Easy touch w/ low voltage pool lights

[Sippmanjr]

Hi All,


I am hoping someone here knows if this is possible. They are doing my final equipment hook up and i am going with 3 total underwater lights. Al low voltage LED 2 in pool and one in Spa . I want each light to be able to change color on its one and also sync for the light shows. The issue is that Pentair and Intermatic (transformer company) say I need 3 separate transformers. The guy doing the install says he can just use one transformer and "daisy chain" the relays so that it ends up being the same thing. Will this work!? Does anyone know!?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Sippman,

It appears to me that the normal way low voltage lights are wired through an EasyTouch is that the ET switches the 120 Volts going to the Transformer which in turn supplies the low voltage to the lights.

What your install guy proposes is the apply constant 120 volts to the transformer and then have the ET switch the low voltage, using one relay for each light..

I suspect this would work fine, but I also suspect it violates the Electrical Code as you would then be running low voltage wiring through the high voltage section of the ET.

Let's see if one of our Electrical Experts can chime in on this one, as I am not really up on the code requirements. Maybe running the wiring up through the low voltage side and then down to the relays would be ok????

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[bdavis466]

Pentair specifically states that the relays cannot be used for low voltage circuits. You would have low voltage wiring inside of a high voltage compartment and the relays have too much resistance and may cause issues with the lights not receiving enough voltage.

I hate to rain on your parade but unless you have a lot of lights strategically placed, the color swim mode will just look like the lights are out of sync. I have 7 lights in my pool and wired them so that I could take advantage of the swim mode and was horribly disappointed...I never use it.

I would wire the pool lights and spa light separate. Anything more than that and you'll have transformers all over the place. This is the biggest disadvantage to low voltage lights.

 

[Pool Clown]

If he is really "installing" the lights. Have him stop, and tell him that you want 120v lights instead. If you are getting 12V lights from the start, he should be able to return them. If he resists, remind him that the low voltage install was at his recommendation (if that is really the case), And when you agreed to purchase these expensive lights, you expected to be able to take full advantage of all the options of the lights. "Daisy chaining" is not an acceptable install. More of a patch for mis-planning. If these were existing low voltage and you are just upgrading, again, have him stop, then install the 120v lights and by-pass the xformers. If you (then) have three available relays, you can take full advantage of the lights' effects.

I don't think low voltage lights are required in La Verne, CA. But I could be mistaken...

 

[bdavis466]

They may be nicheless lights since they are all the rage these days... Pentair (and all the other mfgs) really needs to improve upon their lighting controls by removing the driver from the light itself and using the automation system to tell the lights what to do...

I would think low voltage lights will soon be a code requirement.