Hooking Automatic Irrigation Valve to Jandy PDA

ummgood · Jul 7, 2017

Hi all!

I haven't posted in awhile so I figured I would post something I figured out. I had to pull the info from a bunch of different places and had to piece together the info so I figured having it all in one place might help.

Backstory:

I wanted an autofill when my pool was built. But due to my city permit requirements and some drought restrictions it made it impossible when I installed my pool. The PB was able to install a fill line for me that was hooked to a ball valve near my pool equipment. While this worked ok I desired the ability to turn on/off the fill line from my Jandy PDA remote. Well this past November a freeze forced my hand and my ball valve split in two. Even though the PB insulated the above ground line the freeze managed to get to the valve and crack it. I was worried this would happen again so I decided to bury the valve and plumbing in the ground. I also decided that I would try to add an automatic valve to the system so I could turn on and off the water with the valve. So after about an hour of digging and several trips to home depot I had a new Rainbird irrigation valve installed and a shutoff ball valve all underground. I also ran wires from the rainbird valve to the Jandy panel at the same time even though I didn't know how it worked and I didn't want to mess with it in the winter because I didn't have time on the weekends and it got dark before I got home from work. So until this summer I was just filling the pool by turning the manual override on the rain bird.

The Investigation:

So now how do I hook this stuff up? I took out a multimeter to the controller knowing that the rain bird valve needs 24V VAC. I figured I would turn on/off my bubbler which is on a JVA to determine if the voltage was compatible and it was. The white wire (leftmost) is 24VAC when the JVA is ON, the red wire (middle) is 24VAC when the JVA is OFF, and the black wire is the common. So I knew I needed to connect the two outside wires to the valve. Now the question is how to get the same 3 pin push on connector. I brought several home from work but they were all slightly the wrong size. Then I found out the part number for the Jandy part for the connector only (the darn JVA cables are ridiculously expensive I was going to buy one but for $50 it seemed exorbitant).

Parts Needed:
1 Irrigation valve (I used rainbird). Make sure it is 24VAC.
1 Jandy 2711 connector
2 Wires

Total cost for me was about $25 dollars

Install:

1. Install the sprinkler valve
2. Hook up the two wires to the two wires on the valve (color doesn't matter)

3. Press the two wires into the 2711 connector on the outside of the connector. Make sure they make a good connection.
4. Press the connector into an available AUX port.

Configuration:
1. Assign the aux that you connected to your sprinkler valve to an JVA. I assigned AUX5 to RETURN. MENU->SYSTEM SETUP->ASSIGN JVAs->{JVA NAME}->{AUX}
2. Label the aux that you connected your valve to FILL LINE. MENU->SYSTEM SETUP->{AUX}->GENERAL LABELS->FILL LINE

To use the fill all you have to do is go into equipment on/off and you'll see the FILL LINE listed. Even nicer is the Jandy knows to shut it off after 30 minutes because of the label.

JoyfulNoise · Jul 8, 2017

Excellent work but the pictures did not come through. Check your links.

One question - where does the fill line connect to at the pool? Do you have a traditional auto fill pot?

ummgood · Jul 8, 2017

I think I fixed the image links. I was sad that Photobucket changed their policies. I just deleted my Photobucket account. I am sad my old poolbuild thread probably is vacant of photos. I downloaded them but it will be a bunch of work to get them back online.

JoyfulNoise · Jul 8, 2017

ummgood said:
I think I fixed the image links. I was sad that Photobucket changed their policies. I just deleted my Photobucket account. I am sad my old poolbuild thread probably is vacant of photos. I downloaded them but it will be a bunch of work to get them back online.

PM leebo, he may be able to help you out.

Also, did you line the bottom of that irrigation access box with landscape fabric. If you don't, water will eventual cause a lot of soil redeposition and fill it up with sand. Your valve will get buried. I have experience with this as I will be digging up an irrigation box that was improperly buried.

Do you have a fill pot on the pool or dies the fill line just go straight into the pool wall?

ummgood · Jul 8, 2017

JoyfulNoise said:
PM leebo, he may be able to help you out.

Also, did you line the bottom of that irrigation access box with landscape fabric. If you don't, water will eventual cause a lot of soil redeposition and fill it up with sand. Your valve will get buried. I have experience with this as I will be digging up an irrigation box that was improperly buried.

Do you have a fill pot on the pool or dies the fill line just go straight into the pool wall?

I hadn't heard of the fabric idea. That usually isn't done here in Texas. I wonder if it is a regional spoil type thing. My soil is like digging in a rock garden.

The fill line comes out between a boulder and my bond beam. I couldn't put in a pot because of the city requirements. I would have needed an RPZ backflow that are prone to freeze and break. Plus every year you have to pay to get them inspected every year. The reason it is high up in the bond beam is I needed at least 2" of air gap between the maximum water level of the pool in order to avoid the RPZ. All of this is after the backflow for my irrigation system. It isn't good enough for the auto fill. They changed this code a year or two before I built my pool.

JoyfulNoise · Jul 8, 2017

The other nice aspect of the landscape fabric is it keeps critters out of the box....I have all manner of dead desert creatures in mine - tarantula, scorpions, etc. If the box is in a relatively dry area where rain water doesn't seep in, then it should be fine. We have very heavy clay and calcium laden soil here so, when dry it's like concrete. When it rains though, there's lots of sand and silt that gets drawn up and the box that I have problems with is in an area prone to flooding. So the box will fill with water and then dry out when the rains stop. The constant wet/dry cycle deposits quite a bit of sand in the box.

That's too bad about the change in code as it sounds like it was designed not for any specific rationale purpose but to force pool builders to abandon autofill installations. I have RPZ back flow preventers on all of my outdoor spigots, my irrigation loop of the water main and autofill line but there is no code requiring annual inspection at all. Most folks around here simply remove the ones on the spigots as they are a nuisance and do eventually freeze/lock up.

My question about the pot was simply to propose that you put a float valve on the line to protect against an accidental failure of the irrigation valve that would cause the autofill to go open. But, since the line goes straight to the pool, that's not an option.

Nice job on the automation! Do you schedule your fills with the controller on a regular basis or just turn on the fill when you see the water level is down?