Setup the waterfall with Pentair Easy Touch

[pandan74]

My pool has in floor cleaning system and the heads pop up sequentially including these in the spa. When the heads in the spa are working the waterfall is working but only until the heads switched to the pool heads. Is there any way to set it up that the waterfall will be going constantly, it means that the heads in the spa are up and won't circulate to the other heads in the pool. That would be great to have as an option eg for a pool party or when TA needs to be decreased and aeration would help.

 

[Jimrahbe]

74,

I think we are confusing two different functions.. The spa overflows, when the In-Floor system comes on because extra water is going in and it has no place else to go..

You should be able to add extra water through the spa jets that will do the same thing..

I suspect that if you crack open the top manual valve in the center of your pic, that it will let water into your spa on a constant basis. You should be able to adjust the amount of flow based on the valve position..

Try it and let us know how it works.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[rphpool]

Yes you can do what Jim suggested above. You have a ET4 so you should be able to set up a spillway program on one of the circuits ( if you have room left , only 4 for light version )

 

[pandan74]

Sorry for my delayed response. Crazy time here.
First, thank you for your reply. Jimrahbe, I am not sure what valve you are talking about. Are you taking about that one circled in red or in blue? The red one I use only for backwash, I have never touched the blue one so I am not sure what is for (sorry I am new to the pool things). But this would work more like manual way to turn the spillway on. It would be great to program the ET4. I think I do have one circuits free. As long as I know one is used to start the spa (jets and heating), the other one is only to turn the pool and spa lights on. [B]rphpool[/B] if you could help me to program it or let me know where I can find how to program it, that would be great.

For now I can stop the Paramount cleaning system from cycling by switching from run to pause when the spa nozzles are up. However I have been told I should not do that (unless really necessary) since this can cause damage to the valve or diaphragm (second pic in yellow).

 

[Jimrahbe]

74,

The one in blue.. It appears to me to be what is called a Make-Up valve.. Its purpose is to add water to the spa, when you are in the pool mode.. This will cause to overflow into the pool.

Do you have ScreenLogic???

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[pandan74]

74,

The one in blue.. It appears to me to be what is called a Make-Up valve.. Its purpose is to add water to the spa, when you are in the pool mode.. This will cause to overflow into the pool.

Do you have ScreenLogic???

Thanks,

Jim R.

No I do not have it (I had to google what ScreenLogic is . I do have only Pentair ET PL4 wireless controller which looks like this:

 

[Jimrahbe]

74,

I asked about ScreenLogic, because it takes about 15 seconds to set it up.. To use the little LCD screen, I'll have to remember how to do it..

Basically you set up an unused Feature Circuit, and set the Circuit Name to "Spillway" (It can be whatever you want), and the Circuit Function to "Spillway" When you turn on that Feature Circuit, the system will suck water from the pool and send it all to the spa..

You can assign a speed to the "Spillway" to make the pump run at whatever speed you want.

Does your remote have the same functions as the LCD on your main panel?

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[rphpool]

What are the 4 buttons on "your" ET4 remote programmed to?

 

[pandan74]

The first is called "spa" and it turns on the spa jets and the water heater. The second one is called "spa light", and the third one "pool light". 2 and 3 does the same thing: turn light in the pool and spa (I think you can not separate them anyway, so I am not sure why they did that) . The 4th one is not programmed at all, and I think the 3rd one can be reprogrammed since it duplicates the 2nd button.

Yes, it looks like my ET4 remote controller has the same functions as the LCD on my main panel.

I tried to read and understand the manual for Pentair ET PL4... God help me! All my degrees are for nothing No good Youtube videos either!

I called and mede an appointment with a guy who installed it for the previous home owners. It's been 2 months and he did not show up. He is not taking my calls anymore. I was planning to pay him for a visit!

 

[Jimrahbe]

74,

I'll try to walk you through it using the little LCD..

Let me set it up on my machine first to make sure...

Did you ever try to do it manually using the valve in the blue box???

Thanks,

Jim R

 

[Jimrahbe]

74,

Using your remote or the main panel, select Menu (you may have to hit it twice)

Scroll down to Setting and Select it

Scroll down to Circuit Names and select it.. you should see something like 1/18.. Meaning you are looking at the first out of 18 Circuit names

Scroll up until you find Feature Circuit #4.. You can use any number if 4 is already being used

Select #4 and it should start to flash.
Scroll up or dn until you find "SPILLWAY"

Hit Menu to save and Menu to go back to auto

To double check, select Menu and at the top of your list you should see F. Circuits. Select it and scroll down and see if Feature 4 now says.. "Spillway"..

Let me know if that works so far.. If so we can move on to the next step..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Skypalace]

You should be able to do this manually, I do this regularly with my ET, I already have my circuits used so haven't programmed a circuit for this.

From the EasyTouch control panel, I just set Mode to Service (or TimeOut if you want it to automatically shut off after a couple of hours), push the Valve button until you see 'Fill' (modes are Pool, Spa, Fill, and Drain). Sometimes I have to cycle through them once, as it will start in 'Fill' but my pressure-side Jandy valve is still set to output to the pool. Cycling back around to Fill always works). Then Press F to turn on the filter, and you're set - it should be drawing from the pool, and output to the pool.

I do the opposite to drain the spa, just use Drain vs Fill mode. I do this if spa chemistry is wonky (usually Chlorine), so can push all the water into the pool, more quickly than letting it Fill and slowly dilute to the pool chemistry. I also do this after using the hot tub, so I can reuse the hot water in the pool, vs. letting it slowly lose heat to the air. I figure it saves ~$10 of pool heater use. Using Fill works also, looks nice, but Drain is faster as it gets 100% (or 98%, I stop just before I sucks the drain dry) more quickly, then use Fill to fill it back up.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Sky,

The OP wants to run the spillover on a schedule not manually.. He actually already has a make up valve and could manually rotate it to cause the spillover to run...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[pandan74]

Thank you both. I will try to run/program as described and will let you know. Unfortunately I will be able to do that on Sat. Thanks a lot!

 

[pandan74]

OK, I found time to play with the settings today.

1. [B]Skypalace[/B], I tried your manual way and after I pressed F nothing happened. I saw the both valves changed positions once I pushed V button to Fill position, but the pump did not start (the pump was showing "0 RPM"). Why the manual way does not work?

2. Jimrahbe, yes you are right i would rather SPILLWAY programed to one of the button on the remote controler. Here is what I did:
a) Circuit NAMES - I set AUX3 (5/7) to SPILLWAY
b) Circuit Function - Changed SILLWAY to SPILLWAY (was Generic), Freeze No
c) Assign iS4 - Circuit 4/4 (AUX3) changed to SPILLWAY
I checked F.Circuti and I have two options FEATURE 1 and FEATURE 2 and both are [OFF]

When I push button AUX3 (which I was trying to program) nothing is happening. Should I also set up the pump seed for SILLWAY (1200 RPM?)(Settings/IntelliFlo/Pump #1/ Flow Speeds)?
For now I have:
1/4, RPM 2800, Circuit [POOL]
2/4, RPM 3150, Circuit [SPA]
3/4, GPM 30, Circuit [NONE],
4/4, GPM 30, Circuit [NONE]

 

[Jimrahbe]

74,

You must have a "lite" version of the EasyTouch if you only have two feature circuits.. ??

What is SillWay? The Circuit name can be anything you want.. But each time you use it, it must be the same...

Go out to the outside control unit, and with the pump running, and in the pool mode Auto, push the Aux 3 button.. Your Intake valve should stay in the pool mode and the Return valve should rotate to the Spa mode.

Tell me if that happens...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[pandan74]

74,
>>> Sorry, Daniel is fine

You must have a "lite" version of the EasyTouch if you only have two feature circuits.. ??

>> Possible, I am not sure

What is SillWay? The Circuit name can be anything you want.. But each time you use it, it must be the same...

>>> It's a typo, Should be SPILLWAY. It's one of the predefined names/functions in ET PL4

Go out to the outside control unit, and with the pump running, and in the pool mode Auto, push the Aux 3 button.. Your Intake valve should stay in the pool mode and the Return valve should rotate to the Spa mode.

>>> IT WORKS!!!! one of the valve changed position and the spa jets were working. My only question is (I know, sorry!) is it ok, to change the valve position when the pump is working?

Tell me if that happens...

>>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH for helping me with this. I appreciate your time

Thanks,

Jim R.
>>> Daniel

 

[Jimrahbe]

Daniel,

OK, now you need to set the pump speed you want spillway to run... (Assuming you have an IntelliFlo pump...)

Menu
Settings
IntelliFlo - Select
Pump #1 - Select
Speeds - Select
You will see 1/8.. Indicating you are looking at 1 out of 8 possible speeds
Scroll until you see [ None ]
Select and set the RPM you want
Select and scroll and find Spillway
Select...

Menu to save
Menu, Menu to get back to Auto.. In theory, this set the speed you want your pump to run when in the spillway mode. Keep in mind that this will only increase the pump speed.. If the pump is already running at 2K and you set the spillway to run at 1500, the pump will always run at the faster speed..

You don't want to go out everyday to run the spillway.. You want to schedule it to run each day for say an hour.. I would do it early in the morning before anyone is in the pool..

Menu,
Schedules - select
Mode flashes .. push up/dn to New
Select New
Set up schedule for every day for one hour.

Try it and let me know how it works..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[pandan74]

Daniel,

OK, now you need to set the pump speed you want spillway to run... (Assuming you have an IntelliFlo pump...)

Menu
Settings
IntelliFlo - Select
Pump #1 - Select
Speeds - Select
You will see 1/8.. Indicating you are looking at 1 out of 8 possible speeds
Scroll until you see [ None ]
Select and set the RPM you want
Select and scroll and find Spillway
Select...

Menu to save
Menu, Menu to get back to Auto.. In theory, this set the speed you want your pump to run when in the spillway mode. Keep in mind that this will only increase the pump speed.. If the pump is already running at 2K and you set the spillway to run at 1500, the pump will always run at the faster speed..

You don't want to go out everyday to run the spillway.. You want to schedule it to run each day for say an hour.. I would do it early in the morning before anyone is in the pool..

Menu,
Schedules - select
Mode flashes .. push up/dn to New
Select New
Set up schedule for every day for one hour.

Try it and let me know how it works..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Everything works now. Thanks a lot. I set the pump seed at 2000 rpm.
Thanks again!

 

[pandan74]

Hi Jim Jimrahbe,
do you have mid if i ask one more question "how to ...?"
I was wondering if there is any way to drain water from the pool? For now, I can do backwash but I am not sure if I should run backwash for extended period until half of the pool was drained. I should drain at least half of the pool since my CYA, Ch, phosphate and copper is high. I think it will be cheaper that way than but lots of chemicals to fix individual problem.
Thanks!
Daniel