Users Guide for Smart Recirculation Control Timers and Settings
Smart Recirculation Control Setup with the Smart Recirc SmartPhone Application
On Demand and Timers
This is a general overview of the Smart Recirc app and does not apply to all of our Smart Controllers. Each controller has its own features. If you’d like to see the complete functions for each controller, please see the App Guider under the appropriate Smart Controllers menu item for full details.
The Smart Controller can be used simply as an on-demand controller for your recirculation pump or, once configured using either an iPhone, iPad, or Android smart device, it can be configured via timers to keep the recirculation loop hot between specific times of day and on specific days of the week (up to 10 timers can be set). Even when a timer is active it only runs the pump until the recirculation loop has heated up and then it shuts the pump off while continuing to monitor the recirculation loop temperature.
Connecting the App to the Controller
The app uses Bluetooth in order to communicate with the controller so you need to be sure that Bluetooth is enabled on your smart device. The app is a free download from either the Apple App Store or from Google Play by searching for “Smart Recirculation Control.” There is no need to “pair” the Bluetooth device, running the app will find and connect to the Smart Controller and display the timers currently set.
The blue LED on the controller will illuminate when the app is connected. If the blue LED doesn’t illuminate, press the menu button at the top right of the app and select “Scan for Recirc Control”. Note: We have noticed that some Android devices can occasionally have a hard time connecting, so if it fails to connect after pressing the “Scan for Recirc Control” menu item a couple of times, try restarting the app.
Once connected you can tap any of the existing timers to edit or delete them or press the Add Timer button to add a new one. The real-time clock in the Smart Controller is set when you connect to the controller with your smartphone. When a timer is active the green LED will be lit. When the Smart Controller turns the pump on, the LED will change from green to red. When the loop is up to temperature the pump will shut off and the LED will change back from red to green.
When connected to the controller via the smartphone app, the blue LED will always be lit. To know if the pump is running or a timer is active, select “Live Data” from the menu and it will provide the status of the pump and timers.
The Smart Controller has a built-in power backup that will keep the clock’s time for approximately 48hours after which the clock will lose its time and the controller’s timers won’t function until the time is set by running the app and connecting to the Smart Controller.
The clock does not adjust for daylight savings time so when the time changes you will need to connect to the SmartRecirculation Control 32 with your smart device and the time will be set to the time of your smart device.
Smart Controller Settings:
The app also allows for controlling all the settings of the firmware of the Smart Controller. To access the settings press the menu button in the top right of the app and select “Settings”. There will be a list of basic settings and the ability to expand the settings to “Show Advanced Settings”.
Basic Settings:
Sensitivity – The sensitivity setting allows the user to set how many pulses of the flow meter are required to turn the controller on. The default value is 20 which is fine for most installations. If you find that the controller is not turning on when you turn a faucet on and off, you would decrease this value to make the controller more sensitive to flow(require fewer pulses to turn the controller on). Correspondingly, if you find that the controller is turning on when there is no timer active and no hot water being drawn, you would increase this number to make the unit less sensitive to fluctuations in flow (require more pulses to turn the controller on).
Temperature Range – The temperature range setting allows the user to set the temperature differences that cause the controller to turn the pump on and off. When the controller senses flow, it checks to see if the temperature difference between the two temperature sensors is greater than the large difference and if it is, it turns the pump on. It runs the pump while reading the temperature sensors until the temperature difference is less than or equal to the small difference. The default large difference is 8 F deg and the default small difference is 5 Fdeg. These values work fine for most installations, however, if you find that the controller is turning on and never turning off, you should increase the value of the small difference. See Trouble Shooting page 8, item 4.
Timers Enabled – This switch manually enables and disables the timers. This can be used to turn the timers off when you go away on vacation or to simply turn them off if you just want to use the on-demand feature of the controller. The Smart Controller implements “Smart Timers” which, regardless of this setting, will automatically disable themselves if no hot water usage is detected within 24 hours. The timers are re-enabled as soon as hot water flow is detected.
Advanced Settings:
Dormant Interval – The dormant interval is the number of minutes that the controller lies dormant after sensing flow and heating up the loop. As long as there is hot water flow within the dormant interval, it is assumed that the temperature sensor on the outlet of the water heater has an accurate temperature reading and therefore the pump doesn’t need to run unless the temperature difference gets greater than the large difference specified in the Temperature Range setting. Therefore when flow is detected within the dormant interval, the dormant interval timer is reset. The dormant interval is also the number of minutes that the controller waits when a timer is active between pump runs. If you want the pump to turn on more quickly while a timer is active or more quickly between pump runs when you draw hot water you would reduce this value. This value is set to 10 minutes which is fine for most installations.
Flow Meter Delay – The flow meter delay is the amount of time in hundredths of a second during which time the controller counts the number of pulses that occur in the flow meter. If the number of pulses is above the sensitivity threshold then the controller deems that there is flow in the hot water line. This value is set to 75 hundredths of a second which is fine for most installations.
Initial Pump Run Time – The initial pump run time is the number of seconds that the pump runs when it first senses flow if there hasn’t been flow within the dormant period. This is to ensure that water from the water heater makes it to the first temperature sensor in order to obtain an accurate temperature comparison between the two temperature sensors. When a timer is active the pump will turn on every dormant interval for the length of the initial pump run time in order to check the temperature of the recirculation loop. This value is set to 10 seconds which is fine for most installations. If the temperature sensor for the hot water outlet is installed some distance from the water heater this value may have to be increased.
Reset to Factory – This will reset the Smart Controller back to the factory defaults. If you experience strange behavior of the controller, resetting to the factory defaults would be a good thing to try to resolve the issue. This will also reset all the timers back to the 4 factory default timers so if you have changed the timers you will need to reset them after performing a factory reset. You must type “yes” when prompted in order for the factory reset to take place.
Firmware
The firmware of the Smart Controller can be updated via the smartphone app. To check if there is new firmware available go to the menu and select Firmware. If there is new firmware available it will be displayed and the selection will be enabled. Select the firmware and click the “Update Firmware” button.
The update can take up to 5 minutes to complete. Do not allow the application to go to the background or the phone to sleep while the firmware update is running or the update will fail. The system is designed to only switch to the new firmware if the update is successful so if this does happen simply attempt the firmware update again.
There is an option on this screen to “Show All Firmware Versions” which will display the firmware from our entire product line. The sensor requirements for the different firmware versions are different so updating to a different product without understanding the implications may provide unexpected results. Please see our web site for a description of the different products.
