would be good to have the wireless remote as a backup in the event we get screenlogic. But then to Matts point, we are now spending $500 extra. Not sure it's worth it at that price.

If we were to buy screenlogic later, how hard is it to setup? I am not very technical when it comes to electric and pool equipment. Would there be much of a charge for a pool company to set this up for us down the road?


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bdavis466 said:
Setup is not difficult.

I have had some issues with Screenlogic but none that weren't really resolved. I wouldn't let the reviews detour you.
Click to expand...

Thanks Brian. Our modem and wireless router is just on the inside wall of the house from where the automation panel is. And the modem and wireless router is just about 5 feet from our backyard patio. A lot of the reviews talked about connectivity. I think there is some adapter that comes with the screenlogic kit? Does that go outside or inside? Either way it would be very close to our modem and router.


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Brian,

Your set up sounds very similar to mine. My EasyTouch is very near my computer and router setup. I bought ScreenLogic bundle P/N 522104, which comes with the software, a Protocol Adapter, and a wireless transmitter/receiver system.

The connection between the EasyTouch can be made by either a four wire cable or the wireless system. Since my router was so close to the EasyTouch, I just hardwired it rather than use the wireless connection.

I have had zero issues with my ScreenLogic setup, which I got for Christmas last year and was installed the next day... :p

With regard to Matt's comments.. Would you take flying lessons from a blind man? Would you take swimming lessons from a man that has never seen water? This is a man who still uses a pressure side cleaner for gods sake!!! I would take his advice on ScreenLogic with a very large grain of salt. :poke:

Actually, what Matt says is basically true.. If the only thing you want to do is to push a button and make something happen, then any remote will be just fine. If you are at all interested in what happens when you push the button, then your really need ScreenLogic. It literally makes programming or changing a program 10 times easier.

To be honest, I very rarely use ScreenLogic on my phone. And have never used it when away from the house. That said, I use it almost everyday from my PC.

Thanks for posting and letting me give Matt a hard time...:cool:

Jim R.
 

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Jimrahbe said:
Brian,

Your set up sounds very similar to mine. My EasyTouch is very near my computer and router setup. I bought ScreenLogic bundle P/N 522104, which comes with the software, a Protocol Adapter, and a wireless transmitter/receiver system.

The connection between the EasyTouch can be made by either a four wire cable or the wireless system. Since my router was so close to the EasyTouch, I just hardwired it rather than use the wireless connection.

I have had zero issues with my ScreenLogic setup, which I got for Christmas last year and was installed the next day... :p

With regard to Matt's comments.. Would you take flying lessons from a blind man? Would you take swimming lessons from a man that has never seen water? This is a man who still uses a pressure side cleaner for gods sake!!! I would take his advice on ScreenLogic with a very large grain of salt. :poke:

Actually, what Matt says is basically true.. If the only thing you want to do is to push a button and make something happen, then any remote will be just fine. If you are at all interested in what happens when you push the button, then your really need ScreenLogic. It literally makes programming or changing a program 10 times easier.

To be honest, I very rarely use ScreenLogic on my phone. And have never used it when away from the house. That said, I use it almost everyday from my PC.

Thanks for posting and letting me give Matt a hard time...:cool:

Jim R.
Click to expand...

Hahaha! Thanks Jim! Do you have a spa or a heater? Honestly that is the only real benefit I see with screenlogic vs the remote, for us. Since we have a heat pump, it's probably going to take 30 mins to an hour to get the spa to the very hot temps we like (105+). My logic here (see what I did there??) is that for the same price screenlogic gives me the added ability to turn on the heater while we are away from home. If im coming home from work or we are coming home from a steak and red wine dinner, we can have the spa heated and ready when we walk in. We certainly aren't going to be tweaking our pool program or turning on bubblers at dinner.


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Brian,

The ScreenLogic phone app is pretty much limited to viewing and turning things on and off, but has no real programming capabilities.

It should work just fine for what you want to do.. You can remotely turn on the Spa and set the temperature that you want. On your way home, you should be able to monitor the Spa temperature and watch it slowly increase, forcing you to drive hundreds of miles out of your way, while you wait for it to get to 105 degrees... :D

One of the things that I really like about ScreenLogic is that I can look at the SWCG's status and make changes on the fly from one screen with a click of an icon. If I test my pool water and find that the FC is lower than I like, I can click an icon and instantly adjust the % of output or make the pump run longer. I can also, from the same screen, monitor the amount of salt that the SWCG says is in the pool.

I have no heater nor Spa.. A standalone Spa is in our long-term plans.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
I don't know that you'll be getting the spa to 105 degrees in 30 mins with a heat pump. That temperature will take you several hours.

I have a natural gas heater and use Screenlogic to activate it very often without issue.
 
Jimrahbe said:
With regard to Matt's comments.. Would you take flying lessons from a blind man? Would you take swimming lessons from a man that has never seen water? This is a man who still uses a pressure side cleaner for gods sake!!! I would take his advice on ScreenLogic with a very large grain of salt. :poke:
Click to expand...

Oh it's far worse than that Jim - I own a suction-side cleaner. My suction cleaner is so old it's an original version - wood panels and a wind-up spring to make the white-wall tires spin while it moves around and the internal music box play my favorite "Flock of Seagulls" tunes. I would not quite characterize myself as blind, perhaps one-eyed :cyclopsani:

Jimrahbe said:
Actually, what Matt says is basically true..
Click to expand...

Can I get that carved in wood? I need it next time I have conversation with my wife....

Jimrahbe said:
Thanks for posting and letting me give Matt a hard time...:cool:

Jim R.
Click to expand...

Oh Jim, you know that you never need a thread to give me a hard time!! They ran out of "Resident whipping boy" badges so they just slapped an "Expert" badge by name :whip:
 
bdavis466 said:
I don't know that you'll be getting the spa to 105 degrees in 30 mins with a heat pump. That temperature will take you several hours.

I have a natural gas heater and use Screenlogic to activate it very often without issue.
Click to expand...

Even more the reason screen logic would make sense I suppose. Im interested to see how our heat pump does. This could be another thing that our PB misguided us on. We shall see.


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If you're that close to a network jack, just make sure you hardwire the protocol adapter to your network. I can't think of a situation that I've ever come across where hard wires haven't been more reliable than wireless. Don't use the wireless portion even though it comes in the box. From the reviews that I've read connectivity is likely to blame (Full disclosure: I went with ScreenLogic after lots of reading, however it's not installed yet - most of my equipment is still in the garage waiting for the snow to melt). Any time that you're going through exterior walls and rely on wifi coming from inside the house, there's many ways for things to go wrong. Brick, Steel siding, Stucco and chicken wire, concrete, and many other building materials are not friendly with many types of radio waves...

Hard wire the protocol adapter to your network, and then you improve your odds greatly. The remaining weak link is your cell phone (or other "control" device) connecting wirelessly (via cellular or wifi). I plan on adding a Ubiquiti Unifi AC Mesh Pro outside (again, hard-wired to my inside network) to give me decent Wi-Fi coverage outside, which will give the control devices a better connection to my inside network.

That's my $.02 (based on networking experience, not specific to pools - pools are new to me).
 
The wireless transmitter does not use the wifi network and has been extremely reliable. Mine transmits about 200' through several different materials without issue. The pool equipment is located well outside of the reaches of my wifi network.

The main issue with Screenlogic is the protocol adapter which is very temperamental.
 
Our PB will not take back the remote in exchange for the Screenlogic kit. As it has never been used, is there any reason I cant easily resell this on ebay, etc? As long as I get what I am going to spend on Screenlogic kit, I am happy.
 
Unfortunately all of my eBay funds are tied up right now. I've got a bid out to get an upgraded 9600 baud modem...woohoo...my Apple IIe will be smokin up the phone lines when that baby arrives!!

I'm also holding out for Pentair to offer a Morse Code optional transmitter/receiver. I hear it's rock-solid on the connectivity side :scratch:


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