Pentair Intellilflow Variable Speed Pump Priming Problem

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Mass985

The prime sensitivity and maximum priming time are not the problem that shuts down the pum. If you refer to the manual that you provided the link to on page 17 you will see the following

Maximum Priming Time: The Maximum Priming Time can be set from 1 minute to 30 minutes. The
default setting is 11 minutes. This is the maximum amount of time the pump will try to prime before
giving an error. However if the pump does not see a sufficient amount of water in the pump basket this
can cause the pump to report a Priming Dry Alarm within seconds of the beginning of the priming cycle.

I put the part in bold letters about the priming dry alarm. This is what trips the pump, not the end of the maximum priming time. My maximum priming time is set for 5 min. If the pump runs without a Priming Dry Alarm, it usually primes in 10-15 seconds. However notice that the Primind Dry alarm trips if the pump does not see sufficient water in the pump basket. This definition of 'sufficient' water is what screws everythign up. If the system has siphoned the basket nearly dry, when the pump starts it runs at 1800 RPM for 3 seconds. Before it switches to maximum pump speed to begin priming, it must be doing some sort of scan to determine if sufficient water is in the basket - not sure how - but that is when the alarm happens - 3 seconds into the cycle. It does not even kick into maximum speed. If I reset the alarm and start over, it usualy primes just fine the 2nd (sometimes 3rd) time in under 10 seconds. The problem is Pentair shuts the Dang pump off before it really even tries to prime. That is the fault in their logic that screws everything up.
 
That really isn't the fault of their software logic. Nearly any pump is not going to prime if there is no water in the pump basket. The software is protecting the seals of the pump. If the pump primes when you fill the pump basket with water and then immediately turn it on, then the real issue here is the pump lid leaking air so all of the water gets siphoned out before the next pump cycle. There is not enough water in the pump basket for the pump to prime and so it faults. The only solution is going to be finding and fixing that air leak.
 
Mas985
Granted the air leak is the root cause - but I suspect the problem is in the construction of this particualar lid or assembly. The pump did this right from day 1.

However, I disagree with the need to shut the pump off after only 3 seconds. If you do not have prime mode enabled, there actually is no dry alarm detection at all - according to the Pentair rep - so the need for this protection the way it is set up is a bit overkill. The point is that there actually IS a bit of water in the basket. Its not totally dry, plus water is trickling into the basket when the alarm faults out and upoon resut continues to build up faster and faster so that it is fully primed after only about 10 seconds of running. It just seems to me that 3 seconds is far to fast a time period to be checking for dry pump alarm, particularly if water is actually flowing. Its a new pump and personally I think that whoever programmed the firmware doesnt understand pumps.
 
i have the VF version of this pump ,run it at 1150 RPM's for 14 hours/day and my pump basket is always full of water (with some air bubbles)
i think u can adjust the time the pumps takes to fully prime in the settings, can't you?
 
Poolengineer,

I get what you are saying, it is a bit overkill. They should allow you to change the 3 seconds to whatever you need. Seals can actually handle quite a bit of dry time although it does reduce their lifetime.
 
So, I'm not seeing these issues you describe. I run our pump for 2hr at near full speed (3100 RMP) in the morning to get full cleaner and skimmer activity. Then it switches over to 1700 RMP for 6hr for circulation. I have not noticed much air in either the pump or the filter. It sounds like a warranty issue to me. As said by others, it may be a warping or plumbing problem.
 
Well with the pentair automation you can program the prime time length... So the Pentair solution is to go spend a few grand more.

Just to chime in, I DO NOT have any suction side leaks, same pump, and run 3/4 basket at 1500 rpm after about 5 hours. Never drops any further. I run at 1500 all the time and bump it up to full speed for a cpl hrs a day for cleaning cycle. Basket fills back up in the first minute of high speed. Both my pumps behave this way (spa has same pump).
 
I experienced the exact same problem not every day, but rather whenever I open the pump to clean out the basket. I do not have a suction leak when my system remains closed but everytime I open the basket the system siphons down and the pump throws a dry alarm within about 8 seconds of startup. Fiddling with prime settings made zero difference. As mentioned by PoolEngineer I think this stems from a firmware problem with at least some Intelliflo pumps. The only workaround I could find was to disable Priming feature altogether which results in the pump running at the programmed speed i.e. does not kick up speed to max speed if it senses lack of prime. In my case my lowest set speed is adequate to still pull water and prime the pump and it doesn't throw the dry alarm. Not the ideal solution but at least it works.
 
Yes, you lose prime every time you open the system because you introduce air. This is quite normal. What isn't normal are priming issues once one does this. I have the same pump and mine primes in under 5-6 seconds every time regardless if I opened the system or not. So, yes, it could be a software problem. The pump, as you know, can be programmed to be less sensitive to priming and you can further program the amount of time/rpm it will try to prime. There is quite a bit of flexibility with the pump...loving mine. :)
 

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st1100pilot said:
I experienced the exact same problem not every day, but rather whenever I open the pump to clean out the basket. I do not have a suction leak when my system remains closed but everytime I open the basket the system siphons down and the pump throws a dry alarm within about 8 seconds of startup. Fiddling with prime settings made zero difference. As mentioned by PoolEngineer I think this stems from a firmware problem with at least some Intelliflo pumps. The only workaround I could find was to disable Priming feature altogether which results in the pump running at the programmed speed i.e. does not kick up speed to max speed if it senses lack of prime. In my case my lowest set speed is adequate to still pull water and prime the pump and it doesn't throw the dry alarm. Not the ideal solution but at least it works.
Click to expand...

One trick I've found helpful after opening the basket to clean the strainer is, after everything is buttoned up, to open the vent on my filter BEFORE starting the pump. On my system, this allows the basket to refill from the water in the filter. Priming time is greatly reduced.
 
There is obviously some problem (air leak or faulty check valve) with your system. I and many others here are using exactly that same model pump and it works perfectly fine with no priming problems. There is something specific to your system that is at play here.

Two tricks when looking for a suction leak are shaving cream and plastic food wrap. You can often smear shaving cream on a suspected leak and see it sucked in and appear in the pump basket. Or plastic wrap can be stretched over a suspected area and will provide a temporary fix, that confirms a leak. I would start with the pump lid.
 
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