how to wire Hayward Variable speed pump to Pentair Easy touch automation

[GeoGolfview]

Hi All,
New pool owner. We have a 16x26 pool. We recently made upgrades after buying the house with the pool. The pool guy we hired made some bad suggestions for equipment (I now know but didn't and went along) He installed the Pentair Easy Touch 8 (only have the pool with no spa or water features, so didn't really need the 8 for what we have). he also installed the Intellichlor SWCG and a Hayward VSP900 pump. Since installing the new pump, we don't really have any control over the pump via the Pentair screenlogic connect and since we purchased the home as a vacation home, we would like to control as much as possible remotely via the Pentair automation. Is there a way to wire this Hayward variable speed pump to the Pentair Easy touch so that we can control scheduling and pump speeds?? Heck...currently we can't even turn pump off/on remotely the way it is wired up.

Thanks.....George

 

[Jimrahbe]

George,

I don't see anything in your pump's manual that indicates that it will "talk" to an EasyTouch.

You could try connecting the RS-485 and see if you get lucky, but you could end up blowing up the RS-485 chips in your EasyTouch.

The best option is to sell your current Hayward pump, and replace it with an IntelliFlo pump. The IntelliFlo was designed to be controlled by the EasyTouch.

Another option, which you will never be happy with, is to use the extra relays you have in the EasyTouch. It is a clumsy and clunky way to do it, but you can set the pump up to have 4 speeds controlled by 4 EasyTouch relays.

Since this is a vacation home, it would make sense to have a complete system that operates flawlessly.

The pump's manual has a detailed description of how to wire the relay inputs.. I'll be glad to help if needed.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ajw22]

Is there a way to wire this Hayward variable speed pump to the Pentair Easy touch so that we can control scheduling and pump speeds?? Heck...currently we can't even turn pump off/on remotely the way it is wired up.

George, welcome to TFP.

The short answer is no.

I suggest you get an Intelliflo pump that can be controlled by your ET and sell your Hayward pump.

 

[JamesW]

Tell the service person that they made a mistake and they need to replace the pump with an IntelliFlo at no cost.

 

[GeoGolfview]

George,

I don't see anything in your pump's manual that indicates that it will "talk" to an EasyTouch.

You could try connecting the RS-485 and see if you get lucky, but you could end up blowing up the RS-485 chips in your EasyTouch.

The best option is to sell your current Hayward pump, and replace it with an IntelliFlo pump. The IntelliFlo was designed to be controlled by the EasyTouch.

Another option, which you will never be happy with, is to use the extra relays you have in the EasyTouch. It is a clumsy and clunky way to do it, but you can set the pump up to have 4 speeds controlled by 4 EasyTouch relays.

Since this is a vacation home, it would make sense to have a complete system that operates flawlessly.

The pump's manual has a detailed description of how to wire the relay inputs.. I'll be glad to help if needed.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Jim,
Thanks much for the detailed answer. Since posting this I've talked to a Hayward technician and his answer was "politically different". But really the same as yours about using the relays. He sent me some diagrams and pictures of how to wire, but when I looked closely they seem to not be consistent. I'm going to try to post pictures/email here for input if I can.
If you look at his instructions and photos/diagrams, it looks like the wiring is on the high voltage side of the Pentair box, but it goes to the "low voltage" side of the Hayward controls so I asked him what gauge wire to use and he initially said 12 or 14 gauge wire.. but when I pointed out that there was 22 gauge wire provided with the pump to optionally relocate the pump control unit, he said " let me double check". Then he came back and said to use 18-22 gauge wire and I could use what was provided with the pump. But, is it ok to use "low voltage wire" in the " high voltage" side of the Pentair controller?? Sorry. I am very comfortable with home wiring basics, but this pool stuff has me scratching my head. Lol
Thanks, George

 

[GeoGolfview]

Tell the service person that they made a mistake and they need to replace the pump with an IntelliFlo at no cost.

Thanks James, but we already fired him due other things he did and misrepresented. I talked to the place where the pump was purchased, but they said the could sell us the intelliflow, but we'd have to sell the Hayward ourselves. I'm sure we'd lose our shirt as it was very expensive and only 3 months old but I'm sure we couldn't get half of what we paid for it

 

[GeoGolfview]

George, welcome to TFP.

The short answer is no.

I suggest you get an Intelliflo pump that can be controlled by your ET and sell your Hayward pump.

Thanks!! Know anyone that wants to buy a slightly used 3 month old Hayward??

 

[Jimrahbe]

George,

I can't tell you to add low voltage wiring to the high voltage side of your EasyTouch, because it is not up to code.. That said, a lot of people have done it, and the world did not end.

I would not let that stand in my way if I wanted to do it..

The real problem is the way the pump will operate when using relays instead the EasyTouch's RS-485 com-port.

Here is a quick example.. Below is a list of my pump speeds for each "Circuit".. This just means that when I switch on the Pool, or Waterfall, etc, the pump will automatically go to that speed. This is something that will not happen if you use the clunky relay logic. I am telling you now, you will not be happy with using relay logic.

Set up page 4.JPG

• Jimrahbe
• Apr 19, 2019

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[GeoGolfview]

George,

I can't tell you to add low voltage wiring to the high voltage side of your EasyTouch, because it is not up to code.. That said, a lot of people have done it, and the world did not end.

I would not let that stand in my way if I wanted to do it..

The real problem is the way the pump will operate when using relays instead the EasyTouch's RS-485 com-port.

Here is a quick example.. Below is a list of my pump speeds for each "Circuit".. This just means that when I switch on the Pool, or Waterfall, etc, the pump will automatically go to that speed. This is something that will not happen if you use the clunky relay logic. I am telling you now, you will not be happy with using relay logic.

Set up page 4.JPG

• Jimrahbe
• Apr 19, 2019

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks again Jim. So can I wire to the RS-485 com port?? If so, can you provide more details on how to do it? I know in your first response you mentioned the potential to "blow up the chips". When I initially talked to Pentair techs, they mentioned "wiring to the com port" so that I could turn the pump off/on remotely. But they were short on details on HOW to do that. I know where the com port is based on the wiring diagram, but that doesn't give me enough info on how to wire on the Hayward to bring to the Pentair com port.
Sorry for all the questions, but I don't want to mess this up. I've talked to several pool companies about doing the wiring and they aren't making me comfortable that they won't mess it up. Our current pool company (which I like) said they we're going to use an "adapter" but when I questioned them on what specific adapter, I found out that it was not correct and I had to inform them of that. (I confirmed it with the supplier)
George

 

[Jimrahbe]

George,

The Pentair IntelliFlo VS pump is controlled by two wire cable, that comes with the pump.. This cable has two wires, a green one and a yellow one.. The Green wire is connected to the "green" connector on the EasyTouch com port, and the yellow wire is connected to the "Yellow" connection of the com port. The com port has 4 pins, but the pump only uses the middle two.

Pin 1 - gnd (Black)
Pin 2 -DT (Green)
Pin 3 +DT (Yellow)
Pin 4 +15 VCD

Your pump has the same com port connector, which is labeled.

Pin 1 12 VDC
Pin 2 A
Pin 3 B
Pin 4 Com or gnd

Only two wires are used by the IntelliFlo.. I have no idea if your pump is the same.. I would wire Pin 2 of the EasyTouch to Pin 2 of the Hayward, and Pin 3 of the EasyTouch to Pin 3 of the Hayward.. Keep in mind that I have no idea if that is correct and even if it is, if it will work. I would not try this because the chips that it could blow up are in the EasyTouch..

Have you tried calling Hayward and see what they have to say??

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[GeoGolfview]

George,

The Pentair IntelliFlo VS pump is controlled by two wire cable, that comes with the pump.. This cable has two wires, a green one and a yellow one.. The Green wire is connected to the "green" connector on the EasyTouch com port, and the yellow wire is connected to the "Yellow" connection of the com port. The com port has 4 pins, but the pump only uses the middle two.

Pin 1 - gnd (Black)
Pin 2 -DT (Green)
Pin 3 +DT (Yellow)
Pin 4 +15 VCD

Your pump has the same com port connector, which is labeled.

Pin 1 12 VDC
Pin 2 A
Pin 3 B
Pin 4 Com or gnd

Only two wires are used by the IntelliFlo.. I have no idea if your pump is the same.. I would wire Pin 2 of the EasyTouch to Pin 2 of the Hayward, and Pin 3 of the EasyTouch to Pin 3 of the Hayward.. Keep in mind that I have no idea if that is correct and even if it is, if it will work. I would not try this because the chips that it could blow up are in the EasyTouch..

Have you tried calling Hayward and see what they have to say??

Thanks,

Jim R.

Jim,
Thanks. Yes, I have called Hayward. They are the ones that suggested the relay method. Not sure if you can see the pictures I attached here (above) but they are the "instructions" from the Hayward technician I talked to on how to wire the Hayward VS pump to the Pentair ET. Let me know if you can see this them.
George

 

[Jimrahbe]

George,

I can see the relay connection pcs.. But, they have nothing to do with the RS-485 com port itself.

The black 4 pin connector in your above pic is an RS-485 com port.. For the relay set up, they are just using the 12 VDC and ground as an input to the relays.. The Com port itself is not being used.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[GeoGolfview]

George,

I can see the relay connection pcs.. But, they have nothing to do with the RS-485 com port itself.

The black 4 pin connector in your above pic is an RS-485 com port.. For the relay set up, they are just using the 12 VDC and ground as an input to the relays.. The Com port itself is not being used.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Ok. Gotcha now. But still scratching my head some. So, would you go with the relay setup Hayward suggests? Or try the comm port wiring (pins 2 & 3) as you mentioned above??? If it were you
Thanks for your time!!!!

 

[Jimrahbe]

George,

I don't see anything in your pump manual that says your pump will work with a Pentair automation system. You called hayward and they did not say it would work using the RS-485. Pentair did not say it would work.. So I would buy an IntelliFlo as I know it works. I would not use the relay set up as I would not be happy with it..

I did see where a Hayward salt cell works, and if I were going to try using the RS485 com port, I would use the same wiring configuration..

Hayward pin 3 goes to Pentair pin 2 (Green)
Hayward pin 2 goes to Pentair pin 3 (Yellow)

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Jimrahbe]

George,

I have been thinking about this, and just because I would not be happy with the relay set-up, does not mean that you won't be happy.

So, tell me what it is that you want the pump to do.. What pump operation and speeds would you like your EasyTouch to be able to control.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[GeoGolfview]

George,

I have been thinking about this, and just because I would not be happy with the relay set-up, does not mean that you won't be happy.

So, tell me what it is that you want the pump to do.. What pump operation and speeds would you like your EasyTouch to be able to control.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Jim,
Really, I just need to be able to 'control' the pump as far as turning it off/on when we need to (remotely). I can currently control the heater, but only when the pump is running. (currently scheduled to run 8am to 5pm on the pump).....so if we want to run the heater at night to warm up for morning swimming, we can't do this.
And when you describe the 'way the pump will operate with the relay setup'.....can you explain what you mean? Since I am new to pool ownership, I guess I don't really understand what is GOOD operations. The pump running and the heater working is 'good news' to me Please explain what is 'wrong' with using the relay setup(or what your concerns are with using it).
Thanks again for your time and efforts (and patience)!
George

 

[JamesW]

I would set up the Easytouch as a two speed pump control.

Use the two speed relay to change speeds of the pump using the relay inputs as shown in the manual.

 

[Jimrahbe]

George,

Using the relay set up, you basically have to tell the system to do two or more things to get it to do what you want, while with the RS-485 (IntelliFlo) you just need to do one thing and everything else happens automatically.

One of the things that you can do is to route the AC power to the pump through the pump/filter relay.. This would allow you to turn the pump on and off using a schedule. You can set the pump up to run at a slow speed (say 1500 RPM) 24/7.. This just means any time the pump/filter relay closes the pump will start and run at 1500 RPM, until the pump/filter relay is shut off.

What I would do is set Hayward pump timer 1 to run from say 7 am until 7 pm and then set timer 2 to run from 6 pm until 8 am.. When timers over lap, timer 1 always wins and then timer 2. This should cause the pump to run 24/7..

I suggest that we start simple and work our way up.. Let's start by routing the AC power to the Hayward pump through the Pump/Filter relay.

If how to do this is not obvious to you, then just show us some pics of inside of your EasyTouch showing the breakers, relays and wiring. The pump filter relay should be the one in the upper left of the cabinet.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[GeoGolfview]

I would set up the Easytouch as a two speed pump control.

Use the two speed relay to change speeds of the pump using the relay inputs as shown in the manual.

James,
Thanks...I did wondered if that was a good option too (Since my options are limited). So, to do that, would I just run a wire from the A port terminal on pump RS-485 block to one terminal on the 2 spd pump relay on the Pentair Easy Touch, and one wire from the B port terminal on the pump RS-485 to the other terminal on the 2 spd pump relay on the Pentair Easy Touch??(does it matter which wire goes where on the Easy Touch? The wiring diagram I'm looking at just shows to terminals without a 'label'
George

George,

Using the relay set up, you basically have to tell the system to do two or more things to get it to do what you want, while with the RS-485 (IntelliFlo) you just need to do one thing and everything else happens automatically.

One of the things that you can do is to route the AC power to the pump through the pump/filter relay.. This would allow you to turn the pump on and off using a schedule. You can set the pump up to run at a slow speed (say 1500 RPM) 24/7.. This just means any time the pump/filter relay closes the pump will start and run at 1500 RPM, until the pump/filter relay is shut off.

What I would do is set Hayward pump timer 1 to run from say 7 am until 7 pm and then set timer 2 to run from 6 pm until 8 am.. When timers over lap, timer 1 always wins and then timer 2. This should cause the pump to run 24/7..

I suggest that we start simple and work our way up.. Let's start by routing the AC power to the Hayward pump through the Pump/Filter relay.

If how to do this is not obvious to you, then just show us some pics of inside of your EasyTouch showing the breakers, relays and wiring. The pump filter relay should be the one in the upper left of the cabinet.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks again Jim! I will not be 'on site' where the pool is until later this month, so I will follow up with the pictures then (I really wish I had some for my own reference too!). When I get there, I'll try to get everything wired up and then follow up here to get input (I really do appreciate all you've already helped with)
George

 

[GeoGolfview]

George,

Using the relay set up, you basically have to tell the system to do two or more things to get it to do what you want, while with the RS-485 (IntelliFlo) you just need to do one thing and everything else happens automatically.

One of the things that you can do is to route the AC power to the pump through the pump/filter relay.. This would allow you to turn the pump on and off using a schedule. You can set the pump up to run at a slow speed (say 1500 RPM) 24/7.. This just means any time the pump/filter relay closes the pump will start and run at 1500 RPM, until the pump/filter relay is shut off.

What I would do is set Hayward pump timer 1 to run from say 7 am until 7 pm and then set timer 2 to run from 6 pm until 8 am.. When timers over lap, timer 1 always wins and then timer 2. This should cause the pump to run 24/7..

I suggest that we start simple and work our way up.. Let's start by routing the AC power to the Hayward pump through the Pump/Filter relay.

If how to do this is not obvious to you, then just show us some pics of inside of your EasyTouch showing the breakers, relays and wiring. The pump filter relay should be the one in the upper left of the cabinet.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Jim,
One additional piece of information that I got from Pentair. I had reached out due to a re-occurring error/warning that I was getting on my ScreenLogic app (a Low flow error for my IntelliChlor). I asked what a minimum RPM on my pump should be and the answer from Pentair was
"Hello,
Yes you need at least 40 GPM to activate flow switches on most products – that can’t be anywhere from 1700-2000 RPM on any given system on average.
Julian Janzen
Technical Support Representative
Pentair

So, does that mean I need to set my minimum RPM's setting to 1700 RPM??
Thanks...George