iAqualink Functionality - Expected Behavior

[AZMNGuy]

Good Morning,

I have a couple of very specific questions about how the iAqualink system handles schedules and also the Maintain Temp feature. I've experimented a bit myself and have spoken to the Zodiac support folks, but am getting conflicting information from Zodiac support and the Zodiac rep my pool guy has a direct line to. I'll try to be as detailed as I can.

First a bit of background. I have a very simple setup - Filter pump, heater, and water feature (three spillover pillars). Obviously, both the heater and the water feature require the pump to be running.

1. Maintain Temp - I have read in the documentation this feature was designed to run outside of other pump schedules and had one person at Zodiac confirm when you have Maintain Temp turned "On", this will trump everything else. Meaning, if I have my pump already running on its normal schedule (overnight for cleaning) and maintain temp is enabled, when it kicks in to check temp and heats to temperature, it will shut off the pump when it's complete even though I have a schedule that says it should remain running at that time. Does this sound correct?
2. Water feature schedule - I was advised by my pool guy and his Zodiac Rep backed him up that in order to automate the turning on/off of my water feature, all I need to do is create a schedule for the water feature. This is because the system is smart enough to determine "hey, water feature is on. I need to now turn on the pump." And it should then shut it off at the end of the water feature schedule. I have found this not to be true - I was having to operate the pump manually and when I called Zodiac, they confirmed this - I would also need to create a schedule to coincide with the water feature. Does this sound accurate?
3. I have scoured the system/documentation, and have had Zodiac confirm you cannot stagger/create more than one Maintain Temp schedule. I was told in order to be the most cost-effective, I should leave it running 24 hours per day so it doesn't have to do much work to maintain the temp of the water. However, I also have my pump/filter schedules to run overnight. So do I have a solution here? How can I have the Maintain Temp feature enabled 24 hours per day and also have my pump run on its own schedule for 7 hours overnight? I haven't sat up all night to watch the behavior, but my Wife is currently at the home (it's a home we are renting out) and says the pool looks dirty. I'm wondering if it's because the pump keeps getting shut off and is off for 1-2 hours at a time.

Thanks everyone, and sorry for the rather verbose posting.

 

[Dodger]

I'm sure Jandy experts will chime in, but since you haven't gotten a reply all day, I'll start on #2.

How do your currently turn the water feature on? Is there an automated valve?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Guy,

I'm not all that familiar with Jandy, but all these systems are somewhat the same...

On the surface, it would appear that all I need to do to turn on my water feature is to push one icon named Waterfall.. The valve turns the waterfall on and the pump runs at 2800 RPM...

But.. Behind the curtain those are two separate actions... I have to initially set up a program (Circuit in Pentair speak) which I named "Waterfall", but could be anything I wanted. Then I have to tell the automation that I want that circuit to control a valve. At that point, pushing the waterfall icon will cause the valve to turn, but will do nothing to the pump. If I want the pump to come on, I have to tell the pump control page to run whenever it sees the waterfall circuit is on..

Again, I am not sure how this is done in your system, but it sounds correct to me that you will need to set up two things to make the valve turn and to make the pump run..

I have the following page in my set up, where I assign speeds for my pump.. Do you have anything similar in your system?



You can see for each program or circuit, this page tells the system what speed the pump should be running.

Sorry for the wait for an answer.. We are pretty slow this time of year..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[FloridaPoolGuy]

Good Morning,

I have a couple of very specific questions about how the iAqualink system handles schedules and also the Maintain Temp feature. I've experimented a bit myself and have spoken to the Zodiac support folks, but am getting conflicting information from Zodiac support and the Zodiac rep my pool guy has a direct line to. I'll try to be as detailed as I can.

First a bit of background. I have a very simple setup - Filter pump, heater, and water feature (three spillover pillars). Obviously, both the heater and the water feature require the pump to be running.

1. Maintain Temp - I have read in the documentation this feature was designed to run outside of other pump schedules and had one person at Zodiac confirm when you have Maintain Temp turned "On", this will trump everything else. Meaning, if I have my pump already running on its normal schedule (overnight for cleaning) and maintain temp is enabled, when it kicks in to check temp and heats to temperature, it will shut off the pump when it's complete even though I have a schedule that says it should remain running at that time. Does this sound correct?
2. Water feature schedule - I was advised by my pool guy and his Zodiac Rep backed him up that in order to automate the turning on/off of my water feature, all I need to do is create a schedule for the water feature. This is because the system is smart enough to determine "hey, water feature is on. I need to now turn on the pump." And it should then shut it off at the end of the water feature schedule. I have found this not to be true - I was having to operate the pump manually and when I called Zodiac, they confirmed this - I would also need to create a schedule to coincide with the water feature. Does this sound accurate?
3. I have scoured the system/documentation, and have had Zodiac confirm you cannot stagger/create more than one Maintain Temp schedule. I was told in order to be the most cost-effective, I should leave it running 24 hours per day so it doesn't have to do much work to maintain the temp of the water. However, I also have my pump/filter schedules to run overnight. So do I have a solution here? How can I have the Maintain Temp feature enabled 24 hours per day and also have my pump run on its own schedule for 7 hours overnight? I haven't sat up all night to watch the behavior, but my Wife is currently at the home (it's a home we are renting out) and says the pool looks dirty. I'm wondering if it's because the pump keeps getting shut off and is off for 1-2 hours at a time.

Thanks everyone, and sorry for the rather verbose posting.

Hi. Did you ever get a definitive answer on how the Zodiac ‘maintain temp’ works? It seems like there is some logic to keeping the temp of the pool and spa at a base that is easier to get to your desired temp versus starting at whatever starting temp Mother Nature decides based on the ambient temp. But, logical does not mean it really is wise in terms of pump wear and tear or in terms of the economics.