Pool company insists my vs pump needs to be set no lower than 2900 to allow the pentair heater to work.

[Liz315]

Ok, so I can’t see how this can make sense. My pool heater is only 2 years old, still under warrantee. This season each time I put the heater on it would ignite but then after 10 minutes or so the service heater light would go on, igniter off but unit frozen only way to turn off the unit was to cut the breaker.
Pool company comes out and they guy is telling me they had to replace a sensor that broke that has been going bad on a lot of the heaters they have been seeing. Then he tries to blame the fact that I run my vs pump at 2000 when I’m using the heater. He says it’s too low of a speed and what’s happening is the water is going into the system too slow to cool the coil causing it to burn up the sensor. He insists I need my vs pump set at 2900 in order for my heater to not get damaged.
The heater says the flow rate min is 30 /max 120 pm I think. What does that correspond to in terms of vs pump settings. The only issue I ever had with the flow not working was when I was testing the min. which was 1400 for it to go on. And even then it was a different light that went in it said service system instead of the service heater light.
I’m trying not to run my pump at 2900 to run my heater, but I also don’t want to kill my heater again. Does what he is saying make sense? The sensor was like a Y shaped metal wire piece. Is this an actual issue anyone has heard of with the pentair mastertemp 300? My model was made in 2020. Thanks for your help.

 

[wgipe]

I run mine at 2,800. Contrary to what may seem logical, more water moving through the heater is actually more efficient than less. Can't say if the higher temps for the low flow is hard on the heater - someone will be a long soon that can answer that.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Liz,

Heaters have a pressure switch that has to be closed for the heater to work. If your pressure switch closes, then I would assume it has enough flow.

For sure, if your pressure switch closes at 1400 RPM, then 2000 RPM should be plenty.

Let's see what @JamesW has to say about it.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JamesW]

Can you show the system?

What pump do you have?

What is the filter pressure at different speeds?

What part is going bad (Name, picture, purpose)?

What is the error code that happens when the unit turns off?

 

[sktn77a]

Run your pump at 2000 RPM. If the sensor dies again, just tell him "I was running it at 2900rpm, like you said"!

 

[JamesW]

Check the stack flue temperature at different speeds.

What is the heater part number?

Check the gas pressure.

Check how much gas the heater uses in 1 hour.

Check the thermal regulator and the internal bypass.

 

[JamesW]

You can do several things to verify flow.

1) Install a flow meter.

2) Check pump influent and effluent pressure at different speeds to graph on the pump performance curve to see what your flow is at different speeds.

3) Check the heater inlet and outlet temperature to determine the temperature rise and verify that it is not too much.

4) Install a flow switch instead of a pressure switch.

I got lucky...now I need help adding a flow switch

Evening, TFP World! We have an autocover that stays closed except when the pool is in use or needs to be left open to breath. Today, it was a beautiful day, so I left it open most of the day. I did not appreciate how much Crud was coming off the trees, and allowed both skimmer baskets to get...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[ajw22]

Your signature says Pentair Superflo 2HP. Is that the Superflow VS or VST pump?

Your 2HP pump will require higher RPM for the same flow as people who are replying who have 3+HP IntelliFlo pumps. So beware of comparing recommendations from people with different pumps then you have.

No one can tell you what the correct RPM is for your equipment. You need to experiment and determine that.

From my experience 2000 RPM is too low a flow for your pump even if it engages the pressure switch. 2900 RPM may be higher then necessary.

Part of your problem is it looks like you do not have automation to vary the pump RPM when the heater is not running versus when the heater is running. With my IntelliCenter the pump speed runs at 1700 RPM when the heater is not running and is increased to 2400 RPM when the MasterTemp heater is on. Without automation you have to run your VS pump like a single speed pump all day at the highest RPM your pool equipment needs.

 

[Liz315]

So I’m sick of keeping up pool company’s suggestion which run's the pump so high and the water looking like a wave pool. I’m going to reprogram my pump to satisfy the swg for 12 hrs then run it slow at night and 2 hrs fast for skimming in the morning.

So if I set the 3 program buttons starting at:
1- 2,800 rpms 2 hrs skim
2- 1,600 rpms 12 hrs swg
3- 900 rpms 10 hrs so water isn’t static

If I do this can I use the 1 button as a temporary setting to turn on when I run my heater? I don’t have any automation so I have to physically turn on my heater anyway so I might as well up the speed on my vs pump when I do. But if I do that, press the 1 program button that is 2,800 rpms how long will the temporary run? Only 2 hrs or will it run until I change it myself or the next schedule? If it’s only the 2 hrs I’ll have to do it some other way. Any suggestions? If I manually up the speed with the up button will it stay at that speed until the next scheduled setting or until I physically change it myself?

Thanks.

 

[DavidArmenB]

So I’m sick of keeping up pool company’s suggestion which run's the pump so high and the water looking like a wave pool. I’m going to reprogram my pump to satisfy the swg for 12 hrs then run it slow at night and 2 hrs fast for skimming in the morning.

So if I set the 3 program buttons starting at:
1- 2,800 rpms 2 hrs skim
2- 1,600 rpms 12 hrs swg
3- 900 rpms 10 hrs so water isn’t static

If I do this can I use the 1 button as a temporary setting to turn on when I run my heater? I don’t have any automation so I have to physically turn on my heater anyway so I might as well up the speed on my vs pump when I do. But if I do that, press the 1 program button that is 2,800 rpms how long will the temporary run? Only 2 hrs or will it run until I change it myself or the next schedule? If it’s only the 2 hrs I’ll have to do it some other way. Any suggestions? If I manually up the speed with the up button will it stay at that speed until the next scheduled setting or until I physically change it myself?

Thanks.

Hi! So it depends on how you set up the speeds on the pump. Pentair VS pumps have three modes for those buttons. Manual, Egg Timer, and Schedule. Here’s a rundown of the different modes and how you can use them to your advantage.
Manual: In this mode, a speed is set and the pump runs at that speed indefinitely regardless of other programs and schedules. Manual can be set on programs 1-4.
There’s a little issue because the manual says that if there is a schedule set to start on another program, the schedule will override the manual program and the scheduled program will run. But that is not what I and others have seen with our Pentair variable speed pumps. Even though I have three different schedules set up, they do not run automatically unless I cancel the manual program and press START without pressing any programs so the pump starts to run its schedule.

Egg Timer: This feature will run the program for a set amount of time, which is set up in the program, and which I believe is a maximum of ten hours, and then it will turn off. I think this can also be only set on programs 1-4.
In this case also, I think the manual of the pump says that once the Egg Timer runs out, scheduled programs will automatically run afterwards. However, in my case, if I set a program on an egg timer, say 2000RPM for 3 hours, the pump will turn off after three the hours but will not start up on its own, regardless of the schedule, unless I go and press the START button to start the schedule of the pump, and if there is a schedule for it to run at that moment, it starts right up, but if the schedule is for a later time, the pump waits til the scheduled time and then starts up, but I need to press the START button to enable the schedule. My pump does not revert back to schedule mode after the Egg Timer runs out.

Schedule: This feature is the best feature about VS pumps if you do not have automation. Instead of connecting the pump power to a mechanical timer, the pump is powered constantly and you set schedules on the unit attached to the pump, and the pump runs that schedule every day automatically. Schedules can be set on programs 1-8.

For example, you can choose to keep Progeams 1-4 as Manual and/or Egg Timer, and then set Programs 5-8, which do not have/need physical buttons, as schedules. It can be something like:

Program 5: 2800RPM - for Skimming
2 hours - 8am to 10am

Program 6: 1700RPM - for SWCG
12 Hours - 10am to 10pm

Program 7: 900RPM - Low Speed
10 Hours - 10pm to 8am

Here’s another example

Program 5: 1200RPM - Low Speed
16 hours - 6am to 10pm

Program 6: 2400RPM - High Speed
2 Hours - 10am to 12pm

In this second example, notice how program 6 is set for a time that is within the time frame of program 5. Because the speed of program 6 is higher, it will take priority and come on between 10am and 12noon. After noon, the pump will revert to program 5 until it turns off at 10pm and then it will turn back on at 6am the next morning and continue the schedule. So you get three schedules while using only two programs. You can play around with it like that.