Use a relay to control Pentair LED Pool Light?

Hi Folks,

I am new to the forum and new to SmartThings. I have been using the system for about a week and I am starting to get an understanding of what s is possible with the system.

In my pool I have a Pentair Intellibrite LED light that has 7 different rotating color modes and 5 different single color modes. Mine is installed as a simple outdoor switch and the color mode is change toggling the switch on and off a number of times. They do sell a $200 switch that allows you to directly access the color mode you want with the push of a button. I donā€™t have any additional pool automation and a larger control panel is not in my budget right now.

Light Manual: http://www.pentairpool.com/pdfs/IntelliBritePoolOM.pdf

I was thinking I could accomplish the same effect as the controller by writing a custom SmartApp that you could pick one of 12 different modes and it would send the appropriate number of toggles to a relay behind the switch. This would be my first SmartApp, so I am just looking for feedback or thoughts on how doable that is? I figure a $30 Monoprice ZWave relay and some code gets me more functionality than a $200 switch that I still have to get off my butt to change. Are there any existing SmartApps that I could use as a starting point that might have similar logic?

Thanks!

( Iā€™ve moved this to projects so you can get answers specific to your own set up. )

Welcome! You might be able to do this, itā€™s going to depend in part on how precise the timing has to be for the multiple toggles.

There have been some people in the past whoā€™ve been successful in setting up a relay as you describe to disable the motion sensing on an outdoor light switch that acquired a specific toggle pattern in a short period of time.

much depends on how precise the timing has to be

However, I donā€™t know if that is still working. Since that was done, a previously usable smart app, ā€œdouble tap,ā€ which was intended to capture multiple taps on the physical switch, stopped working because the cloud processing became inconsistent in how much time it took to process the taps and it became very hard to recognize the specific double tap pattern.

I understand your project is different, because you want to just send the multiple on/offs to the switch, not toggle at the switch , but I did just want to mention the double tap issue because itā€™s been a change in the last few months.

So I think yours is worth a try, but if it turns out to work sometimes and not others, the issue is probably the cloud timing. It might also work better for taps lower in the sequence, like one, two, or three and turn out not to work very well for 11 and 12. Again, thatā€™s just something you have to try and see.

related ideas

So hereā€™s the link to the on/off pattern project I mentioned. Youā€™ll see that I thought it wouldnā€™t work when it was first brought up, but @tgauchat , one of the grandmaster coders in the community, wrote some code that did work for that person, so I definitely think itā€™s worth a try. :sunglasses: ( Iā€™m always happy to be wrong in situations like this where the person ends up with a practical solution that works for them . )

Oh, and if you havenā€™t used custom code in SmartThings before, itā€™s pretty straightforward. Basically you copy someone elseā€™s code and paste it into your account. Hereā€™s the overview FAQ for how that works.

2 Likes

I also see in looking over that thread on the on/off sequence that towards the end @Mike_Maxwell mentions that a particular model of the Aeon in wall micro has a ā€œblinkā€ command with variable options. Having the on/off pattern controlled by the device itself is always better than sending multiple commands over zwave, since you only have to send one command and therefore avoid the precision timing issues I mentioned earlier. :sunglasses:

So if that fits your set up, that might be the best way to go. It certainly should be more reliable for the higher multiple sequences.

@Navat604 might also have more to add.

@JDRoberts thank you for the great links and insights! This is exactly what I was looking for. I am so happy I stumbled upon this great community!

1 Like

I think the Aeon micro relay and @Mike_Maxwell device handler is probably the the best choice for this since he implemented the strobe and blink options right in the handler. I am using this for my remote car starter and itā€™s flawless. Of course this is also depend on which voltage system is your light. I see 110v or 12v. The 12V is not going to work with this. Also I donā€™t see the wattage for the bulbs so you have to find out to see if the Aeon is right for it. I donā€™t have the link to the device handler at hand but if you are going this route then we can search the forum. The advantage of this module over the monoprice is also the power monitor as well. Keep in mind the location of the switch to the hub. Is range an issue and do you need a repeater?

Aeon micro

1 Like

In my wiring setup, the Pool light and the pool pump were both wired through the same double gang box and the space was at a premium. The electrician used stranded, low gauge wire (thick wire) that was very difficult to make work with the Aeon Micro. I ended up giving up on that approach and going with the GE Toggle Switch and it is working so far. It may just be me, but I think the small, in-wall relays are good for Romex solid wires, but not for stranded cable. The ports (or whatever they are called) where the line and load wires go in are way too close together for thick stranded cable. It is too easy for a strand of twisted wire to cross between line and load, causing the load to always be on.
This is my non-technical explanation, but I will share more as I build out my SmartApp to toggle the light the appropriate number of times per color.
Thank you for the community support!

-Erik

1 Like

Could solve that 2 ways - tin the ends, or use a pigtail - wire nut and solid wire (if one has the room).

I never worked with that relay, but have worked with many , many similar connections, if itā€™s rated for xx stranded - it will work :slight_smile:

Hey Erikā€¦ now that you have had this a while, how is it working? Did you build the app?

Thanks.

Hi All,

Very new to SmartThingsā€¦ I was wondering if anyone had any success with this project. I have a Pentair pool light and really want to make this work.

I tried using CoRE, but it seems like the ā€œFlashā€ command is very ā€¦ temperamental at best. This seems to match what otherā€™s have said in the help thread.

I have the AeonMicro switch and the custom device handler, but I donā€™t know enough about using device handlers and SmartApps to make it work.

@Mike_Maxwell, @Navat604 ā€“ do you have any good SmartApps that I could review using @Mike_Maxwellā€™s device handler? Just something that I can kinda check out and kinda ā€œreverse engineerā€ for my purposes. Thanks!

To use the built in blink/flash function of the aeon dth I wrote you need an app that can execute custom commands. Pretty sure core implemented this, but I do not know the details of that implementation.

The Flash command is emulated by sending a series of on/off commands. ST in general and zigbee/zwave in particular are not very efficient at this, so a hardware implementation is always desired. That means one command is sent to the device and the device does the rest. And @Mike_Maxwell suggests his DTH has such a command. You can execute custom DTH commands with both CoRE and webCoRE, so I strongly recommend going that route of using Mikeā€™s hardware implementation. CoRE shows a little house icon next to the custom commands, webCoRE shows the text custom to their left.

I am having a pool built and the company speced Pentair IntelliBright lights. I canā€™t use automation due to a custom heat recovery pool heating gizmo weā€™re trying out. But I want automated control of the lights.

Iā€™ve bought the Aeon Micro Switch that @Navat604 mentions above. Iā€™m going to try modifying @Mike_Maxwellā€™s device handler for that to be custom for the IntelliBright lights.

Before I go through all the hassle, if someone has found a ready-made solution for this, please let me know. :slight_smile: Thanks!

Wondering if you ever got this working consistently? I have the LED pool lights that require toggling a manual wall mounted switch. I have an Aeotec Nano Dimmer and wanted to give this a whirl if itā€™s working out for anyone. Otherwise, one could waste a ton of time for nothing.

im curious how this worked out tooā€¦ although there HAS to be a smart switch to replace the current one that can control the lightsā€¦ obviously if you just wanted white ON/OFF that would be any smart switch, but given you want color (as do i) it makes it a little harderā€¦