Variable speed pump lowest speed

[DrewPool]

I bought a house with a pool and I'm playing detective. I have an IntelliPRO VS variable speed pump, the min and max speeds are 3000 and 1700rpm.

Previous owner said they were set that way by the installer, I'm fine with the 3000 max RPM but i wanted to lower the min speed to 1000RPM.

What do I need to check to see if its ok to lower the speed to 1000? Any tips/hints would be great. Thanks!

 

[1poolman1]

I bought a house with a pool and I'm playing detective. I have an IntelliPRO VS variable speed pump, the min and max speeds are 3000 and 1700rpm.

Previous owner said they were set that way by the installer, I'm fine with the 3000 max RPM but i wanted to lower the min speed to 1000RPM.

What do I need to check to see if its ok to lower the speed to 1000? Any tips/hints would be great. Thanks!

Do you have an SWG? Minimum speed should be set so that continues to generate chlorine. Clean the filter, find the minimum speed, add 10% to allow for the reduced flow due to a dirty filter. Works well that way.

 

[jluishdezt]

Welcome to the world of pool owners!
I'm two-years new myself but your RPM needs will depend in a number of factors. This web site is full of info but you might want to do some searches. Also, YT will be your friend.
Here is a link to a channel with very good info about speeds and schedules:

Good luck!

 

[mknauss]

That YouTube focuses way too much on 'turnover'. Turnover is a myth in setting pump schedules.
Please review Turnover of Pool Water - Further Reading

 

[DrewPool]

Thanks for the info, I dont have a salt water pool and I have the calculations for turnover, head, gallons per minute and cost per day based on watts.

I connected a vacuum and pressure gauge to my pump and at the minimum speed of 1700 I'm getting about 38 gallons per min at 400 watts.

I was hoping to drop to 1000rpm which should be about 20 gallons per min and about 200 watts (50cents a day to run.)

My problem is that I don't know why the initial install limited it to 1700rpm. I do have a heater and Sta-Rite STM-700 filter but the only limitation is the heater. Nothing less than 20gpm or it will stop working.

Anything else I should look at? I didn't see anything in the pump documentation for minimum running speed either, thanks!

 

[Jimrahbe]

Drew,

You do realize that the idea that you have to "turnover" your pool water x times a day is an old myth and just not true. Chemicals keep your pool clear and sanitized, not the number times the water passes through the filter. The filter is there to capature all the junk that falls into your pool. Once the filter starts capturing algae, it is way too late and you have already lost the algae war..

The point being.. calculating turn over is just a waste of your time.

If you don't have a SWCG, then the slowest speed you ever want to run it the speed that will keep your pool skimmed.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[DrewPool]

Drew,

You do realize that the idea that you have to "turnover" your pool water x times a day is an old myth and just not true. Chemicals keep your pool clear and sanitized, not the number times the water passes through the filter. The filter is there to capature all the junk that falls into your pool. Once the filter starts capturing algae, it is way too late and you have already lost the algae war..

The point being.. calculating turn over is just a waste of your time.

If you don't have a SWCG, then the slowest speed you ever want to run it the speed that will keep your pool skimmed.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks Jim,

Like I mentioned before, I’m not worried about turnover. I’m just wondering how I can determine my lowest speed (non salt water) and I think you answered it.

The slowest that will still skim and keep my heater on. Thanks.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Drew,

You can have two speeds, one to skim only and one to skim and run the heater.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[DrewPool]

Drew,

You can have two speeds, one to skim only and one to skim and run the heater.

Thanks,

Jim R.

I’m planning on running at 2400rpm (50gpm) for 8 hours and 1000 rpm the rest of the day.

Just wanted to make sure I was taking everything into account before changing the Low speed. Didn’t k ow if the pump had a minimum speed or something else I wasn’t thinking about. Thanks again.

 

[MITBeta]

I don't think you need to run at that high for so long. If it were my pool I would run for 30 minutes 2x per day at a high enough RPM to get GOOD skimming, then at a lower RPM for several hours in between and call it good. If you find you're not getting good results, change something. Without a SWCG in this part of the country, there's really no reason to run 24/7.

For reference, I run my AGP for about 7 hrs per day to skim and generate enough chlorine and it looks great like that.