Intelliflo + boost pump, timer and freeze guard?

[torchroadster]

Noobie here - been lurking on this forum for a couple of months - and have learned lots!!!!

We are in the process of specifying a new pool build - and pending a price from the builder are heading towards installing an Intelliflo pump. Reading their brochure it seems like the controller for the pump replaces the conventional timer and freeze guard you find on manual pumps - is this accurate?

Also we will have a Polaris 280 cleaner - with a conventional pump this requires a boost pump - can the Intelliflo also handle that function? I've read some indicate that it might but again want to be sure.

Any other things I want to think about up front on this? FYI - we are building a 30,000 gallon diving pool - with spa. Our electric rates are pretty low here ($.10/kwh) but still I like the savings and the quiet operation of the Intelliflo.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

The IntelliFlo VF, the fancier versions of the IntelliFlo, has a pump timer and freeze protection. The less expensive VS model does not have either.

The IntelliFlo is not at all good at the high pressure and low flow required by the Polaris 280. A different cleaner, like The Pool Cleaner, which is designed for lower pressure is a much better match.

 

[Hotrod30]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[torchroadster]

Thanks for the welcomes...

"A different cleaner, like The Pool Cleaner, which is designed for lower pressure is a much better match."

Jason - can you give me more details on this? Googling "Pool Cleaner" didn't bring up anything unique. Thanks .

 

[JasonLion]

The PoolCleaner is available both as a pressure side and as a suction side cleaner. Either way it is designed to work with the low pressure high flow rate that is produced by a normal pump. There is no need for a booster pump and the user feedback has been positive. There are a couple of other cleaners that are similar and don't require a booster pump but I am less familiar with them.

 

[chem geek]

In my pool, when I replaced my old main pump and booster pump (for the cleaner) with Intelliflo VF, I added a valve to be able to direct all the pump output to the dedicated line for the pressure-side cleaner. I then set the flow to 15 GPM when this valve is switched to run the cleaner. This has worked really well for me. Some people have The Pool Cleaner hooked up all the time to a return, but I didn't want the cleaner running all the time and didn't want to have the flow rate be that high to make the cleaner work when hooked up to one of three returns.

My dedicated line to The Pool Cleaner is 1.5" diameter and at 15 GPM the pump is at 2180 RPM consuming 540 Watts when the cleaner is operating. A little more info, including incremental PSI for my The Pool Cleaner, may be found in this post.

The Pentair Legend II shown here says it does not need a booster pump, but I don't know what sort of flow rate setting it would need on a dedicated line to operate correctly. My hunch is that it may have more resistance to flow than The Pool Cleaner so may use more pump energy, but you'd really have to find out from someone who has one.

Richard

 

[tmoss]

I'm using a Legend II with my intelliflo on a dedicated 1.5" line. I set the pump at 15 gpm and have the wall relief cracked open. The pump draws around 650-700 watts ats 2200-2400 pending the filter dirt loading. After 9 months of this set up I can report very favorable results.