IntelliChlor and heat pump independent run times

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S

shimms

Member
Mar 17, 2025
5
Brisbane, Queensland
Pool Size
32000
Surface
Fiberglass
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Hi all - we've got our heat pump being installed shortly and taking the opportunity to upgrade to an IntelliCenter and IC40 replacing our existing non-Pentair chlorinator. The current chlorinator controller powers the pump on a schedule. All is good, albeit dumb. The IntelliCenter will obviously become the brain, including schedules, heat set point, calling for heat from the heater etc.

The new salt generator transformer in the IntelliCenter is wired into the filter pump relay's second load side as per the manual so that the pump and IC40 switch together.

The heat pump is going to have to have a longer daily runtime than the chlorinator to maintain the desired heat. How does the IC40/IntelliCenter/etc prevent over chlorination if the heater needs the filter pump on for hours longer than needed for chlorination?

Does the IC40 have smarts that sets the output to 0% once a desired chlorination level is reached? Or do you need to wire the teh transformer on its own relay and program the schedules together so that the chlorinator is powered during the filtration phase, but off during other pump activities like heat?
 
S,

That does not make sense to me... :scratch:

An IC40 in a 32K pool is going to struggle to keep up... We always recommend a cell that is at least 2 x the volume of the pool..

In my opinion, It really makes no sense to run the pump if you are not making chlorine. :)

You just adjust the cell's output to match the FC you want to maintain. The cell has no clue what your FC level is.. It just make chlorine based on the output% and the run time. You are the cell's brain..

My pump and cell run 24/7 and I love it.. I like making a little chlorine all the time, and I love skimming all the time. I also like the look of my pool with a little motion to the water.

What pump will you get getting??

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Ah - just realised the pool volume is showing as gallons, it's 32,000 liters, so about 8,000 gallons.

Pump is an existing single speed .75HP that pushes at about 190l/min. Turns over the pool in about 3 hours. Runs for 6 hours currently, turning the pool over twice with the existing chlorinator running at about 30%. This keeps the chlorine level right. The existing chlorinator has roughly the same output of chlorine per hour as the IC40, so presuming I'll run the IC40 at around 30% too, give or take.

I could increase the pump runtime and decrease the chlorinator's output to compensate, but there will undoubtedly be times where the pump needs to run to allow the heater to heat when we don't need extra chlorine. There are products in the AU market for this, that allow the pump to run without the chlorinator - this seems to be pretty common way of doing it here. For example, one of the more common ones describes itself:

Allows the pool heater to activate the circulation pump, independent of the chlorinator.

In a typical pool, the filtration runs a few hours a day following a schedule. The filtration involves the operation of the chlorinator and the pool pump in conjunction.

To maintain the water at the desired temperature, it is possible that the heat pump would need to run outside the schedule and it will need the pool pump to run without the chlorinator working to avoid over chlorination.
Click to expand...

During a cold spell the the heat pump will run for longer than during a hot week. If it always runs with the chlorinator wouldn't that result in overchlorination on days where the pump is running longer than days where it isn't?

Running our pump 24/7 would triple the cost, and probably fall afould of local noise restrictions at night time that prohibit the use of electrical motors etc.
 
S,

I had 'assumed' that you had a Pentair VS pump... :(

I can now see the issue..

I run my 3 HP IntelliFlo 24/7, mostly at 1200 rpm, for less than $20 USD a month.. And, at that speed, it is so quiet, that you almost have to touch it, to make sure it is actually running.. :mrgreen:

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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