South Florida Pool & Outdoor Living - STARTUP PHASE

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If you buy another actuator (~$120) and you wire into the ET panel you can control the spa return line auto-magically and schedule it. That's what I do. Work well and I don't have to use the spa jets to run the spillway.


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South Florida Pool & Outdoor Living - STARTUP PHASE

And it so easy to turn on & off with just a few pushes of the buttons on my RF EasyTouch remote... :laughblue:


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Re: South Florida Pool & Outdoor Living - STARTUP PHASE

Jimrahbe said:
Matt,

I'm pretty sure you can't really count two cans and a string as "RF"...

Jim R.
Click to expand...

Well I used to keep a monkey chained to the equipment pad and had him push the buttons and turn the valves...it's "automation" if you look at it the right way...but then he started to throw his poop at us while we swam and the FC demand was just getting out of control so we sent him back to the zoo...




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Re: South Florida Pool & Outdoor Living - STARTUP PHASE

JoyfulNoise said:
Well I used to keep a monkey chained to the equipment pad and had him push the buttons and turn the valves...it's "automation" if you look at it the right way...but then he started to throw his poop at us while we swam and the FC demand was just getting out of control so we sent him back to the zoo...
Click to expand...

Funny, that is what I used to do with my kids... Unfortunately, the zoo would not take them back... :hammer:

Jim R.
 
Brian,

Your actuators are in the correct place, you just have an odd setup. Here is what I suggest:

-Close the valve to the Spa Return
-Schedule your pump to circulate water in the pool only for X number of hours
-Create a feature circuit called Spillway, assign the function Spillway add run this circuit 30 mins everyday during a time that overlaps the POOL schedule.

I know it seems like you should be pulling the water from the spa suction and returning it to the spa but you are much better off using the spillway function so you actually have a water exchange and you are essentially creating one body of water between the pool and spa.

I don't schedule any sort of suction from the spa drain as the spa gets used often enough that circulation in that section of plumbing isn't an issue - which is probably once or twice a month.

Your other option is to leave the spa return valve as is so the spillway constantly runs... The choice is yours.

Jim,

He can move the actuator to the location you are proposing but the trouble with that is when he wants to activate the spa jets, he will have to manually turn that horribly placed valve. That defeats the purpose of automation to me. Matt's proposal to add another actuator will also work but that is at the expense of an additional actuator that really doesn't serve a purpose and it will not operate as Pentair intended the Spillway circuit to operate.

Just because the pool was plumbed with that line doesn't mean it needs to get used. I have a vacuum line that I've never touched and probably never will.
 
bdavis466 said:
Brian,

Your actuators are in the correct place, you just have an odd setup. Here is what I suggest:

-Close the valve to the Spa Return
-Schedule your pump to circulate water in the pool only for X number of hours
-Create a feature circuit called Spillway, assign the function Spillway add run this circuit 30 mins everyday during a time that overlaps the POOL schedule.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Maybe I am still missing something. The only way I have found to turn on and off the spa spillway is through the manual spa return valve. If I turn that off how will a feature circuit turn on the spillway without opening that valve manually?

I really feel dense here...



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I think you are thinking your automation system is smarter than it really is...there is nothing smart about it.


The Pool Spa return valve is designed to rotate when the Spillway feature circuit is activated. If you don't already have this circuit set up then here is how you do it:

Menu> Settings> Circuit Names> Scroll to Feature 1 (or 2 or 3 or 4...) and set the name as SPILLWAY > Return to Settings Menu

Settings> Circuit Functions> Scroll to Spillway> Change Function to SPILLWAY> Return to Settings

Settings> IntelliFlo> Pump#1> Speeds> Scroll to Spillway> Set desired speed (***Should be lower than the SPA speed even if only by 10 RPM***)> Return to Menu

Menu> Feature Circuits> Scroll to SPILLWAY> ON (The valve will rotate and the pump will ramp up to your desired speed)



If you want to manually activate the spillway then just place the toggle switch on the back of the actuator into the opposite position.

Has ScreenLogic been installed yet?
 
bdavis466 said:
Jim,

He can move the actuator to the location you are proposing but the trouble with that is when he wants to activate the spa jets, he will have to manually turn that horribly placed valve. That defeats the purpose of automation to me. Matt's proposal to add another actuator will also work but that is at the expense of an additional actuator that really doesn't serve a purpose and it will not operate as Pentair intended the Spillway circuit to operate.

Just because the pool was plumbed with that line doesn't mean it needs to get used. I have a vacuum line that I've never touched and probably never will.
Click to expand...

Brian (1.0),

I'm going to have to sit down and draw this out on paper, because it still sounds wrong to me.. I must be more dense than Brain (2.0) thinks he is... :brickwall:

I was never in favor of manually turning the valve or even using the valve switch. I "assumed" it could be programmed to turn on/off using the EasyTouch.

Thanks for the feedback.

Jim R.
 
I think programming an EasyTouch is easier than trying to figure out which "Brian" you all are referring to :hammer:

Let's just call the "new" Brian "Grumpie" since it's a lifelong nickname.

"Old" Brian...well, there are many names we can call him but few would make it through the TFP decency filters...so let's just stick with "Brian".

Grumpie,

You are getting some serious tech support from two of TFP's Top Gun aces...

Top Gun: You can be my wingman anytime - YouTube


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Jimrahbe said:
Matt,

Funny you should bring that up.. "Maverick" was my team's name when I worked for a living...

View attachment 56992

Jim R.
Click to expand...

Jim,

I had no idea you were a young Asian guy?!? Totally doesn't fit the name...but hey, that's cool...


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Here is the plumbing setup:

Screen Shot 2017-02-12 at 2.12.53 PM.jpg

The Pool/Spa actuator is in the correct spot. The Spa return line is incorrectly named. It should say Spa Make Up Line because that is exactly what it is...a line that bypasses the Pool/Spa valve to allow the spa to circulate (on pools with no automation). The spa make up line usually bypasses the Pool/Spa valve and then ties back into the spa line and has a check valve in place so the spa doesn't drain to the level of the pool when the pump is off. In Grumpy's case, his line runs all the way to the spa.
 
Re: South Florida Pool & Outdoor Living - STARTUP PHASE

JoyfulNoise said:
Jim,

I had no idea you were a young Asian guy?!? Totally doesn't fit the name...but hey, that's cool...


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Click to expand...

I Think He's the one in the middle :scratch:



Here's a more typical spa make up line...

Screen Shot 2017-02-12 at 2.25.12 PM.jpg

Jeez...You can't even see that. Come on Lee! The attach file link is no good!

- - - Updated - - -

Photobucket for the win:

 
You forgot the line where you run your autofill pot from the neighbors spigot ...


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bdavis466 said:
Here is the plumbing setup:

View attachment 56991

The Pool/Spa actuator is in the correct spot. The Spa return line is incorrectly named. It should say Spa Make Up Line because that is exactly what it is...a line that bypasses the Pool/Spa valve to allow the spa to circulate (on pools with no automation). The spa make up line usually bypasses the Pool/Spa valve and then ties back into the spa line and has a check valve in place so the spa doesn't drain to the level of the pool when the pump is off. In Grumpy's case, his line runs all the way to the spa.
Click to expand...

Ok, I think I now understand... So in your drawing above, Matt's monkey valve would normally be set to shut off the evil Spa Return/Make up port. And rarely used if at all...

I honestly appreciate the help in understanding how this works..

Jim R.
 
Re: South Florida Pool & Outdoor Living - STARTUP PHASE

bdavis466 said:
I Think He's the one in the middle :scratch:

Here's a more typical spa make up line...

View attachment 56993

Jeez...You can't even see that. Come on Lee! The attach file link is no good!

- - - Updated - - -

Photobucket for the win:

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it would be much easier for me to become the "one in the middle" rather than trying to understand your plumbing set up. :bowdown:

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Ok, I think I now understand... So in your drawing above, Matt's monkey valve would normally be set to shut off the evil Spa Return/Make up port. And rarely used if at all...

I honestly appreciate the help in understanding how this works..

Jim R.
Click to expand...

Correct. There really is no purpose for it since the ET has full control of the Pool/Spa valve. If you didn't want the bubbles from the jets, it would be easier and less costly to put an automated valve on the air line. I did that on my own pool plumbing so I could have a clear view of everyone's feet :suspect:
 

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