After couple months of running the IntelliFlow VF, am wondering about some capabilities and issues with the pump and in case anyone here has access to Pentair technical staff, would welcome any direct dialogue.
It appears that no matter what size I tell my pool to be, the VF will not allow in Filter Mode any automatic adjustment below certain limits. The Flow Rate appears to be locked to 15 GPM, the RPM to around 1200-1250 and Watts around 135-145. This is with 1 Turnover and even when I "tell the Setup program" that my pool is only 5,000 gallons (tested with 2,000 - 20,000 values in the Menu System).
The above is true even if I allow for a runtime of 24 hours and would appear to contradict the claim that the pump always adjusts based on Pool Size, Turnover Rate, Runtime Allowed.
It certainly works the other way, meaning that if I setup the pool size as 20,000 - 25,000 gallons and still allow for almost 24 hours, the flow rate, RPM and Watts go up to compensate for the (claimed) pool size. Can't figure out why Pentair would have limited the downside limits.
It is also true that I have full control (almost) over this when running in Manual Mode vs Filter Mode.
In Manual Mode, I can set the Watts or RPM (but not Flow Rate, low limit locked to 15 GPM) and thus setup any speed I want. That is my current mode of choice, running 24 hours/day at about 845 RPM and below 90 Watts but I miss the automatic prime function of Filter Mode and the pump basket cover lid will ever so slowly over 2-3 days show that the level of water is going down. This requires me to select every 3rd day in Manual Mode the Flow Rate function, via the menu, select 20 GPM, which causes a short burst of Priming to kick in, the basket cover lid is totally filled with water and then I scroll down to 845 RPM and press Enter, the slow mode returns.
My preference would really be to have a programming interface to the API of the control module, what are the chances Pentair would allow access to the machine code? I could easily rewrite the code assuming it's some combination of machine code (no matter what language) and first thing I would change would be to allow the system to automatically (really!) to adjust to the claimed Pool Size in Gallons and slow down the Flow Rate, RPM, Watts to match the 24 hour runtime.
If Manual Mode had an ability to run Priming once every 24 hours, this would be a non-issue.
If Filter Mode would have ability to truly adjust down to the allowed runtime and pool size, this would be a non-issue as Filter Mode will automatically switch to Priming Mode, as needed.
Pentair Customer Support did not have a solution.
It appears that no matter what size I tell my pool to be, the VF will not allow in Filter Mode any automatic adjustment below certain limits. The Flow Rate appears to be locked to 15 GPM, the RPM to around 1200-1250 and Watts around 135-145. This is with 1 Turnover and even when I "tell the Setup program" that my pool is only 5,000 gallons (tested with 2,000 - 20,000 values in the Menu System).
The above is true even if I allow for a runtime of 24 hours and would appear to contradict the claim that the pump always adjusts based on Pool Size, Turnover Rate, Runtime Allowed.
It certainly works the other way, meaning that if I setup the pool size as 20,000 - 25,000 gallons and still allow for almost 24 hours, the flow rate, RPM and Watts go up to compensate for the (claimed) pool size. Can't figure out why Pentair would have limited the downside limits.
It is also true that I have full control (almost) over this when running in Manual Mode vs Filter Mode.
In Manual Mode, I can set the Watts or RPM (but not Flow Rate, low limit locked to 15 GPM) and thus setup any speed I want. That is my current mode of choice, running 24 hours/day at about 845 RPM and below 90 Watts but I miss the automatic prime function of Filter Mode and the pump basket cover lid will ever so slowly over 2-3 days show that the level of water is going down. This requires me to select every 3rd day in Manual Mode the Flow Rate function, via the menu, select 20 GPM, which causes a short burst of Priming to kick in, the basket cover lid is totally filled with water and then I scroll down to 845 RPM and press Enter, the slow mode returns.
My preference would really be to have a programming interface to the API of the control module, what are the chances Pentair would allow access to the machine code? I could easily rewrite the code assuming it's some combination of machine code (no matter what language) and first thing I would change would be to allow the system to automatically (really!) to adjust to the claimed Pool Size in Gallons and slow down the Flow Rate, RPM, Watts to match the 24 hour runtime.
If Manual Mode had an ability to run Priming once every 24 hours, this would be a non-issue.
If Filter Mode would have ability to truly adjust down to the allowed runtime and pool size, this would be a non-issue as Filter Mode will automatically switch to Priming Mode, as needed.
Pentair Customer Support did not have a solution.