35 year old pool upgrade advice

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bartfriend

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Aug 3, 2010
19
San Diego
My wife and I just bought our first home in October and it has a 27,000 gallon pool. The pool, pump, and heater where built in the early 70's. My pump and the heater are starting to give us problems. I would like to replace the pump and heater, if needed I can replace the filter as well.

Currently I have
pump: MAX-E-GLASS by Sta-Rite PE5E-125L 1 HP
Filter: FNS plus 48 DE filter
Heater: Lars Lite by Teledyne Laars

Some things I am looking for
I want to be able to add solar heating in the future
I want to have the ability to have a remote control (hard wired and/or wireless and over the internet and/or phone)
I want to add actuators for the valves
I might go to a salt pool but that is down on the list.


The only thing i have researched is the the pump. I think I want to get the Intelliflow VF pump due to the flow sensing abilities.

If you could please help me with some recommendations for the pump, heater, filter, controller and actuators.

If you need any more information please let me know.

Thanks everyone
Bart Edwards
San Diego
 
Bart,

I installed an IntelliFlo VF in July, and really like it. It cut my swimming pool electric usage by about 66%, from my old 1 HP pump. You just tell it the swimming pool size you want to turnover, and the times you want it to run, and it figures out the appropriate flow.

On filters, get one size bigger than you think you will need. Water will flow through it a bit more efficiently, and you won't have to clean it quite so often.

Oh, one more thing. I use a solar cover, cost about $120 every three years, and it keeps the pool warm during swimming season. Sometimes too warm, have to keep the cover off at night sometimes.

Jeff
 
I put a VF in and have had similar success. The math works out such that a properly sized 2 speed pump is more economical. The VF pays for itself compared to an oversized single speed but since the effeciency difference is much much smaller compared to the 2 speed it never catches up (I calced it at a 15 yr payback). On the other hand the VF has that cool display on the front so..... I love it.

If it's just a choice of $ and priority at the moment I might go with the solar now and see if you need the heater later. I love my little solar system but we're a little warmer than San Diego. If you have a spa then it's a different equation obviously.

I'd definitely replace the filter. Mine was similar age and started to leak the first time I tried to backwash it.

If you're going VF you might want to get a complete Pentair system. They are a big company, parts are easy to get and I believe the warranty gets better the more Pentair pieces you buy. If you want IPhone control - go with the Intellitouch controller.

And once you're spending that much - I'd just pull the trigger on the salt. With a little shopping you can probably get it thrown in almost for free once you're buying a complete system.
 
Thanks for the advice! I am currently trying to get the best price on the VF here in SD
The filter I have is a Pentair FNS plus 48 so it is already a little over sized and is only 5 years old so I will be keeping that.

As far as the heater I think it is going to be a Master Temp 400k

Control I think the SunTouch will be plenty of control for what I am doing and plan on doing.

I might go with the IntelliChlor but that is still to be debated. I don't know enough about salt systems yet.
 
Yes, like lightingguy said, I also purchased mine from Amazon. I paid $1180 total, including the $29.49 shipping from Pool Supply Warehouse. The price jumps around a bit, so you can watch. Every once in awhile it's a direct order from Amazon, with no shipping, but the base price is a bit higher. I've ordered twice from Amazon - Pool Supply Warehouse, and received stuff fast.
 
I have been doing some more research and think that the VS would be the correct pump for me to go with.

I am planning on getting a Solar heating system so I would need a controller. The suntouch will run the VS properly but not the VS. If i went with the Intellitouch I could use that to run the VS and everything else but I feel like that is over kill for what I am doing.

I need to pull the trigger on something soon my pump is starting to leak like the titanic.
 
Funny, I was just looking at these systems for my set up. The Easy Touch 4 IC40 seemed like a cheap way to get a SWG thrown in for another $500.

With the pool open all year that cost is pretty well offset in bleach alone over 4 or 5 years.

Feel your pain on the titanic. We're in the middle of a fixer as well. The first time I touched the filter the backwash handle broke off when I tried to switch it over and the unit emptied onto my feet. Nice.
 
bartfriend said:
I might go with the IntelliChlor but that is still to be debated. I don't know enough about salt systems yet.
Click to expand...

I don't know anything about salt systems, either, but I'd look into the hookup requirements in my planning if I were you. Somewhere here I read something about needing a certain length of straight pipe - maybe that was something else, who knows? - and it's certainly easier to add a SWG later if you designed the space for it in at the beginning!
 

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Surprising how easy it is to spend $2500 at a pool shop....

I ended up getting the VS-3050 and the Easytouch with the IC40 combo.

Turns out my wife's friends dad owns a plumbing company and has an account and that means wholesale prices for me. :party:


I got the pump installed today. (hot-wired in to get the water moving) Tomorrow will be the Intellichlor/easytouch Combo.

I have 10 bags of salt in to the pool so far.

I will be moving this post over to SWG thread.

thanks for the input.
 
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