Pentair EasyTouch 4/8 info

[MaverickFL]

Hi All,

My water feature that I'd like to control with a motorized valve controller is on a 3-way valve, it balances the returns with the water feature. WIll the valve controllers that come with the EasyTouch 4/8 work on a 3 way valve such that I can turn on/off the water feature and control the water balance incrementally electronically ?

Also trying to figure out if I need a 4/8. but I don't know if lights/valves take up the aux ports or not. I did read that I need one port for the pump. I would normally just opt for the 8 and not worry about it but all the products are so scarce right now and the prices are really high on the 8.

Here's what I need to control:
Pentair light
Heater
Pentair Pump
3 valves

THanks

 

[Jimrahbe]

M,

In general, 3-way valves controlled by an actuator, only have two positions. So, your 3-way valve becomes a two-way valve. This is true for Pentair, Jandy, and Hayward.

Anything that you want to control with 120 volts or 240 volts will need an Aux relay. The ET-4 comes with 4 relays and the ET-8 has 8 relays. One of these relays is dedicated to the Pump/Filter relay and can't be used as an Aux relay.

Pentair VS pumps do not need a relay as they are controlled by an RS-485 serial cable.

For every light, or group of lights, that you want to individually control, you will need a relay and an external light transformer. If you have three lights and you want them to be 3 different colors, you will need three relays and three transformers.

Valves do not need Aux relays. Note that the EasyTouch comes with 4 valve Drivers, but two of them are restricted to use as the Intake and Return valves that switch the system between the Pool mode and the Spa mode. This leaves you with two valve drivers that you use however you wish.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[MaverickFL]

Hey @Jimrahbe, thanks for all that info. I did forget to mention that I don't have a spa so I was looking at the EasyTouch pool only model, but I don't think that changes any of the information you provided other than that one probably doesn't come with the 2 add'l valve controls.

One follow up question, I understand what you are saying about the 2 way valve, that makes sense, but can I adjust the flow incrementally between the two as it appears you can do with the intellivalves? Otherwise I'm thinking I will get the unit that comes without the valves and add the intellivalves to it if thats possible? I would like the ability to change the flow rate to the water feature at different times during the day, ie since the shared valve is with the pool returns, I want to run the returns on high for a few hours of the day with the pump on a higher speed to move the water but then shift more water to the water feature later in the day and drop the pump speed.

 

[ajw22]

The IntelliValves are not Intelli. They work the same as the dumb valve actuators.

Pentair has yet to implement the functions to use the incremental stop feature of the IntelliValves. So all you have are two valve positions with the IntelliValves.

Users have been waiting years for this functionality. No one knows when we may see it. And then more likely in the IntelliCenter then in the EasyTouch.

 

[MaverickFL]

The IntelliValves are not Intelli. They work the same as the dumb valve actuators.

Pentair has yet to implement the functions to use the incremental stop feature of the IntelliValves. So all you have are two valve positions with the IntelliValves.

Users have been waiting years for this functionality. No one knows when we may see it. And then more likely in the IntelliCenter then in the EasyTouch.

@ajw22 , understand that I can't make incremental adjustments with the intellivalve but I can set start stop positions so that I can toggle the flow between more and less water diverted to the waterfall / returns. Can I do that with the standard motorized valves that come with the EasyTouch bundle ?

 

[ajw22]

@ajw22 , understand that I can't make incremental adjustments with the intellivalve but I can set start stop positions so that I can toggle the flow between more and less water diverted to the waterfall / returns. Can I do that with the standard motorized valves that come with the EasyTouch bundle ?

You can have two valve positions.

If one is OFF then the other is ON at whatever flow you want to set. That is it.

IntelliValve or standard actuator work the same right now.

 

[ajw22]

The only difference between the two actuators is with the standard actuator to change the two stop points you need to open up the cover and adjust cams.

With the IntelliVlave the stop settings can be adjusted manually on the top cover control panel.

 

[MaverickFL]

Excellent, thanks all for the invaluable information.

 

[Jimrahbe]

I want to run the returns on high for a few hours of the day with the pump on a higher speed to move the water

M,

Why? I suspect that you still believe in the old turnover myth. There is no truth in the idea that you have to "Turnover" X amount of water per day. Chemicals keep your water clear and sanitized, not the number of times you push water through your filter.

Not saying you should not run your pump anyway you want, but you should run it for an actual reason, not to just satisfy some myth.

I run my IntelliFlo at about 1200 RPM and that is plenty for my SWCG to work and for my skimmers to work, You have a heater so your minimum will probably be around 1500 or so.

Allen is absolutely correct about the valve actuators.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[MaverickFL]

Hi Jim,

Sorry, missed this post. I only have a single speed pump at the moment, so I was referring to 'high' in terms of flow out of the returns to get circulation on the pool surface and move morning surface debris into the skimmer before I cut the valve over to a higher flow out of the waterfall which tends to push the surface water more to one side than really circulate it.
I am ready to upgrade this single speed hayward, but as you probably know getting a Pentair pump right now is a bit challenging, I'm on a waiting list for an intelliflo, and I expect to mostly be able to run it as you mention, somewhere around 1500 provided that gives me the flow I want out of the waterfall.
Was able to get the valve set up as Allen recommended, thank you Allen. I'm a little frustrated that with all this technology that I can't have multiple set points to my water feature flow nor can I manually adjust it even if I wanted to. Not my favorite piece of Pentair engineering. was thinking that an actuator could be made to be set up as an intellibrite, interpreting the different 'colors' as set points but I'm way past my entrepreneurial days.

I also wanted to say thanks, to everyone who contributes here but especially you. Everytime I google for an answer on Pentair equip your name is always in the post. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed initially with the easytouch/screenlogic install, mostly because the instructions are a bit sparse, but thanks to all the information here I got everything setup and working perfectly.