HIGH FC Reading!

[pooldv]

Here is what I do with my Intelliflo pump

1100 rpm for skimming and making chlorine with SWG. We have a LOT of trees that drop stuff. When trees are really busy pump runs 24x7, when they aren't very busy it runs 12 hours. Keeps leaves and stuff in the skimmer and off the bottom. I have to empty my skimmer baskets twice a day or more almost all the time. I have my valve set at 80% skimmer and 20% bottom drain. Pump uses 150 watts at 1100 rpm and costs less than $12/mo to run 24x7.

For skimming, waterfall and SWG I use 1500 rpm.

When solar heat is available the Solartouch ramps the speed to 1950 rpm which uses 550 watts and provides plenty of flow for solar.

When I am brushing I ramp it to 2500 rpm and all bottom drain to suck up the debris.

 

[khsjes27]

We do have a Polaris 360 cleaner. No waterfalls, no spa.
We have 1 skimmer, 2 main drains, 3 returns + the Polaris hook up.
Pentair Sandollar Filter SD60

Let me ask it a different way - aside from the salt water chlorine generator, is there anything else in your pool that you need to run? Examples would be - in-floor cleaning system, suction or pressure side cleaners, water features like waterfalls or bubblers, deck jets, or an attached spa?

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How many skimmers, main drains and returns do you have?

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And what model and size sand filter do you have?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

We do have a Polaris 360 cleaner. No waterfalls, no spa.
We have 1 skimmer, 2 main drains, 3 returns + the Polaris hook up.
Pentair Sandollar Filter SD60

Ok, so I don't necessarily think you need to have a split schedule with two different speeds but it depends on how you want to run your pool. Basically you want to provide sufficient flow to your IC40 all the time your pump is running and have enough flow to run your Polaris when you have to clean the pool.

Do you run your Polaris all the time? How do you control the pressure-side cleaner - is there a shutoff valve?

So one thing you can do is experiment with the IntelliFlo's speed setting and see at what RPM your IC40 stop's working (Low Flow light on). That will be your minimum speed setting. Next, adjust the speed up until you get sufficient flow to run both your IC40 and your Polaris at the same time and add on a few extra RPM's (maybe another 50 or so) to account for pressure changes as your filter starts to load up (as you filter gets dirty, the system pressure increases and the water flow rate decreases). That speed will be the max speed you need.

Now here's the trade-off/balance with filtration versus chlorine production - skimmers and sand filters work better at lower speeds, pressure-side cleaners need higher speeds to get them to run efficiently and the more flow you have through the IC40 cell, the more chlorine you get in the water (roughly speaking). You can run a split pump schedule if it helps you with utility rates, but the most important thing is determining the pump speeds you need to have everything run satisfactorily.

 

[NeedMoreSun]

And some of us have an enclosure and keep forgetting we even have skimmer baskets because they're almost always empty.

I just recently got my SWG set up and also WAY over-shot where it needed to be. I had really high CYA, so that combined with the enclosure i wasn't burning off much. Instead of slowly turning it down I just simply turned it off and kept checking FC until it was getting close to where I wanted it and then turned it back on a lower setting. I only did it once per weekend while home to watch close but it seemed easier to me than just turning it down and not know how long I should then wait to know if it changed much.

 

[khsjes27]

Your response and help has been tremendous!! Thank you! We are going to see what happens over the next few days with some tweaking. Again, thank you, thank you!!!

Ok, so I don't necessarily think you need to have a split schedule with two different speeds but it depends on how you want to run your pool. Basically you want to provide sufficient flow to your IC40 all the time your pump is running and have enough flow to run your Polaris when you have to clean the pool.

Do you run your Polaris all the time? How do you control the pressure-side cleaner - is there a shutoff valve?

So one thing you can do is experiment with the IntelliFlo's speed setting and see at what RPM your IC40 stop's working (Low Flow light on). That will be your minimum speed setting. Next, adjust the speed up until you get sufficient flow to run both your IC40 and your Polaris at the same time and add on a few extra RPM's (maybe another 50 or so) to account for pressure changes as your filter starts to load up (as you filter gets dirty, the system pressure increases and the water flow rate decreases). That speed will be the max speed you need.

Now here's the trade-off/balance with filtration versus chlorine production - skimmers and sand filters work better at lower speeds, pressure-side cleaners need higher speeds to get them to run efficiently and the more flow you have through the IC40 cell, the more chlorine you get in the water (roughly speaking). You can run a split pump schedule if it helps you with utility rates, but the most important thing is determining the pump speeds you need to have everything run satisfactorily.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Your response and help has been tremendous!! Thank you! We are going to see what happens over the next few days with some tweaking. Again, thank you, thank you!!!

Glad to help. Enjoy playing with the pool pump and getting it dialed in. As one of the great experts here on TFP said-

"Eventually TFP will make your pool care so routine and boring that you'll be trawling the threads looking to solve other people's problems!"
-Richard320

Cheers!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[swimcoachtdawg]

I also have a SWG and my chlorine tends to run high (around 10 right now), even though my pump only runs 8 hours a day and I have the SWG set on 42%. I haven't really been concerned about it since everything else seems to be right on. However, today it was about 11 and shows my pH is high (around 7.9), and my A is 100, and seeing the comment about high chlorine affecting pH, I'm not sure whether to trust these numbers. I think I'll turn it down a little and test again in a few days if the chlorine comes down some. With being indoors, my chlorine tends to come down very slowly.

 

[jblizzle]

Shorten the pump run time to lower the amount of FC produced. No need to run 8 hours ... Save some money on power.

 

[Patrick_B]

Yes! Do save some money!!!