Controlling Low Voltage Landscape lights

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PoolGate

PoolGate

Gold Supporter
TFP Guide
Jun 7, 2017
9,179
Damascus, MD
Pool Size
29000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Jandy Aquapure 1400
Hmmm... I have an unused relay in my iAqualink and have my landscape transformer plugged into a receptacle that goes back to the iAqualink load center on its own dedicated 120 volt breaker. Is there a way to link that breaker to the extra relay and control those lights with my iAqualink? That would be super cool if so!
 
PG,

If you want the entire outlet (I assume GFCI) to be turned on/off by your automation, you can just route the wire from the breaker through the extra relay.

What would be better in my mind, is to cut the plug off the landscape power supply and then route the cable up to the load side of your extra relay. Then jumper a wire from the outlet to the line side of the relay.

Please let me know if this does not make sense,

Jim R.
 
I will check this out. My system came with 4 relays. 2 go to JVAs and 1 goes to the pump. I also have a heater and a SWCG. Is it possible that last relay is unused or would it be on one of the other pieces of equipment like the SWCG? I could always add another relay if so. I guess I can just open up the box and see if anything is connected to the relay too.
 
pg,

I am not up on your Jandy system, but most of the 4 relay systems have one of the 4 relays dedicated to being the "Pump/Filter" relay... it cannot be used for anything else.. The pump/filter relay is normally used to power the cell... and/or turn on a single speed main pump.

I have no idea how your specific system works...

Jim R.
 
I have extra relays on my ET 8 and I did the very thing Jim is describing. One relay sends power to an outlet for a Street lamp style yard light, and another relay sends power to three outlets x on all 3 sides of the yard. One of those three outlets has a landscape lighting transformer on it which is then wired to all of the low voltage yard lights.

So in simple terms, the 120v power at 3 outlets and the other lamp outlet is only there when the relays are energized. Works very well!
 
GregInClaremont said:
I have extra relays on my ET 8 and I did the very thing Jim is describing. One relay sends power to an outlet for a Street lamp style yard light, and another relay sends power to three outlets x on all 3 sides of the yard. One of those three outlets has a landscape lighting transformer on it which is then wired to all of the low voltage yard lights.

So in simple terms, the 120v power at 3 outlets and the other lamp outlet is only there when the relays are energized. Works very well!
Click to expand...

Yep I know it can be done I was just hoping someone had done it with Jandy equipment.
 
OK - I just taught myself how these relays work. They get energized with 24v DC and when energized, they close the contacts between 2 110 volt inputs so you can wire just one set for 110 volt and both sets for 220 volt. Easy Peasy. Neutral and ground continue to go to the usual neutral and ground bars. Only the hot wire goes through the relay. In essence, it is identical to a wall switch accept it gets energized to turn on as apposed to me flipping the switch.

I figured out a few things about my setup.

Both of my JVAs (powered valves) go through relays (1 each). However, the relay does nothing. It isn't hooked up to any load nor does it go to the JVA. In fact, if I unplug the relay, the JVA still works exactly the same. So I have no idea why they waste a relay for the JVAs. Each one has its own and neither is used. Of my 4 relays, 1 goes to both the pump and the heater. 1 goes to the lights, and 2 go to the JVAs. I tried to use one of the other 4 relay ports, but it appears since my unit only has a 4 relay capability (PS4), there is no way to access these relay positions. If I un-assign the relay from the JVA the JVA doesn't work anymore. Oh well.

Now the good news, I did manage to assign a JVA to the "solar" port. I connected a relay to the solar output and the relay activates when I use the solar button! Also, the better news is that I can rename the solar to anything I want. I changed it to "low voltage lights". So now all I need to do is a little rewiring to route the hot lead of the low voltage circuit through the relay and I will have control of my low voltage lights! Yayyyy!!!!!!

If anyone knows the riddle about the wasted relay positions I would LOVE to know!
 
pg,

I suspect your Jandy is very similar to my EasyTouch... It comes wired so that if you push an Aux button (Aux 1, 2 or 3) the corresponding Aux relay will turn on... If I want the Aux button to control a valve, I can assign the Aux button or circuit to the valve I want to turn. Unfortunately, the relay is always assigned to the Aux button whether used or not...

Not sure if Jandy has this or not, but it would be worth looking up.. The Easytouch has 8 "Feature" circuits.. These act just like the Aux buttons, but without the relay. So a Feature circuit can't turn on anything that requires 120 or 220 volts, but it can do a lot of other stuff, like turn a valve, or change a speed of a VS pump.. A feature circuit can also be scheduled.

Check your Automation manual and see if you can identify anything similar to the EasyTouch's Feature circuits...

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Thanks Jim. I see no way to do this. What a scam the board has all the connections for aux ports but is software limited to just 4 if that is what you got. They sell a 6 and an 8 port one. Not sure how much extra but my PB was cheap!!!
 
FYI: I did this this morning took 20 minutes and now I have control over my landscape lighting from my iAqualink. Could not be easier.
 

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Jimrahbe said:
pg,

Just to be clear, you did what this morning???

Jim R.
Click to expand...

I added a new relay and wired in my landscape light breaker to it. I put the relay on the solar relay port which was unused and I renamed it "Garden Lights". All i had to do was put a wire from the breaker to the load side of the relay and connect the other side of the relay to the outlet. I plan on changing the low voltage transformer to on all the time and then adding it to my iAqualink schedule.
 
PoolGate said:
I added a new relay and wired in my landscape light breaker to it. I put the relay on the solar relay port which was unused and I renamed it "Garden Lights". All i had to do was put a wire from the breaker to the load side of the relay and connect the other side of the relay to the outlet. I plan on changing the low voltage transformer to on all the time and then adding it to my iAqualink schedule.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the great Info. I’m going to have to look into this now. I had just found the option in iAquaLink to turn on the pool lights at dusk and off at a specific time. Now when I do install our landscape lighting I can use an unused relay as well.
 
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