I have a Pentair Intelliflo pump and ever since we moved into the house I've questioned the flow. I have it ramped up to full speed/flow and there are 4 jets in the pool along with the Polaris wall fitting. The jets are split between 3/8" and 1/2" openings. As for the pressure coming out of the jets, it is barely enough to force the air out of the vacuum hose when vacuuming by hand. Could this be an impeller issue?
Intelliflo VF bad flow/pressure
- Thread starter Bdurdin65
- Start date
maybe there is some clogging in the impeller. Could also be a very dirty filter restricting the flow.
I've replaced the entire grid system. It's a Pentair DNS 60 and I backwash monthly so I don't think that is it. When I put it in spa mode the jets barely move the water.
What speed/rpm is the pump set on? 3450? What is the pressure on the filter? There has to be something wrong with the impeller or clogged somewhere between the pump and the pool. These pumps move a lot of water.
Maybe a pic of the equipment pad will help.
Maybe a pic of the equipment pad will help.
Yes it's set on 3450. I just put a new filter grid in a few weeks ago. Pressure it about 20psi after new grid installation. I'm going to take the impeller out tomorrow after work and have a look. I'm thinking surely that is the case. It doesnt appear to be too hard correct? I can just leave it plumbed and pull the motor off?
Do you backwash monthly because your pressure goes up that quickly? If so, what is the pressure before backwash and after?
When was the last time you disassembled the filter and manually cleaned the grids? Do you ever get good pressure at the returns, like right after backwashing?
Does your backwash valve allow you to select recirculate, if so, what does the pressure at the returns feel like in the recirculate mode?
Jim R.
When was the last time you disassembled the filter and manually cleaned the grids? Do you ever get good pressure at the returns, like right after backwashing?
Does your backwash valve allow you to select recirculate, if so, what does the pressure at the returns feel like in the recirculate mode?
Jim R.
I backwash monthly just to keep it clean. I just replaced the entire filter grid system. The entire thing. Header, grids, all of it. Pressure is a little better after backwashing but never great. My valve does have recirculate and I get a little better flow with it in recirculate. Even still, I can easily close off the 3/8" jet by putting my finger over the hole. I've had two other pools and I'm used to much better flow than this. In my other hot tub when you put it in spa mode it was like whirlpool... this one just leisurely moves water. It's a large hot tub with 6 or 7 jets but still.
As you suspect, something has got to be wrong. I have the VS (not VF) Inteliflo, and even running at low speed, it would be difficult to put your finger over a return fitting. I assume that you can hear the pump increase in speed as you increase the desired speed/flow input.. Could be an impeller issue, but that would not be my first choice. Not sure your pad configuration can support it, but what I would do is disconnect the output of the pump and connect a temporary 2" line back to the pool. This would allow you to confirm the amount and pressure of the water out of the pump.
Jim R.
Jim R.
Well I removed the motor today and took the difuser off. I was planning on removing/cleaning the impeller but it looked perfect. I put it back together and figured since this lack of pressure was occurring in spa and pool mode, I would check the Jandy return valve. So I disassembled it and everything was positioned correctly. My only other option is to cut out the spa overflow to see if that helps circulation in the pool.
I don't know squat about spas, but I thought the overflow from the spa to the pool was something that could be turned on and off with a valve? I also would assume that as long at the overflow was running that the return pressure would be much less.
One final thought.. Why did you replace the guts to your DE filter? In my case they were way old and became very brittle. In fact the internal parts had broken and got into my return lines. I found a couple of small pieces in the pool and a couple larger ones behind one of the return eyeballs. Just something to keep in mind.
Sorry I couldn't be more help. If you get a chance post a couple of pics of your equipment pad, maybe someone else might see something of interest.
As a side note, I found that although I've got pretty good return flow into my pool returns, I could still stop the flow with my thumb. I had assumed I would not be able to do that, but it took a little effort, but not as much as I had thought it would. Like you, I have four returns.
Good Luck,
Jim R.
One final thought.. Why did you replace the guts to your DE filter? In my case they were way old and became very brittle. In fact the internal parts had broken and got into my return lines. I found a couple of small pieces in the pool and a couple larger ones behind one of the return eyeballs. Just something to keep in mind.
Sorry I couldn't be more help. If you get a chance post a couple of pics of your equipment pad, maybe someone else might see something of interest.
As a side note, I found that although I've got pretty good return flow into my pool returns, I could still stop the flow with my thumb. I had assumed I would not be able to do that, but it took a little effort, but not as much as I had thought it would. Like you, I have four returns.
Good Luck,
Jim R.
Being able to stop the flow at one return with your thumb isn't that meaningful. Pool returns are normally plumbed in a loop, so stopping up one will divert more flow to the other returns.
You were good help. My spa overflow didn't have a valve, but it did have the Jandy check valve. I took the check valve guts out and replaced it with an actual valve. Limiting the spa overflow made a huge difference in the return to the pool jets. I'm still not impressed with the pressure in spa mode though. Maybe there just too many jets (7) in the spa? I'm thinking about plugging a few to see if that helps.
As for my grid assembly, I replaced it because the bottoms of the plastic grids were starting to break and there were some holes forming in the grid covers. By the time you buy a few replacement grids, you could buy the entire assembly.
I'll post pictures of the pad tomorrow. View attachment 41815View attachment 41816
As for my grid assembly, I replaced it because the bottoms of the plastic grids were starting to break and there were some holes forming in the grid covers. By the time you buy a few replacement grids, you could buy the entire assembly.
I'll post pictures of the pad tomorrow. View attachment 41815View attachment 41816
Two of the jets are down at the shallow end by the beach entrance and there are two down at the deep end. I forgot I have another down by the table so that's 5 jets total in the pool. 7 in the spa.
Are your returns plumbed individually back to the pump or is each return T'd off of a single return line?
If T'd off, then thats robbing you of return flow too. Not much you can do about that though.
If T'd off, then thats robbing you of return flow too. Not much you can do about that though.
They're all T'd. Yeah I think I might try some smaller jets in the spa to see if that helps any. Much better than it was yesterday though. Now I feel like I have enough circulation where I can back off my pump speed some and benefit from its efficiency. Or run it for shorter times.
Also forgot to mention that during the summer when in pool mode I'm running the chiller. That too would take away from some of the return flow.