- Nov 12, 2017
- 12,679
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
RE: app
I guess technically it's a new version of an old app. And a lot of the functions work the same. But the interface is completely revamped, so it feels like a new app.
I can vouch for the parity between the iPad and iPhone apps. It's awesome and now makes my iPad a functional part of my automation, where before it was just a sad kludge. I can't speak to where the Android app is at, in that regard. It seems it's older (Nov 2017) and less functional, based on some scuttlebutt, but I can't confirm that. Maybe it's due for an update?
RE: temp sensors
Hmmm, I can't now remember where I got my three sensors. I think they came with the solar kit, or maybe the pool guy that connected my solar system to my pad threw some in. I have outdoor sensors for various clocks around my home, but the one connected to my ET gives me outdoor temp on my Pentair Indoor Control Panel, which is handy. And it gives me outdoor temp when I'm out and about with my phone. So I get air temp in my yard, along with pool temp, on that widget I mentioned earlier, without having to fire up an app. Nice.
I have one sensor on the roof, I'm currently experimenting with it, inside of a glass jar, to see if the wind break improves performance. Seems to be.
And I just checked, my third one is in between the pump and the filter, so pressure side. It was put there by my pool guy, who was pretty smart about some things and pretty dumb about others. So the position of my temp sender is not much of an endorsement, other than it works fine.
You'd think the closer to the pool the sender is the better. But on the other hand, wherever it gets mounted, and whatever devices or runs of pipe are between it and the pool, that might affect the temperature in some way, can be compensated for within the ET's preference settings. There are settings for the temp sensors to fine tune what they're measuring and what they're reporting, so they can be dialed in as needed. Additionally, there's so much water moving through the system during a solar cycle (40GPM for my system, so what's that, a "fresh" gallon of pool water passing my sensor every second and a half?), I can't imagine much of a temp differential between the pool and the sensor, no matter where it is (as long as it's somewhere before the panels). In other words, I think you can put it where you want it.
One complaint about the way Pentair handles the sensors: my ET only reports pool temperature when in Pool or Spa mode, when the pump is running. Which makes sense. But I have additional pump cycles (one for cleaning, and one for high-speed skimming) that utilize the pump, and push water past the sensor, but the ET doesn't display temp during those cycles. I wish there was an interface element that you could configure to force the ET to display temp during any given pump run...
I guess technically it's a new version of an old app. And a lot of the functions work the same. But the interface is completely revamped, so it feels like a new app.
I can vouch for the parity between the iPad and iPhone apps. It's awesome and now makes my iPad a functional part of my automation, where before it was just a sad kludge. I can't speak to where the Android app is at, in that regard. It seems it's older (Nov 2017) and less functional, based on some scuttlebutt, but I can't confirm that. Maybe it's due for an update?
RE: temp sensors
Hmmm, I can't now remember where I got my three sensors. I think they came with the solar kit, or maybe the pool guy that connected my solar system to my pad threw some in. I have outdoor sensors for various clocks around my home, but the one connected to my ET gives me outdoor temp on my Pentair Indoor Control Panel, which is handy. And it gives me outdoor temp when I'm out and about with my phone. So I get air temp in my yard, along with pool temp, on that widget I mentioned earlier, without having to fire up an app. Nice.
I have one sensor on the roof, I'm currently experimenting with it, inside of a glass jar, to see if the wind break improves performance. Seems to be.
And I just checked, my third one is in between the pump and the filter, so pressure side. It was put there by my pool guy, who was pretty smart about some things and pretty dumb about others. So the position of my temp sender is not much of an endorsement, other than it works fine.
You'd think the closer to the pool the sender is the better. But on the other hand, wherever it gets mounted, and whatever devices or runs of pipe are between it and the pool, that might affect the temperature in some way, can be compensated for within the ET's preference settings. There are settings for the temp sensors to fine tune what they're measuring and what they're reporting, so they can be dialed in as needed. Additionally, there's so much water moving through the system during a solar cycle (40GPM for my system, so what's that, a "fresh" gallon of pool water passing my sensor every second and a half?), I can't imagine much of a temp differential between the pool and the sensor, no matter where it is (as long as it's somewhere before the panels). In other words, I think you can put it where you want it.
One complaint about the way Pentair handles the sensors: my ET only reports pool temperature when in Pool or Spa mode, when the pump is running. Which makes sense. But I have additional pump cycles (one for cleaning, and one for high-speed skimming) that utilize the pump, and push water past the sensor, but the ET doesn't display temp during those cycles. I wish there was an interface element that you could configure to force the ET to display temp during any given pump run...
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