Intentionally Simple
Jandy’s SpeedSet Controller with FlyWheel Navigation revolutionizes pump programming
When the Fluidra team set out to create a new pump controller, they knew the status quo wouldn’t cut it. After conducting interviews through extensive pool professional focus groups, in addition to employee feedback, they discovered most people found controller screens to be too small and navigation menus too complicated.
From there, Steve Jones — senior project manager of pumps, filters and valves for Fluidra — and his team got to work on the Speedset controller.
“We gave them that big screen,” Jones says. “And with that big screen, we give a lot of information in a very easy-to-read format.”
As a result, the screen on the SpeedSet is the largest one preinstalled on a variable-speed pump in the industry. Through this simple screen, users can set up to 10 schedules, eight timed runs, a dedicated clean setting and more. The pump can also be stopped for service, and the controller can be positioned in different ways, allowing for the optimal angle when viewing and servicing.
Then, it was time to tackle navigation. Other controllers, including some of Jandy’s, have a grid of arrows, but research showed that was tedious, and some menu structures were even four layers deep.
“We came up with this flywheel navigation dial, and it also doubles as the enter button,” Jones says. The dial allows users to scroll through the menus as well as change and save settings.
Collin Parrish, owner of Blue Desert Pools in Gilbert, Arizona, is a fan of the design.
Navigation is super easy with the flywheel. There’s no more guessing what each button does to navigate through the menu, which is phenomenal.”
Collin Parrish, Blue Desert Pools
“Navigation is super easy with the flywheel,” Parrish says. “There’s no more guessing what each button does to navigate through the menu, which is phenomenal.”
During an early test of the controller, a rep encouraged Parrish to skip the instructions and dive into the product with fresh eyes. Within two minutes of playing around, he was able to work the controller and has yet to even open the manual, Parrish says.
“If you can go to the settings on your phone and change something, you can absolutely reprogram a Jandy pump, which is how it should be,” Parrish says.
Another feature that he likes is the auxiliary relay programming. This speed-based feature offers both convenience and safety as it allows for power from other equipment to go through the pump relays. For example, you wouldn’t want the booster pump that drives a pressure cleaner running without the main filtration pump running. It wouldn’t have enough flow rate to move the water by itself; but if you use the auxiliary relays, you can set the speed for when the booster pump comes on.
The auxiliary relay programming, Parrish says, is a powerful tool, as is the user lockout feature.
The user lockout feature allows pool service professionals to lock the programming, essentially blocking homeowners from changing the settings. Homeowners can also use this feature to stop visitors or Airbnb renters from altering the programming. If the lockout is not used and someone changes the settings, there is a setup history feature that allows the system to restore the previous settings, similar to a restore point in a computer.
Josh Johnson, president of Pure Aquatic Solutions in Santa Barbara, California, was excited about the innovations that came with the new controller because of Jandy’s reputation for robustness.
“Jandy makes a quality product that rarely needs a warranty, and when it does, they always stand behind it,” Johnson says.
His favorite features include the automation pass through, which allows the homeowner or pool professional to pause the current programming, make changes and resume the programming. For example, if pool chemicals are added and the system needs to run for two to four hours at a faster speed to circulate them, it can be set to run for that additional time and then resume normal programming.
The simple menu system, Johnson added, is something he’s looking forward to when it comes to training others.
“There isn’t stumbling over different weird menus, or ‘Oh, you have to remember to press and hold these three buttons to get into the secret menu’ kind of thing,” Johnson says.
The design of the controller is intentionally simple, so homeowners and service teams can quickly learn and be comfortable with the system.
“It’s user-friendly, which is rare in the pool industry when it comes to pumps,” says Brandon Reed, owner of Pool Volution in Rancho Cucamonga, California. “I don’t know why, but the engineers like to make things more complicated, to where you have to take an hour-long class to figure things out.”
When Reed installed the pump, he also decided to forgo reading the instructions, and it took a matter of minutes to program it.
On the Jandy website, along with all of the features of the controller, is the phrase “fast, simple, full-featured control.” After all the interviews and testing, that’s exactly what they’ve accomplished, Jones says.
