Pentair Intelliflo 3hp, can it run a "The Pool Cleaner"

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L

LutherKrank

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May 23, 2013
23
Merced, CA
Gentlemen: And Ladies, sorry.

I'm trying to figure out if I can plumb from the pressure side through a valve to a 1" pressure return line currently operated by a PB-4 3/4hp booster.
I want to see if my Pentair Intelliflo 011018 VS pump can pump enough water to run a "The Pool Cleaner" pressure side cleaner that needs 11-15 psi to operate/22-25 gpm. I just want PG&E and .36kwh power out of my life. The pressure line around the filter is all 2".

Thanks, Luther (ignorant pool owner)
 
That will probably work, but only at a higher RPM than you would ideally want. Using a larger pipe would work a lot better. The Pool Cleaner works at a much lower pressure than a typical booster driven pool cleaner, and lower pressure works better with larger pipes.
 
Thanks Jason, I do realize that bigger would be better, if it was 1.5", I'd convert that line to suction side and be done with it, but for some reason it's 1" all the way and it's 60' away from the pool under trees and concrete, not really viable. I'll probably give it a try, a couple hours at maybe 2600 rpm. Pump is a beast, I'm hoping will work out, but more looking forward to moving water at 800 rpm and 120w, not kw. Does anyone know a formula to figure gpm and pressure on that kind of reduction?
 
LutherKrank said:
I want to see if my Pentair Intelliflo 011018 VS pump can pump enough water to run a "The Pool Cleaner" pressure side cleaner that needs 11-15 psi to operate/22-25 gpm.
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If you read the manual, you can set the pump speed such that cleaner wheels rotate at a specific rate (pg 6, 12-15 RPM). I do the same thing with my suction side cleaner but using a valve instead.
 
Thanks, Dave / Mark. I think my pool plumbing guy has a meter, will check flow. I'm going to contact the mfr. this a.m. to see what they think.
I see the manual, it's interesting that it uses the turbines and flow, not pressure to make it run. I'll update what the mfr. thinks.
 
Well, talked to the "The Poole Cleaner" people. Turns out you can't run without enough flow, so the 1" pipe' won't work. So be it until I get another idea or find another port. Oh well, PG&E wins on that one. However, I got the Intelliflo installed and it's running at 1500 rpm and under 200w, yes watts, not kwh. Whew, what a relief, and at 1500 rpm gives the booster plenty of water. I win on that one. Before, I think it was 3,000w. Now off to SLAMing the pool before party this weekend. Thanks for the answers. I'll be studying and will try to contribute if I can. - Luther
 
LutherKrank said:
Well, talked to the "The Poole Cleaner" people. Turns out you can't run without enough flow, so the 1" pipe' won't work. So be it until I get another idea or find another port.
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Have you actually tried it or is that just what the manufacture said? 22-25 GPM is high for a 1" pipe but not totally unreasonable.
 
You will need to attach the cleaner anyway to get an accurate flow rate (i.e. the cleaner affects the flow rate) so knowledge of the exact flow rate is somewhat moot. What is important is the wheel RPM. So I would just connect the cleaner and see if you get the correct wheel RPM.
 

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LutherKrank said:
Mark: Are you saying I can hook up the current Polaris and test wheel RPM straight off of the main pump to check?
Click to expand...
Ok, so I guess you have not purchased ThePoolCleaner yet? I had assumed you had it already.


And yes, in order to accurately measure GPM, you must have everything installed as it will be in operation including the cleaner. Plumbing and the cleaner itself influences the flow rate. So if you haven't purchased the cleaner, there is no point to measuring GPM. IMNSHO, there really is no point in measuring GPM anyway. Once you have the cleaner installed and the plumbing configured, you can just measure the wheel RPM. Wheel RPM is the most important/accurate metric for the cleaner performance. Nothing else really matters.
 
Hmmmm, well, for now I'm going to monitor the power usage even with the booster, am wondering now if some other kind of pump, i.e., another intelliflo would do the boosting at less wattage than the booster. It's amazing, the thing is running at 900 rpm, at 100 watts. What pressure does a sand filter require to work correctly, 15-20?, I'm trying to figure out a saved setting to run the filter at maximum cleaning pressure. When I run the intelliflo at low rpm, it's just a very low pressure system, not much pressure on the filter at all. I figure I must need to pressurize it at some point each day, Y/N? Sorry for ignorance, I just have to figure this darn thing out.
 
Filters tend to work better at lower flow rates than at higher flow rates so from that perspective, lower pressure is better and there is nothing wrong with running at 900 RPM. The only thing that might suffer is skimming because sometimes skimmers don't work so well at low flow rates.

Filter pressure is a good measure of the amount of flow rate going through your plumbing and the head loss experienced from the filter gauge on wards so it is also a good measure of energy being wasted in the plumbing. Higher pressure is proportional to higher energy use so in most cases you don't want higher pressure unless you really need the higher flow rates.
 
Ahh, interesting, I was thinking that it would need some kind of reasonable 15-20 psi pressure for some reason. How does one then figure out a backflush schedule / indicator? I was running 15-20 psi with the old pump, backflushing at 25psi. Now, I have no idea when it would get to the former backflush level. I also presume that backflushing would need fairly high rpm/gpm coming out of the pump to accomplish the flushing?
 
A general rule of thumb is to clean the filter when pressure rises 25% from the clean filter pressure. However, it is very difficult to accurately measure pressure at low RPM levels because the pressure will also be very low and filter pressure gauges have very low accuracy at low pressure. So in order to determine when to clean the filter, you should choose a higher RPM for the pressure measurement. Usually something over 2500 RPM should work well but always make sure you are measuring pressure at the same RPM each time. Another option is to clean the filter and then set the RPM such that the filter pressure reads 16 PSI. Then use that RPM level for your "filter" pressure measurement and clean the filter at 20 PSI.

As for backwashing, you will generally need an RPM that is at least as high as the normal filtering RPM. But the higher the RPM, the faster the filter should backwash so there is no harm in going a little higher in RPM for a better backwashing.
 
Mark: Thanks much for the info, makes sense. I can get it to mid teens at about 2,500 or so, so that works. You've been very helpful and I do much appreciate it. These boards are fantastic, a lot of really knowledgeable, kind people willing to share. I'll tell you, since I got the pump and started slamming the pool, looks a hundred percent better. Still have some algae to get out, but it seems to be working, now I've just got to figure out the TF-100 testing kit to get it dialed in. If I'm coming through Pleasanton, you have an offer of lunch, beer, coffee, whatever on me. I grew up there for a few years back in the seventies, I can barely find where I used to live it's changed so much, and we have a son who works there for Safeway. Small world. Thanks again, and I'll keep monitoring the boards. Now I've got a pool light out, so will probably replace with an LED, I'm on an energy savings mission.

Luther(Chris)
 
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