Pentair Intellitouch to control heater to get different temperatures

[ewsb]

I have an Intellitouch system and want to set two different set of temperatures during the day. The main reason being I do not want the heater (Rayvak) to activate when the pool is in it's normal very low flow mode - I am also using a Intelliflo VF pump so the flow is very low during the day - <15GPM. I believe this has caused me to go through 3 Raypaks in 6 years as the flow is too low and the water gets too hot.

So while I want to activate the heater, it will only be for 3 or 4 hours and during that time I will have the pump run at say 40GPM. I have tested that it is sufficient time to get to the temp I want so that is not the issue.

As I understand (and the way my pool has operated for a few years now) whenever the pool is activated and the temp is too low, the heater is activated regardless of the flow. I can set the flow to increase when the heater is on but then in winter (I keep the pool open 365 days of the year) it would be running at the higher level for most of the time. Given there is no SPA on this system, I seem to think I could use that as the high temp and the pool as the low temp and I am going to try that. However, the manual does not help me too much so I want to make sure I am on the right track.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Sean

 

[jblizzle]

Sorry you have not gotten a response. I will bump this back up as I do not know how that system works.

BTW, if there is not enough flow, the heater will not turn on. How did the previous filters fail?

 

[txnole]

Sounds to me like you just need to assign two different schedules - low flow and heater (high flow). For your heater schedule, ramp up your pump speed to the rpm equivalent of 40 gpm. This would be good as you could - theoretically - disable the heat program during winter months if you didn't want to heat.

A call to Pentair support is probably the best to walk you through, but I know there are several members who are very good at detailing each step.

 

[ewsb]

Jason

Many thanks - I can't remember the technical terms, both heaters were Raypaks and less than 3 years old. the "insides" ceramic tiles/area burnt out.

It appears to me that the heater keeps working even when the flow is at or below 15GPM - I have never seen it turn off.

 

[ewsb]

Exactly right, I am looking to create two different schedules. However, I see no way to create a heater schedule that is exactly the issue. On the system today, you set the temperature and the intelliflo calls for heat when the temperature (from the sensor) drops below the set temperature. If anyone is able to determine how to so this that would be success.

I do have the flows linked to the heater function so that the GPM goes to 40. However, you can imagine in the winter the heater runs nearly permanently - I was hoping by using the SPA pump option (ie the secondary pump) I could set that at a higher temp for 4 or 5 hours a day at the higher temp and flow and then leave the main pump running all the time to ensure circulation of the water at a low flow even allow the temp to drop from our 82 to 75 or so during the time of the day we do not use the pool.

Many thanks

 

[Pool Clown]

The only way to accomplish what you want to do is to assign a speed to "pool heater" in the "assign custom speeds" menu.

menu/setup/equipment/intelliflo/assign custom speeds

Once in this section of the menu, select an unused pump speed. This is usually defined by a box that displays "none" followed by a box with "1000 rpm". scroll through the labels (button on the left) till you get to "pool heater". Next from the other side scroll up to a speed you want, that's it! Don't forget to hit save, and then exit.

Only difference now, is your pool heater will be available to run the entire time the pump runs, but the pump will only ramp up when the heater receives a call for heat, and of course ramp back down once the target temp has been reached.

For the winter, simply select off for pool heat in the heat menu.

 

[ewsb]

Thanks - what you note is exactly what I have done for the last year. As you note, the downfall is that the heater is available the entire time the pump runs. I only want it to be available for the portion of the day. (ie I had hoped using the second pump feature)

Any ideas?

Many thanks

 

[Pool Clown]

If the heater is allowed to heat, or be available to heat, the entire time, They say it would actually use less gas that way. Pool heaters are the design of "maintenance" heat Rather than "demand" heat.