Liquidator Losing Momentum With Variable Flow

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C

crosley

Well-known member
Mar 27, 2014
46
Arizona
I have to say, I'm disappointed with my purchase of the Liquidator, but I was hoping to see if I could make improvements.

What happens is, if I start my variable flow pump at a high setting, say 3000rpm, and then back it down to 1500 rpm, my flow from the Liquidator stays around the 2-3 mark for several hours, but eventually, the ball in the meter is stuck at zero at the end of the cycle.

If I start out my pump at the regular setting, say 1500rpm, the flow meter stays at zero. I believe it is transferring fluid, but at a very slow pace.

Any idea what's causing this? I have the valve opened all the way and I also have the 3/8" upgraded line. My filter is clean and flushed regularly.

More and more, I'm regretting not going with a Salt water system, I find myself having to do even more work with the Liquidator.

My thoughts are the Liquidator is meant for single speed pumps. Already I have had to increase my RPMs substantially just to get this thing to work just a little bit.
 
The liquidator works off pressure differences. So they are generally calibrated to a single pump speed and thus do not work well with variable speed pumps running at multiple speeds. Additionally if your skimmer fills up and/or the filter gets dirty, the pump will pull higher suction and again change the rate of bleach addition.

I am not sure what to suggest to improve your performance, though.
 
Well the only reason I'm running my pump at different speeds is an attempt to get the Liquidator flowing into my pool.

Before I just had it set at around 1100rpm for around 15 hours a day. I found it just wasn't flowing enough chlorine, so i begin the cycle at 3000rpm for just a few minutes because it seems to get the Liquidator "flowing" chlorine into the pool.

If I just run a cycle of one low speed, I'm getting very little to no chlorine.

One solution might be to just have it come on a high speed a few more times during the entire cycle, just enough to get it going.
 
That's the major drawback of the LQ. If the suction head varies much for any reason it affects the flow of chlorinated liquid to the pool. If you want to run your pump efficiently, you probably want to consider either an injection pump or an SWCG. Even an SWCG may have problems working at very low flows, but will work at a lot lower flow than the LQ will.

Even on high flow, low head systems (i.e. aboveground pools with short plumbing and no valves) the LQ has a problem working.

What size is your pool?
 
It around 17,000 gallons. It an inground pool and the pumping station is slightly lower than the pool.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm probably leaning towards an SWGG system, my concern is I have natural limestone as a deck. Are the issues with this overblown?
 
Please add your location (City, State or City, Country) to your profile and pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you in the future.

Some people report problems with natural stone and others do not. Frequent sealing could help prevent problems.
 
i just installed my liquidator 2 days ago and i have a variable speed pump as well. when my pump kicks on to prime each day (at 2700 rpm) the flow meter is up at the top. when my pump speed decreases to it's normal setting of 1500 rpm, the flow meter reads about 3-3.5. so far i haven't noticed it dropping toward the end of a cycle. i was wondering about this very topic though because if it's not delivering enough chlorine i don't want to have to increase my pump speeds. we'll see!
 
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