iAqualink 2.0 Scheduling and Things Not Turning On At the Right Time

[rams_man13]

Hi Friends,

Just bought a house with a pool a week ago, over my head in the set up.

Got the account opened with the iAqualink. Cleared the old schedule, created my own. After some fiddling (realizing the filter pump had to be scheduled to be on even in low speed mode, not to start and stop things at the same time, etc), I settled on this schedule:



Things seem to be working fine, except for some reason the Patio lights went on about 30 minutes before they should have. Pool lights went on at the right time.

This app is seriously outdated, any tips on what I might be doing wrong?

 

[ajw22]

What are your speed settings for Filter Pump and Low Speed circuits?

@PoolGate can tell you about the ghosts that seem to inhabit some Aqualink systems. While you think you cleared all schedules there may be schedules left in the system that are not displayed.

 

[HermanTX]

Welcome to TFP.
Can you advise what type of pump - make and model, and if you have a salt water chlorine generator (SWCG) or how do you chlorinate the pool?
It is best to schedule a total time for your pool as Filter Pump and set it for the lowest speed.
Then if you want to increase the speed for skimming or some other purpose, then schedule that in the same time frame as the total time.
For example
For weekdays - Filter Pump 7pm to 2am (that is 7 hrs) set the pump speed for this at the lowest speed desired, ex 1500rpm
Now change the Low Speed to High Speed - set that from 9pm to 2pm (5 hrs) - set that to ex. 2000rpm
The pump will start at 7pm (at 1500 rpm), auto ramp up at 9pm to 2000 rpm - then turn off at 2am
Also for example, if the High Speed would have been scheduled from 9pm to 1 am - The pump will start at 7pm (at 1500 rpm), auto ramp up at 9pm to 2000 rpm, auto ramp down at 1am to 1500rpm, then turn off at 2am

Do the same for the weekend.

The pool light schedule looks fine.
The patio light schedule looks fine as well but not sure why the 1 minute delay from the pool light.
I assume that pool light and patio light are on separate relays so that can be programmed individually.

 

[rams_man13]

Welcome to TFP.
Can you advise what type of pump - make and model, and if you have a salt water chlorine generator (SWCG) or how do you chlorinate the pool?
It is best to schedule a total time for your pool as Filter Pump and set it for the lowest speed.
Then if you want to increase the speed for skimming or some other purpose, then schedule that in the same time frame as the total time.
For example
For weekdays - Filter Pump 7pm to 2am (that is 7 hrs) set the pump speed for this at the lowest speed desired, ex 1500rpm
Now change the Low Speed to High Speed - set that from 9pm to 2pm (5 hrs) - set that to ex. 2000rpm
The pump will start at 7pm (at 1500 rpm), auto ramp up at 9pm to 2000 rpm - then turn off at 2am
Also for example, if the High Speed would have been scheduled from 9pm to 1 am - The pump will start at 7pm (at 1500 rpm), auto ramp up at 9pm to 2000 rpm, auto ramp down at 1am to 1500rpm, then turn off at 2am

Do the same for the weekend.

The pool light schedule looks fine.
The patio light schedule looks fine as well but not sure why the 1 minute delay from the pool light.
I assume that pool light and patio light are on separate relays so that can be programmed individually.

This would be under VSP set up under System Setup? When I click it, Application says not installed all the way down the list. Previous owner used Filter Pump alone for High Speed and Filter Pump +Low Speed for Low Speed. I believe it is a 2 speed pump, not a VSP. This schedule does seem to be working fine now. The pump kicks in at 7:01 (when our energy cost drops here in Ontario), goes into low speed mode at 9 and is off when I wake up the next morning (I assume it's shutting off at 2am).

Not sure the model or make of the pump (can check tomorrow), I do have a SWG - Nature2 FusionSoft, I have another post about that one.

Yes, pool lights and patio lights are on separate "aux". Can be programmed individually. I did the 1 minute delay just because I read that starting and stopping things at the same time causes errors, might have been an abundance of caution. Wouldn't mind switching that to the same time if it doesn't screw anything up.

Both lights did go off at the right time tonight though. But as I mentioned, the patio lights did go on 30 minutes earlier than scheduled today while the pool lights went on at the right time.

 

[PoolGate]

Let's see what shakes out. Maybe there might be an issue with the light transformer that is causing a delayed start. When you turn the lights on manually do they come on instantly?

 

[HermanTX]

This would be under VSP set up under System Setup? When I click it, Application says not installed all the way down the list. Previous owner used Filter Pump alone for High Speed and Filter Pump +Low Speed for Low Speed. I believe it is a 2 speed pump, not a VSP. This schedule does seem to be working fine now. The pump kicks in at 7:01 (when our energy cost drops here in Ontario), goes into low speed mode at 9 and is off when I wake up the next morning (I assume it's shutting off at 2am).

Not sure the model or make of the pump (can check tomorrow), I do have a SWG - Nature2 FusionSoft, I have another post about that one.

Thanks for clarification on pump type. 2 speed pump makes sense.
Does the 7 hrs of pump time make sufficient chlorine for your pool? I have not seen your other post.

 

[rams_man13]

Let's see what shakes out. Maybe there might be an issue with the light transformer that is causing a delayed start. When you turn the lights on manually do they come on instantly?

Yes, they come on instantly when I flip them on in the app.

 

[rams_man13]

Thanks for clarification on pump type. 2 speed pump makes sense.
Does the 7 hrs of pump time make sufficient chlorine for your pool? I have not seen your other post.

TBC to be honest. I haven't been in the house long, but I am having a No Flow error on my Nature2 Fusion SWG, so I also need to fix that issue.

If not, I will extend the time on the pump for sure. Pool is not very big, so I assume it will be ok.

 

[HermanTX]

haven't been in the house long, but I am having a No Flow error on my Nature2 Fusion SWG, so I also need to fix that issue.

If the pump is running and there is a no flow error then that is an issue that pump speed is not sufficient.
If the pump is off and the there is a no flow error then that tells me that the SWCG is still powered on even though the pump is off. That is not set up properly and potentially could be a bigger problem.
Let us know which is happening when the No Flow error comes on.

You may want to remove the front panel of the Aqualink box and snap a couple of pictures of how things are wired.

 

[rams_man13]

If the pump is running and there is a no flow error then that is an issue that pump speed is not sufficient.
If the pump is off and the there is a no flow error then that tells me that the SWCG is still powered on even though the pump is off. That is not set up properly and potentially could be a bigger problem.
Let us know which is happening when the No Flow error comes on.

You may want to remove the front panel of the Aqualink box and snap a couple of pictures of how things are wired.

Interesting. Didn't think of that. The error came on last night when it was on low speed mode.

I just ran a quick test, the high speed pump running and Status did not return that error. It also did not return the error when the pump was off.

So is that an indicator that:

1) The No Flow is not something to worry about and working properly?
2) The pool won't generate chlorine in low speed mode?
3) I should be running the pump on high speed for longer to accommodate?

 

[rams_man13]

Took some photos, hopefully this helps.

No "No Flow" error today with either the low speed or high speed pump settings. '

From yesterday when I posted: Jets seem to be working fine in high speed and low speed. Skimmer basket cleaned. PSI of about 16. AquaPure is set to 30%. Salt is 3300 PPM. These are all settings the previous owner had. Water temperature is 67F (not sure if that matters, someone told me it has to be a certain temperature to produce chlorine).

 

[HermanTX]

I just ran a quick test, the high speed pump running and Status did not return that error. It also did not return the error when the pump was off.

So is that an indicator that:

1) The No Flow is not something to worry about and working properly?
2) The pool won't generate chlorine in low speed mode?
3) I should be running the pump on high speed for longer to accommodate?

If there is not a flow error when pump is off then that is a good thing which indicates the power to the SWCG is terminated when the pump stops.
If there is a No Flow error, then that is a concern. The only time that a No Flow error should show is when the pump starts up initially and it may take a minute or so for the flow to register on the sensor. These sensors do go bad so that may be the first item to consider.
If the pump is on low speed and no flow error occurs then there is not sufficient flow either due to the pump speed is too low or the filter is dirty and the exit flow from the filter has been restricted.
The SWCG will not generate chlorine if flow sensor indicates there is not sufficient flow
The low temperature shut off is around 52-55 deg F if you happen to run your system into the winter months.

With regard to the follow up post. Thanks for photos. If you want to investigate how the pump and SWCG is wired, then it will be necessary to remove both the upper and lower panels so we can see the wiring from the circuit breakers to the relays that activiate based on schedules.

Now it is confusing that the SWCG seems to be working in both LOW and HIGH speeds. So for now, suggest just monitor it, and also monitor your filter pressure because if that increases that may reduce the exit flow below what is needed to activate the flow sensor.

 

[rams_man13]

Thanks for your help @HermanTX and all! Yesterday everything operated smoothly. Everything turned on and off as expected and there was no error through the cycle.

I will continue to monitor moving forward, so happy I found this community!