Need help with new Pentair VS pump and filter

[mbeck5]

Good morning. Yesterday had a Pentair intelliflo VS pump(up to 3hp) pump and 420 Pentair clean and clear filter installed. Ran for 12 hours at 2500 rpm with the flow valve weighted to the floor drain. The filter pressure was 10. You could see movement in the water and all the jets were working. There are 4 on one side and up to this point one has not worked but yesterday it did!! The kw reading on the pump at 2500 was 1050 or so. This morning I changed the pump to 1800 rpm, the kw reading dropped to a little over 400 and the filter pressure dropped to 5. Raised it to 2000 and the kw reading went to 600 but the filter pressure stayed at 5. Other than visually, how do you know what is working and what the right settings are? With a 42000 gallon pool, one turn in 8 hrs is 90 GPM(I think) but how do you know where that setting is? Any advice would be appreciated!!View attachment 40417View attachment 40419View attachment 40417View attachment 40419

 

[rphpool]

I have Pentair 3hp VS and 500 Pentair cartridge filter. I run at 1900 rpm and if memory serves me the kw is 240. Now I only have 8.5k gallon vs your 42k but I think as long as you see circulation and the skimmers are doing their job of keeping top clean the low speed will save alot of $$. What type of cleaner do you use? Might have to turn it up when it is in use. I have heard of guys running 1100rpm and pools staying perfectly clean. My 1900 speed seems to be my pools sweet spot and I increase to 2950 when pressure side cleaner is on.

 

[chiefwej]

Sound like you have already started the process...it's called trial and error. Look for a speed and run time that keeps the pool looking it's best while saving the most in power cost. I have the same pump. I run it a couple hours each am to clean (infloor system) and heat (solar) the pool, but most of time it runs at about 1100 rpm. Uses little more power than a single 100 watt bulb. If you have a SWG, you have to find a flow rate to keep it working and if you have a cleaner you should consider that. I just run high flow long enough to clean, chlorinate, and heat, then it's 1100 rpm for hours and hours. In fact I could probably cut back on the amount of time I run at low speed, but I love how clean it makes the pool and it's cheap at 100w.

 

[mbeck5]

Thanks for the responses, much appreciated. I also spoke with a Pentair tech who told me trial and error was the correct approach without some specifics I didnt have but 1600 rpm for 16 hours would be a good starting point. I dropped the rpm to 1600 and will see how that goes, it almost seems like there is no water moving and is very quiet. My "cleaner" most of the time is me because I have tried using a Zodiac Barracuda G3 for a couple of years with little success. With the other motor/filter set up, it always went to a corner and stayed there. With the new set up it moved much better, stronger and faster to the corner. They make an attachment that revolves and supposedly turns the hose so it will move out of the corner but with the other setup I tried two of those with no success. Not sure if I will invest in another to see if it works with this pump. I do use the the hose line to the Zodiac velcroed to a length of pvc pipe, snorkel and mask and I become the Zodiac!! Still vacuum the traditional way but if the Zodiac actually worked would be great. Had a Blue Pearl robotic that was fantastic but only lasted 3 years. I saw a Hammerhead professional cleaner at a hotel last year that was fantastic but 1500 bucks is the cheapest one so for now its me. Thanks again for your help.

 

[chiefwej]

You might want to look at the PoolCleaner they make a 2 wheel and 4 wheel versions, and it's supposed to work well wth VS, but that's for another thread.

 

[pooldv]

Turnover is not important in residential pools. You want to run your pump as low as possible and still have your pool clean and skimmed. Filter pressure and gpm are also not important. Except you need to pick a high speed to use to check your filter pressure to see if it needs to be cleaned. I use 2500 rpm to check, filter needs to be cleaned when pressure rises 20-25% over clean pressure.

Here is what I do
1100 rpm for skimming and making chlorine with SWG, 80% skimmer/20% drain. Uses 150 watts, filter pressure is 0ish.
1950 rpm for solar panels, 550 watts, don't know filter pressure
1500 or 1950 rpm when brushing the bottom with 80% drain and 20% skimmer

 

[mbeck5]

pooldv, thanks again for the info. Appreciate your help on this and other issues. This is great equipment, water looks and feels great.

chiefwej - thank you, have heard about the PoolCleaner in other threads and will check it out.

 

[pooldv]

You're welcome. Yes, that Pentair pump is really great. I love mine and will buy another one the day it breaks. There are a lot of people here happy with their intelliflo pump.

Reading back up I saw your comment about the water not moving much. My water is barely moving visually at 1100 rpm, but the flow from the returns, 6 of them, is pretty strong and there are always lots of leaves in my skimmer baskets and the water surface is clean.

And at 150 watts and 10.25c/kWh I can run my pump 24x7 for less than 12 bucks a month!

 

[mbeck5]

You're welcome. Yes, that Pentair pump is really great. I love mine and will buy another one the day it breaks. There are a lot of people here happy with their intelliflo pump.

Reading back up I saw your comment about the water not moving much. My water is barely moving visually at 1100 rpm, but the flow from the returns, 6 of them, is pretty strong and there are always lots of leaves in my skimmer baskets and the water surface is clean.

And at 150 watts and 10.25c/kWh I can run my pump 24x7 for less than 12 bucks a month!

Thank you for the information. Knowing your experience and numbers really helps. At 1100, I can see what you mean.

 

[sbcpool]

You might want to look at the PoolCleaner they make a 2 wheel and 4 wheel versions, and it's supposed to work well wth VS, but that's for another thread.

I have the two-wheeled version. I can run that thing for three hours and it still doesn't get the whole pool. It only takes me about 45 minutes to manually vacuum.

 

[chiefwej]

I have the two-wheeled version. I can run that thing for three hours and it still doesn't get the whole pool. It only takes me about 45 minutes to manually vacuum.

But that's 45 min of your time vs three hours that the pump was going to be running anyway.

 

[sbcpool]

But that's 45 min of your time vs three hours that the pump was going to be running anyway.

I only run my pump three hours a day. At $0.30 per kWh I'm not willing to run a single-speed pump longer than that.