Freeze protection - plumbing - hydraulics - automation question

[Silver_2000]

I have jandy controls that are connected to 3 pentair vs pumps, they have freeze protection circuit.
Also have swim jet pump, and cleaner pump.
Vs pumps are for filter, spa boost and water fall.
When it gets cold only the main filter pentair pump is set to come on. And it seems to ignore the programmed freeze protection setting. And it runs at whatever rpm it's programmed for for main filter use.

Is there some hydraulic connection that keeps water moving in the other 2 pentairs when only one is on ?

there is no freeze circuit for the other 2 pumps. I was told by one guy that he water drains out of those so don't worry about them.

What would you do in winter in dallas ?
Set all 3 pentairs to turn on at a low rpm ?
Cover the other 2 pumps ?
Use a drop light and a canvas drop cloth cover and call it done ?

Thanks in advance

 

[mas985]

Based upon your current temps, I wouldn't even worry about freezing:

Carrollton, TX (75006) Forecast | Weather Underground

I am not a big fan of the automatic freeze protection and here is why: The Physics of Freezing and Freeze Protection

I would only use it as secondary protection if at all.

 

[Silver_2000]

thanks - but Im not worried about this week
Im looking for information for the future

Eventually Dallas will have a couple days in a row of freezing temps again

If freeze protection is secondary to you, what is primary ?

Like one of the responders in the thread you linked "I favor "defense in depth" approaches"

 

[atttech-2]

I don't even think about it unless they start talking about a "hard freeze" and since that only happens a handful of times a year and only for a few hours at that it's not much of a concern. I did insulate the pipe to my water fall since it only gets flow when we are using it and I have my pump set to run from 4:30AM to 7:30AM for filtering which not coincidentally happens to be the coldest part of the day where I live. If you want extra insurance the drop light and a cover should work well and you don't need a big light either. When we go winter RV-ing in I use a strand of 100 incandescent outdoor mini Christmas lights and a hose cover I made with some Velcro and an old tarp I cut into strips and fashioned into a sleeve. The 35ft strand uses about 40watts, our supply hose has never frozen even when others we are with have.

 

[mas985]

If freeze protection is secondary to you, what is primary ?

Just tarping the equipment can drastically increase the time it takes for the plumbing to freeze even without a light bulb. But if the weather is severe enough to cause freeze damage (which is well below zero for more than 12 hours straight), then I would just drain the pad plumbing. It is much safer than relying upon automatic freeze protection and fairly easy to do if you have a filter with an air purge valve (just open it). We often get freezing weather here in the winter and I have never used automatic freeze protection.

 

[Leebo]

The largest thing I would suggest as Mark stated is to take a few minutes and learn about how to drain your equipment now while it's "nice" outside rather than in a panic when it's freezing. This is the only "fool proof" way to insure that your equipment does not freeze. Ten minutes now teaching yourself about your equipment will save you a TON of headache in the future IF worse case ever hits.

 

[Silver_2000]

I went with tarping because here the ground almost never freezes so The ground itself will help keep things a few degrees above freezing
and if I leave the one pump runnning really low rpm in freeze protect mode that pump should create enough heat under the tarp to keep the rest a few degrees warmer as well

Just looking for other options - ideas
The Jandy filter has a bleed on the pressure gauge so thats easy as well
Not sure if it will drain the pump baskets but I can test that this summer while its warm

 

[mas985]

Not sure if it will drain the pump baskets but I can test that this summer while its warm

Air should enter the pump basket as long as the basket is above water level. There may still be a little water at the bottom but that is ok. As long as there is room for the ice to expand, there should be no damage.