New Pump & SWG Questions

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R

rgswff

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LifeTime Supporter
Apr 15, 2015
80
Austin/TX
Just had my pump replaced with the intellipro VSF and had intellichlor IC 40 installed. It seems they installed it so that the SWG is always on whenever the pump is on. They wired it to the load side of the pump is what they said. Is that correct?

I was only planning to have the SWG run for about 10 hrs a day based on the chlorine I need it to produce is about 2.5ppm day. What speed will I have to run the pump in order to get enough flow for the SWG to operate or does it not matter? I have a robot cleaner so only need to run the pump at higher speeds for the SWG if necessary.
 
Pentair ICXX has a flow switch. It will indicate NO FLOW on the cell when flow is too little. Around 1500 rpm will work. You have to find what RPM works with your plumbing. You can reduce the RPM until you see when you get NO FLOW on the cell. Then add 100 rpm or so. Keep an eye that you don’t go to NO FLOW as your DE filter gets dirty and filter pressure goes up.

Your SWG is wired fine if your pump runs 24/7. Just lower your % on the SWG to account for it running 24/7. You will get the same daily cell run.
 
The SWCG must be completely disconnected from power when the pump is not running. So without automation, you will need a timer for the SWCG and set the timer to have the SWCG powered on when the pump is running.

You really should have purchased an Easytouch with SWCG package. Then you would have full control of the pump and SWCG.
 
Re: New Pump & SWG Questions

rg,

Most all SWCG's are supposed to have two safety devices... The Primary safety device is that the AC power to the cell's power supply is only supposed to be there when the pump is running. The Secondary safety device is the flow switch, which on an IC40, is part of the cell. The way your system is currently wired means that you do not have a Primary safety device.

The cell does not make any more or less chlorine based upon the speed of the pump, except the pump has to be running fast enough to close the flow switch... the RPM to close the switch depends on your specific plumbing layout and if you have a heater or not. In my case, it takes about 1100 RPM to just close the switch, so I run at 1200 RPM just to make sure.

Your cell should make .33 ppm per hour when run at 100% output. I suggest that you start high and work your way down on FC production.. it is s much easier to decrease FC than it is to increase it with a SWCG.

Thanks,

Jim R.

- - - Updated - - -

The reason for two safety devices is to prevent a cell explosion just in case one of the safety devices fails. While cell explosions are very rare, they do happen.

It is like driving your car with the air bags turned off... it does not matter at all.. until it does.. :p
 
So they did not wire it correctly? The pump is also wired to a timer that they said to always leave on. When the pump is turned off, they said there will be no power going to the SWCG. Is that true? They were suppose to do all this while I was here so they could properly explain it but of course they showed up while I wasn't home, did all the work and then just left without telling me what they had done. I had to call them to get them to explain to me what they did. I wasn't planning on running the pump 24/7. I was thinking maybe 12-14 hours a day and running the SWCG at about 60%.

How much is an Easytouch system and do I really need it or is it just about making it a bit easier to set everything up? I don't have any pool features so originally I didn't originally get any automation system.
 
How many ways can your pump be turned off?

At the timer? That will turn off the pump and the SWG. That is good.

Can you put the pump to off at a control panel on the pump? That is bad since the SWG is still powered. It is also bad if the pump flow is low and the SWG goes into NO FLOW.

Any other ways your pump can be turned off?
 
Re: New Pump & SWG Questions

Yes. Called them again and he said when the pump is not running, the flow switch will turn the SWCG off which from reading this site, is not what I want. That should just be the failsafe so asked him to come back and wire the SWCG to the timer. The issue is going to be if the mechanical timer of the SWCG and the timer on the pump are out of sync and power turns on for the SWCG right?

- - - Updated - - -

The pump can be turned off on the pump. If I press stop, the pump stops but the lights on the SWCG stay on. If I turn off the timer, it cuts power to the pump and the SWCG.
 
Yes, you need to keep the internal pump timer and external SWG timer in synch.
 

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That is the issue of using a timer for the SWCG with a VS pump. The Easytouch eliminates that issue. It is costly for just controlling those two items. Though when bought as a package with the SWCG the ET4 was only a couple hundred more dollars.

Another method is a current sensing device that only allows the SWCG to have power when the pump is running. There are threads on that subject here on the forum.
 
rgswff said:
Should I have them wire the SWCG to the timer or just leave it how it is now and use the timer to cut power to the pump when it isn't set to run which will also cut power to the SWCG?
Click to expand...

I am confused. I thought the SWG and pump were already wired and controlled by the timer?

If you never turn the pump off at its control panel and always use the timer to control both pump and SWG then you are good now.

Either way has its issues you need to be aware of.
 
ajw22 said:
If you never turn the pump off at its control panel and always use the timer to control both pump and SWG then you are good now.

Either way has its issues you need to be aware of.
Click to expand...

What are the issues if I use the timer to turn the power on and off for the pump? I guess I could leave on the pump 24/7 and just run it at a really low flow rate for about 8-10 hours.
 
rgswff said:
What are the issues if I use the timer to turn the power on and off for the pump? I guess I could leave on the pump 24/7 and just run it at a really low flow rate for about 8-10 hours.
Click to expand...

Timer turning pump power on and off is not the way VS pumps were designed to work but should be fine depending on how the pump programming works.

I would just run run your pump at minimum speed for your SWG 24/7. That is originally what I thought you planned to do. You dont use much electricity at low pump speed.
 
rgs,

There are several ways around this issue, but none are perfect.. Keep in mind that we are trying to prevent a pretty rare occurrence, so it does not have to be perfect.

You could run the pump 24/7 and just reduce the SWCG output %.. To run an IntelliFlo at 1200 RPM, 24/7 costs less than $20 bucks a month. At that speed you will have a hard time telling if the pump is running standing right next to it. This will also give you 24/7 skimming which helps. This is how I run my system because I like generating a little chlorine all the time...

An IntelliFlo pump is supposed to be connected to constant AC power. You would normally use the pump's control panel to set the schedule you want you pump to run. You could use the timer to schedule when you want the SWCG to come on. I would have the pump come on an hour ahead of the SWCG and have the SWCG turn off an hour before the pump, just so the two don't have to be perfectly in synch. While it is true that they could get out of synch, then flow switch would come in to play. You would just need to make sure to keep an eye on the timing to make sure it was in sync most of the time.

You could, I suppose, use the timer to control the power to the pump and the SWCG.. The only problem with this is I am not at all sure what the effect would be on the digital controller being constantly turned off and on. I am not sure that you would not get random voltage faults that would make you have to manually press the pump's reset button. It would be my last choice.

I believe that automation is "cool" to have, but it is not at all necessary in your case.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
rgs,

There are several ways around this issue, but none are perfect.. Keep in mind that we are trying to prevent a pretty rare occurrence, so it does not have to be perfect.

You could run the pump 24/7 and just reduce the SWCG output %.. To run an IntelliFlo at 1200 RPM, 24/7 costs less than $20 bucks a month. At that speed you will have a hard time telling if the pump is running standing right next to it. This will also give you 24/7 skimming which helps. This is how I run my system because I like generating a little chlorine all the time...

An IntelliFlo pump is supposed to be connected to constant AC power. You would normally use the pump's control panel to set the schedule you want you pump to run. You could use the timer to schedule when you want the SWCG to come on. I would have the pump come on an hour ahead of the SWCG and have the SWCG turn off an hour before the pump, just so the two don't have to be perfectly in synch. While it is true that they could get out of synch, then flow switch would come in to play. You would just need to make sure to keep an eye on the timing to make sure it was in sync most of the time.

You could, I suppose, use the timer to control the power to the pump and the SWCG.. The only problem with this is I am not at all sure what the effect would be on the digital controller being constantly turned off and on. I am not sure that you would not get random voltage faults that would make you have to manually press the pump's reset button. It would be my last choice.

I believe that automation is "cool" to have, but it is not at all necessary in your case.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...

Thanks. For now, I'll just run the pump 24/7. If the flow is too low for the SWCG to generate chlorine, does it still consume some of the life of the cell or will it not matter unless the flow is high enough for the SWCG to be able to generate chlorine?

I think I'll have them wire the SWCG to the timer though so can have a little more flexibility if I don't want to run the pump 24/7.

Not great timing on all this though as I'm about to be out of town for the next week so will have to get the wife to continue to dump in some chlorine each day until I get back. I need to get more salt in first also. When mixing in the salt, should the pump be off until it all gets dissolved?
 
A simple solution, the way mine and many others are wired is:
The pump gets power from the feed (hot) side of the timer terminals, while the SWG is connected to the switched side. This way the pump always has power (and is controlled by its onboard timer), while the SWG is controlled by the mechanical timer. You set the SWG timer to run during a period you are sure the pump will be running, and it’s necessary to make sure that the two timers are synchronized.

For example my pump runs from 8 to 4 at a speed that’s 100 rpm higher than the minimum required for the SWG flow switch. The SWG timer is set to turn on from 8:30 to 3:30. So it is well within the pump run time. Mine has been working that way, with no problems for several years
 
rgswff said:
When mixing in the salt, should the pump be off until it all gets dissolved?
Click to expand...

I can't think of any reason not to have the cell working, when the pump is running... :confused: Not sure why you would want to run slower than what turns on the flow switch??

When you initially add a lot of salt it is best to have the pump off 24 hours while the salt dissolves.. Once that is done, it does not hurt to add a bag or two with the pump on. Any more than that I would turn the pump off.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

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