VSP and Aqualink RS8

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daveturn33

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May 10, 2024
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Hello all- I had a Circupool SmartFlo 3hp VSP installed a few days ago and things aren't working as expected.
The power to my old single speed pump used to be scheduled on the RS8 to run most of the day and shut off for the night between midnight and 7am. After installation of the VSP, I removed the pump programming on the RS8 with no on or off times. The VSP is simply powered on all the time and runs it's own schedule.
Unfortunately, the VSP doesn't appear to run it's schedule on auto mode. Upon programmed speed changes, the pump shuts down on the RS8 and will not restart on its own. The VSP works perfectly if enter service mode, but that means my other programs (Polaris) will not execute.
Any ideas?
 
daveturn33 said:
The VSP is simply powered on all the time and runs it's own schedule.
Click to expand...
Are the wires connected to the Filter Pump relay in the AquaLink box? Are they connected to the #1 and #3 terminals (counting from the left side) where main power is connected as well?

Suggest you set a schedule in Aqualink for Filter Pump to run from 3am to 2:59am Every Day. This will activate the Filter Pump relay to be always on (Aqualink does not allow a full 24 hr schedule)
Then your VSP should operate on its own programmed schedule.
 
HermanTX said:
Are the wires connected to the Filter Pump relay in the AquaLink box? Are they connected to the #1 and #3 terminals (counting from the left side) where main power is connected as well?

Suggest you set a schedule in Aqualink for Filter Pump to run from 3am to 2:59am Every Day. This will activate the Filter Pump relay to be always on (Aqualink does not allow a full 24 hr schedule)
Then your VSP should operate on its own programmed schedule.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the quick answer. No wiring was changed in the Aqualink box so the relays must be connected. I will try setting the schedule as you suggested but will simply having no on off at all for the pump cause shutdowns at speed changes during the day? This morning at 5:30 I switched back to auto during speed 1. At 7:45 (scheduled speed 2) total shutdown.
 
My understanding is that Aqualink does not control anything of the pump other then it supplies power to the pump. Correct?
So your old pump was a 1 speed and it was connected to the LOAD side of the relay in the Aqualink box. This allow the Aqualink schedule to control the on and off times because the Filter Pump relay (the top left relay in the Aqualink box)
Now that you have a VSP so it should NOT be connected to the LOAD side of the filter pump relay. It needs constant power.
However the filter pump relay needs to be ON to allow other things such as the booster pump, etc to operate.
Maybe show us a photo of how the new VSP pump is wired for power.
 
HermanTX said:
My understanding is that Aqualink does not control anything of the pump other then it supplies power to the pump. Correct?
So your old pump was a 1 speed and it was connected to the LOAD side of the relay in the Aqualink box. This allow the Aqualink schedule to control the on and off times because the Filter Pump relay (the top left relay in the Aqualink box)
Now that you have a VSP so it should NOT be connected to the LOAD side of the filter pump relay. It needs constant power.
However the filter pump relay needs to be ON to allow other things such as the booster pump, etc to operate.
Maybe show us a photo of how the new VSP pump is wired for power.
Click to expand...
Ok thanks. You are correct that the RS8 only turns the power on and off to the pump. The VSP is simply wired to 240 power and ground like the old single stage. I understand what you're saying about needing constant power. I just thought that anytime the RS8 is programmed to supply power, that profile would work. I had no idea the pump would sense some power change that shuts it down between speeds. Maybe its the wattage change the RS8 doesn't like so it does the shutdown and not the pump.
 
The VSP should have constant power - not on and off as the old single speed pump. I am not positive but I think each time the VSP sees power then it restarts its schedule. Each mfg of VSPs may have different logic. So you want to avoid that by connecting your pump (2 wires for 240V) to the LINE side of the Filter Pump Relay. That would be terminals 1 and 3 counting from left to right. That is where your main supply should also be connected coming from the circuit breaker.
It may be easier if you snap a photo of your relays in the Aqualink box.
 
HermanTX said:
The VSP should have constant power - not on and off as the old single speed pump. I am not positive but I think each time the VSP sees power then it restarts its schedule. Each mfg of VSPs may have different logic. So you want to avoid that by connecting your pump (2 wires for 240V) to the LINE side of the Filter Pump Relay. That would be terminals 1 and 3 counting from left to right. That is where your main supply should also be connected coming from the circuit breaker.
It may be easier if you snap a photo of your relays in the Aqualink box.
Click to expand...
Ok will do
 
daveturn33 said:
Ok - sorry for the delay. Got busy. Here's a pic of the relay in the upper left. It already has 2 wires on 1 and 1 wire on 2
Click to expand...
This shows that the filter pump relay is NOT controlling your pump. I assume your pump is 240V based on the model but maybe need to confirm.
The 2 wires on the terminal 1 - one appears to be power in and the other is a jumper to power the relay directly to the right of it.
The single wire on terminal 2 - goes to which device? That is the LOAD side so must connect to some device.

The relay below it appears to have 2 wires on each terminal telling me that may be where the pump is set up. That would be a traditional 240V set up.
 
Ok I'll take a look now. The diagram on the box shows the upper left as the filter relay but who knows how they actually hooked all this up. I'll see if I can trace that single wire on the load of that relay. Thanks again.
 
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Follow up. Also verify the 2 wires that lead to the socket above are in the first socket. Sometimes they move which relay is governed by changing the socket it is plugged into. The norm is for the top left relay known as the filter pump relay is plugged in the first socket above it.
Refer to the schematic on the door of the Aqualink box.
 
Ok something important I left out (dunce) is that I have another 240 pump that's used just for the spa in spa mode. Looking at the relays, there are so many jumpers it's a mess. At the VSP there are only 2 blacks and the green ground in the conduit, but I can't find any hole that has 2 blacks and a green. Complicating all this mess is that I have a Polaris booster, a spa bubbler and wiring going to a disabled heater. It looks like power is jumped all over the place. Ill probably have to take a crowbar to the wallet and get somebody over here.
 

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daveturn33 said:
Ok something important I left out (dunce) is that I have another 240 pump that's used just for the spa in spa mode. Looking at the relays, there are so many jumpers it's a mess. At the VSP there are only 2 blacks and the green ground in the conduit, but I can't find any hole that has 2 blacks and a green. Complicating all this mess is that I have a Polaris booster, a spa bubbler and wiring going to a disabled heater. It looks like power is jumped all over the place. Ill probably have to take a crowbar to the wallet and get somebody over here.
Click to expand...
What I did on mine was to start at the pump, heater, etc and trace the conduit to the entrance port in the Aqualink box. Then mark that conduit hole from the inside the box with a Sharpie - i.e. VSP, Htr, Lght, etc. Then after that try to trace each of those to a specific relay.
You obviously have a lot going in there so just take your time.
 
Ok something important I left out (dunce) is that I have another 240 pump that's used just for the spa in spa mode. Looking at the relays, there are so many jumpers ita a mess. At the VSP there are only 2 blacks and the green ground in the conduit,
 
daveturn33 said:
Ok I'm going to give it a try. I have a lot of stuff to track down. Since I know zero about electrical it's going to take a while to figure out which conduit hole actually goes to the pump
Click to expand...
The easiest way is to start at the pump and move up to the AquaLink box.
It is suggested you go to the breakers and turn off all breakers to the pool equipment. This way no concern if you touch something with wet hands or a metal object.
 
HermanTX said:
The easiest way is to start at the pump and move up to the AquaLink box.
It is suggested you go to the breakers and turn off all breakers to the pool equipment. This way no concern if you touch something with wet hands or a metal object.
Click to expand...
I called support at Circupool and the tech suggested that I skip the Aqualink relay altogether and wire the pump directly to its own breaker and let Aqualink work the rest of the stuff on auto. Since I planned to run the pump with onboard scheduling anyway this may be a simple solution. My breaker box has plenty of room and is 4 feet from the pump. What do you think?
 
Ok Herman everything is now working perfectly and the pump is running its own schedule. The Aqualink is now on auto and the cleaner runs on schedule and I now have control over the spa and lights now that I'm off service mode.
I feel like an idiot because the fix was so simple and had nothing to do with my wiring at the relays. I had earlier removed the existing on off programming for the pump and set the Aqualink for 23 hours and 59 minutes as suggested to leave the pump on all the time. This time , however, I removed the pump programming altogether as if no pump existed, shut the power down, reset the time, hit the auto button and went to the pump to power it on manually. Voila- the pump is now on 24 hours and following the pump schedule.
So dumb. But it's working and I'm a happy camper.
Thank you so much for all of your help. Much appreciated.
 
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