How to temporarily (15 minutes) override VSP speed on Aqualink RS system?

[ramblinwreck001]

Next week I'm having Jandy IQ904PS (Aqualink RS PS4 Pool-Spa Kit) automation system installed by a local pool pro. Currently I'm using the basic iQPUMP01 controller which allows me to control and schedule speeds for my main filter pump (only), so this will be a nice upgrade.

I've been familiarizing myself with the Aqualink RS system in anticipation of the install, but there's one thing I do now with my iQPUMP01 controller that I can't figure out how I will do with the full Aquilink RS system. I'm hoping someone here can tell me how.

I run my filter pump 24/7 and the schedule looks something like this:
9PM - 10AM : 1750 RPM - low flow just to keep pump primed (equipment is uphill of pool/spa)
10AM - 1PM : 2200 RPM - booster pump runs here
1PM - 9PM : 2000 RPM - baseline daytime operation

I usually make my muriatic acid additions in the morning between 7-8AM, and at this time the pump is still running slow (1750 RPM) as per above schedule, so when I add the acid by slowly pouring in front of a return jet, I like to temporarily kick up the pump speed to 2400 RPM for 15 minutes to help disperse the acid. Using the iAquaLink mobile app with my iQPUMP01 controller, there is a "custom speed" option which makes this possible:

Selecting this function runs the pump at 2400 RPM for 15 minutes and then automatically returns to the normal schedule.

How do I do this in the full Aqualink RS system? I'm assuming there must be a way, something like "Quick Clean" button found on pumps, but for shorter time periods (15-30 minutes). It doesn't need to be infinitely adjustable like the option I show above, if I could set an "on-demand" routine (2400 RPM for 15 minutes) and assign that to a button in the App, that would be OK too.

Thanks for help.

 

[ajw22]

Let's see if @PoolGate can help.

 

[PoolGate]

The only thing I can think of that would do this is to create a OneTouch program to increase the speed and then go into the device runtime applet and set it for 15 minutes.

 

[ramblinwreck001]

Thanks @PoolGate. A cursory look at the OneTouch function and that does seem like the kind of thing I'm looking for.

If create a OneTouch program (let's call it "Quick Circulate") with a Device Runtime of 15 minutes, what happens when the 15 minutes is up?
Does the pump revert to its previously scheduled speed? This is what I want.
Or does it stop the pump. This is not what I want.
Or is that a configurable behavior?

I am looking at the iAquaLink documentation but not seeing this, but it's a 50+ page manual and I'm still learning so entirely possible I've overlooked what I need.
Thanks again for your help.

As an aside, I'm a little surprised there isn't a built-in OneTouch (or similar) program for this kind of operation. My old non-smart pump had a "Quick Clean" button, surprised there isn't something analogous in the iAquaLink interface. I do see a OneTouch CLEAN MODE program, but that seems to be for in-floor cleaning that I do not have.

 

[PoolGate]

The OneTouch sucks, quite frankly. If you get the OneTouch working properly however, the 15 minute runtime should work fine. Concentrate on the OneTouch first.

 

[ramblinwreck001]

Thanks.
I'm shelling out about $4K for this automation system for my Jandy equipment and it sounds like doing this could be a struggle.
This leads me to ask the question: Is what I'm trying to do weird or unusual?
If there's a better way to achieve what I'm trying to do without having to rely on a function which "sucks", then I'm all ears.

 

[PoolGate]

My pool pump is on 24x7 for my swg at low rpm like 1500. I never worry about bumping speed for adding acid. And I add a gallon a week.

 

[HermanTX]

I am like @PoolGate - My baseline rpm is 1550 and that is sufficient to disperse acid and activate my flow switch for the SWCG.
However, if you want to set up a specific run time - I have set up Clean Mode on my One Touch. It turns on the booster pump. I then went to Device Runtime and selected that One Touch label (Clean Mode) and set it to 45 mins. So if I want to run my cleaner outside of my normal schedule, I click on One Touch to select Clean Mode and the cleaner will run for 45 mins and shut off. However, I think it is a bug in the system - it will sometimes shut off both booster pump and filter pump after 45 mins. Truthfully, I do not use it much because it is erratic but that is how it is supposed to work. I have Revision T.2 firmware so yours being new will likely be V or W and maybe they fixed that part.

So if you would set up a One Touch there are several steps to go through
When you set your 8 speeds for the VS Pump - name one of them Disperse Chem (for example). Then set the pump speed you wish.
Then go to One Touch set up create a Label called Add Chemical (for example). You would then select VS Speed Adj to be on. When you do that it will jump to another screen showing the 8 speeds you have set for the VS pump. Select the Disperse Chem label. Then save it all.
Now go to Device Run time setup and select Add Chemical mode. Then input a time and SAVE it.

Now from the home screen you would select One Touch = then select Add Chemical and it should run at the higher speed for the defined run time.
This will all make sense when you see the screens.

However, I revert back to my first sentence - so long as you have your minimum speed for circulation - just add your Acid and it will disperse in 30 minutes.

 

[ramblinwreck001]

Thank you @HermanTX for the detailed explanation! I think that's clear and I will try this once my system has been installed.

The only thing I'm worried about is that I absolutely do not want the main pump shutting off at the end of the "Add Chemical" program (or ever, really). My equipment is uphill of the pool and it takes some effort to re-prime. I had a check valve installed on the suction side which helps, but I don't want to have to depend on that, that's more to prevent all the water draining out of the line when I do pump/filter maintenance.

As far as the acid dispersing at low RPM, I know you guys are right, I'm just exercising an abundance of caution. I've seen a few videos showing muriatic acid dropping straight to the bottom of the pool, kicking up the RPMs for 15 minutes let's me feel better about that (and is dead simple to do on the much more basic iQPUMP01 equipment I have now).

 

[HermanTX]

Well there is a manual way to increase pump speed which is much easier and I do that for various reasons. The dashboard of the AquaLink will have an icon called VS Speed Adjust. Click on that, then select one of the 8 preset speeds. The only thing is that it will not automatically go back to the lower speed in a given time frame. But you can always set your phone alarm for 15 mins then go back to the VS Speed Adjust and put it back in Pool speed.

 

[HermanTX]

The only thing I'm worried about is that I absolutely do not want the main pump shutting off at the end of the "Add Chemical" program (or ever, really). My equipment is uphill of the pool and it takes some effort to re-prime. I had a check valve installed on the suction side which helps, but I don't want to have to depend on that, that's more to prevent all the water draining out of the line when I do pump/filter maintenance.

So I ran my cleaner through the One Touch button. I have a pressure side cleaner so it activates the booster pump and the filter pump. I have the Device Run time for the Cleaner function using One Touch to be 45 minutes. Well, at the end of 45 mins both the booster pump and filter pump turned off.

Since I run my pump 23 hrs (the 1 hour off is early morning), I plan to uncheck the filter pump on the One Touch set up, so now the Device Run Time will only turn off the booster pump.

As with any software, there are nuances that can be worked around as we learn more how the programming was set up.

I have not set up a change in Pump Speed but I may try that and see what happens. I will keep you informed.

 

[HermanTX]

So if you would set up a One Touch there are several steps to go through
When you set your 8 speeds for the VS Pump - name one of them Disperse Chem (for example). Then set the pump speed you wish.
Then go to One Touch set up create a Label called Add Chemical (for example). You would then select VS Speed Adj to be on. When you do that it will jump to another screen showing the 8 speeds you have set for the VS pump. Select the Disperse Chem label. Then save it all.
Now go to Device Run time setup and select Add Chemical mode. Then input a time and SAVE it.

Now from the home screen you would select One Touch = then select Add Chemical and it should run at the higher speed for the defined run time.
This will all make sense when you see the screens.

@ramblinwreck001 & @PoolGate
I redid my tests again for your scenario.
per the above instructions, I set up a One Touch button and labeled it Mix Speed.
I then assigned it a VS Adjustable Speed which opened up my 8 defined pump speeds and I selected High_Speed (that is the name of one of my speed labels)
I then went into Device Run Time and selected my One Touch Label called Mix Speed and set it for 10 mins.
Then back at main menu I selected One Touch and then pushed Mix Speed

Upon selection of Mix Speed in the One Touch section, the VS pump increased its speed to my designated speed for High_Speed, it ran for 10 mins and then the VS pump slowed back down to my normal Pool Speed. It accomplished what you need it to do.

So - you can program the One Touch in AquaLink. It will run at a certain speed for a set period of time then revert back to the normal Pool speed. The One Touch is for On-Demand activities and not part of your normal programmed schedules.

 

[ramblinwreck001]

@HermanTX, thank you for the very detailed instructions!! I implemented this and it worked exactly like I wanted!

My Aqualink system was installed yesterday, and while I have a thousand questions (that I will make separate posts for, because holy cow, what an antiquated, quirky, non-intuitive piece of software that is!), I did get a basic schedule setup and and got the OneTouch scene setup exactly like you said and it works perfectly.

I'll share exactly what I did here with screenshots in case it helps anyone else in the future.
Also, please let me know if you spot any issues with this setup, since I'm brand new to this and could have errors.

Step 1. Schedule to ensure Filter Pump is running (I run my pump 24/7).


Step 2. Create a new AUX and VSP custom speed for my 'mixing speed' setup. Here I'm using Speed 8, setting to 2300 RPM, and calling it "Speed 2300", and assigning it to an AUX with the same name (less likely for me to screw this up).



Step 3. Create my "Mix Chems" OneTouch scene. It seems to me that the important thing here is that the Device Setup has Filter Pump as OFF. I think this is what prevents the pump from shutting off when the OneTouch RunTime has completed (or gets disabled manually). Instead, I ensure the Filter Pump is running via my main schedule shown in Step 1.



Step 4. Specify a Device Runtime for this OneTouch scene. I'm using 10 minutes here.


Step 5. Now when I'm about to pour acid in front of the return, I simply toggle "Mix Chems" on the "OneTouch Scenes" tab in the app, and the system handles the rest. It increases the pump speed, runs that increased speed for 10 minutes, and then the OneTouch scene automatically turns itself back off and returns the Filter Pump to the previously scheduled speed -- which is exactly what I want.


NOTE: 10 minutes was as long as I was willing to stand outside in the cold by my pump this morning to make sure it didn't shut off when activating this OneTouch scene. I'll increase to 15 minutes.

 

[ajw22]

Continue asking your Aqualink questions on this thread.

 

[ramblinwreck001]

Hi Allen, OK, will do. I thought it might be easier for future folks to find info on single-topic threads, but it is certainly easier for me to post all my Aqualink questions here!

First question is -- how do I configure it my Filter Pump truly runs 24/7 without stopping? Using the schedule shown in the first image of my last post, the Filter Pump stops at 8:59AM, and then re-starts (with a priming cycle) at 9:00AM. This is unwanted and unnecessary. I was hoping it would know that a 1 minute gap (which is as small as it will let me make) means I want the pump to run constantly. I don't want that extra priming cycle every day.

The dinky little iQPUMP01 module I was using previously had no problem doing this, so I really hope there's a way to do this in the full Aqualink system..

EDIT: Would overlapping my cleaner schedule (which calls for pump+booster) across the 1 minute filter pump schedule prevent the pump from stopping? Or is there a better way that doesn't require me to run my cleaner every day?

 

[HermanTX]

how do I configure it my Filter Pump truly runs 24/7 without stopping? Using the schedule shown in the first image of my last post, the Filter Pump stops at 8:59AM, and then re-starts (with a priming cycle) at 9:00AM. This is unwanted and unnecessary. I was hoping it would know that a 1 minute gap (which is as small as it will let me make) means I want the pump to run constantly. I don't want that extra priming cycle every day.

It is a quirk of the software that will not allow a start and end time to be the same time. Thus you have to have it 1 minute or more to set the schedule

Would overlapping my cleaner schedule (which calls for pump+booster) across the 1 minute filter pump schedule prevent the pump from stopping? Or is there a better way that doesn't require me to run my cleaner every day?

This may work. I have never tried that. I have a 1 hr stop in early morning (for no particular reason other than I could not do the 24 hrs) You do not have to have the cleaner, just schedule a different speed such as you did with the Speed 2000. Just set it to run across the gap for the 24 hr cycle.
Tell us if that works.

 

[HermanTX]

This may work. I have never tried that. I have a 1 hr stop in early morning (for no particular reason other than I could not do the 24 hrs) You do not have to have the cleaner, just schedule a different speed such as you did with the Speed 2000. Just set it to run across the gap for the 24 hr cycle.
Tell us if that works.

Well I just tried it. I set a higher pump speed schedule to bridge the gap of the start-stop time for the 24 hr main filter pump schedule. IT DID NOT WORK. The filter pump schedule controlled the activity and it turned off the pump. When it reached the start time, it only ran the speed of the filter pump at the baseline speed (POOL speed) even though the Higher Speed schedule crossed over the Pool speed schedule. Because the Higher Speed schedule was not started after the Pool Speed, the system did not recognize the demand for Higher Speed. It just ran at Pool speed schedule.

I just think you need to live with the 1 min (or more) gap for a 24 hr schedule.

 

[ramblinwreck001]

I just think you need to live with the 1 min (or more) gap for a 24 hr schedule.

I understand this is the most likely outcome here, but I'm really disappointed this is the state of things. Jandy's own dead simple iQPUMP01 module let me do this, so it's really disappointing to learn there isn't a way to do this after spending several thousand dollars on their flagship automation software. It's a waste of energy, additional wear and tear on the pump, and an additional opportunity for my pump to lose prime and damage itself (my equipment sits at higher elevation than the pool).

I think I'm still going to try it with my cleaner schedule, because that is tied to the pump with an AUX relay via DIP #1. Either the cleaner running will ensure the filter pump stays running, or else the 1 minute gap in the filter pump schedule will kill both.

 

[PoolGate]

I understand this is the most likely outcome here, but I'm really disappointed this is the state of things. Jandy's own dead simple iQPUMP01 module let me do this, so it's really disappointing to learn there isn't a way to do this after spending several thousand dollars on their flagship automation software. It's a waste of energy, additional wear and tear on the pump, and an additional opportunity for my pump to lose prime and damage itself (my equipment sits at higher elevation than the pool).

I think I'm still going to try it with my cleaner schedule, because that is tied to the pump with an AUX relay via DIP #1. Either the cleaner running will ensure the filter pump stays running, or else the 1 minute gap in the filter pump schedule will kill both.

Mine has been running in this manor (5 minute gap early morning between start/stop) for 7 seasons with no issues at all. Season is @ 7 months.

 

[ajw22]

I understand this is the most likely outcome here, but I'm really disappointed this is the state of things.

You were already signed up to the Jandy ecosystem and did not have much of a choice. And pool builders don't care and continue to push Jandy. However Aqualink places third when compared to Pentair or Hayward automation. Jandy is the laggard, not the leader in pool automation. And the other manufacturers have their own disappointments.

That is why over a number of years I replaced all my Jandy equipment with Pentair and am happy I did.

You will learn to live with the quirks of Aqualink.