@Zaffor
Now that is what I'm talking about. Incredible work you have done over there. Looks FANTASTIC!!!! 
Now that is what I'm talking about. Incredible work you have done over there. Looks FANTASTIC!!!! 
Our First Pool
- Thread starter Zaffor
- Start date
took some photos of the gas piping and electrical conduit for low voltage feeding the bowls.
now that I set it up, I can share how I programmed the heater bypass automation. My heater is an Ultratemp 160 wired to the intellicenter with com port (RS485)
On the intellicenter on the screen where you set your valve name and function, there is a pulldown menu. One of the options was ULTRATEMP which I chose for the bypass valve. On the pump programming screen i added ULTRATEMP with a speed of 30GPM. Now when the intellicenter calls for heat, the valve opens and the pump speeds up to 30gpm.
After I set this up I tried to find a way to schedule the valve to open once a week to flush the heater plumbing but ran into a hurdle. The valve will only work when the heater turns on. I couldnt find a way to just schedule the valve alone as its not a normal feature circuit. If I switch it to a feature circuit, I lose the automation tied to the heater. I was doing all my programming on the PC and did not find any way to add temperature to schedule to cause the heater to turn on. I even went as far as calling Pentair and spoke with several techs who finally determined that there was no way to do what I wanted to do. I fell back to the user manual and saw a page that described adding a schedule with a temperature using the intellicenter screen interface. I went over to the actual panel and there it was!!! I added a schedule to run once a week on sunday for a few minutes and was able to set a temperature!! Unfortunately I was unable to activate just the valve alone, but with running the heater for 5mins once a week it gets the job done. I guess perhaps it can serve as an exercise for the heater as we likely wont use it much in the summertime.
I know there are other methods of automating heater bypass, but they seem to be tied to not running heater with com port (RS485)
***Updated Below***
On the intellicenter on the screen where you set your valve name and function, there is a pulldown menu. One of the options was ULTRATEMP which I chose for the bypass valve. On the pump programming screen i added ULTRATEMP with a speed of 30GPM. Now when the intellicenter calls for heat, the valve opens and the pump speeds up to 30gpm.
After I set this up I tried to find a way to schedule the valve to open once a week to flush the heater plumbing but ran into a hurdle. The valve will only work when the heater turns on. I couldnt find a way to just schedule the valve alone as its not a normal feature circuit. If I switch it to a feature circuit, I lose the automation tied to the heater. I was doing all my programming on the PC and did not find any way to add temperature to schedule to cause the heater to turn on. I even went as far as calling Pentair and spoke with several techs who finally determined that there was no way to do what I wanted to do. I fell back to the user manual and saw a page that described adding a schedule with a temperature using the intellicenter screen interface. I went over to the actual panel and there it was!!! I added a schedule to run once a week on sunday for a few minutes and was able to set a temperature!! Unfortunately I was unable to activate just the valve alone, but with running the heater for 5mins once a week it gets the job done. I guess perhaps it can serve as an exercise for the heater as we likely wont use it much in the summertime.
I know there are other methods of automating heater bypass, but they seem to be tied to not running heater with com port (RS485)
***Updated Below***
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Just in case this can help anyone else, I was able to figure out how to activate heater bypass intellivalve without really running the heater. I looked through the Ultratemp manual and in the service menu (up/down arrows at same time) there is a setting called START DELAY which allows the user to set a delay for the heater to power on. I set the start delay for 1:30 minute and set the schedule on the intellicenter (with set temp of 99 degrees) for 1 minute once a week. The condenser fan on the heater will spin up but the heater will not switch on until the delay time has passed. This way I can flush the heater plumbing for 1 min and not have to actually run the heater. I can exercise the heater myself periodically throughout the summer but no need to run it weekly.
Also I noticed I can now set a temperature on the intellicenter phone app in the schedules. Not sure if this was there before and I overlooked it or if it was added. Pentair tech support claimed it wasn’t possible to set a schedule with a specific set temperature but apparently they were mistaken.
Also I noticed I can now set a temperature on the intellicenter phone app in the schedules. Not sure if this was there before and I overlooked it or if it was added. Pentair tech support claimed it wasn’t possible to set a schedule with a specific set temperature but apparently they were mistaken.
Installed Brilliance led landscape lights for the palms. Went with larger in ground fixtures with par32 bulbs. The color changing feature is very nice. I only got 1 in so far.
Combined my photos and videos of the pebble install into one compilation.
Photo showing landscape lights in the evening
Who lives in that house anyway? Famous Hollywood Movie Stars?.... BEAUTIFUL..
Should be on the cover of Insane Pools Special Edition.
Just one thing, before they come out for the photo shoot, maybe fire up the Fire Water Bowls?
Should be on the cover of Insane Pools Special Edition.
Just one thing, before they come out for the photo shoot, maybe fire up the Fire Water Bowls?
It did look artificial when I took that photo. Thats just an iphone too. Pretty good job of dark photo isnt it.
Thx
Our ledge chairs came in. Was on the fence about these because of the cost, but they do look real nice on that ledge.
Hard to see them in the dark. Lets hope they are as durable as they claim to be.
while in the building phase of our pool, someone recommended hair nets for the skimmer basket. What a great idea that was!! I usually swap out the hair net weekly or after the grass gets cut. Seems to keep alot of the smaller debris from making it into the filter. Small insects, some dog hair, and small grass clippings.
here is a photo of what it collects after the grass gets cut.
here is a photo of what it collects after the grass gets cut.