Hi all, I have a kreepy krauly that looks like it's a few years old. My problem is that I'm trying to benefit from energy savings of my new pump, and a friend at work says he runs his pump sub 2000 rpms and it's cleaning his pool very well. As you can see, I have a relatively small pool. One of my friends is telling me to turn my valve so that the skimmer side is only 15-25% open while the vacuum is getting most of the power. However, when I do this I don't feel like my skimmer is cleaning well enough. Right now I currently run around 2600 rpms with both valves open 100%. This seems to keep it relatively clean after about 3 hours a day, but that's about 1k watts to run at that speed. Are there lighter and better vacuums out there than this ratcheting piece of plastic? Where are the savings on a pump like this?
Tips on what to look for in a suction side cleaner
- Thread starter Enzman
- Start date
I think The Pool Cleaner (likely 2-wheeled version for you), requires the least amount of flow rate. So that would allow you to dial back the RPM or keep more flow going through the skimmer.
The Intelliflo is way bigger than you really needed, but only recently have the manufacturers started selling smaller VS pumps that would have worked for you. Only way to get savings is by running as low RPMs as you can (most efficient around 1000 RPMs). So, cheapest would be to have all suction come through the cleaner and dial the speed down as low as you can for it to work properly.
The Intelliflo is way bigger than you really needed, but only recently have the manufacturers started selling smaller VS pumps that would have worked for you. Only way to get savings is by running as low RPMs as you can (most efficient around 1000 RPMs). So, cheapest would be to have all suction come through the cleaner and dial the speed down as low as you can for it to work properly.
So, my confusion I think lies in your last statement. All suction to come through the cleaner? I have 2 separate lines, my pool cleaner line and my skimmer. Please clarify what you are suggesting
To run at the lowest speed and save the most amount of money you would need all the flow to go through the cleaner and none through the skimmer. And adjust the flow rate of the pump so that it is just enough for what the cleaner needs.
Yup. That is the trade off. You could automate the valve to run the cleaner some and then the skimmer some. Or run at a higher RPM so the cleaner has enough flow and the skimmer gets some too. The lower flow the cleaner needs, the more you can divert the skimmer at the same RPM.
This is a disadvantage of a suction cleaner.
This is a disadvantage of a suction cleaner.
So then I wonder if it would be worth it for me to just have the skimmer on for 3-4 hours automated at 1000w, and then every day when I get home from work just turn the pool vac on by itself whenever the pool floor is dirty. The only thing that really matters for pool cleanliness is turnover right, so most of the cleaning is done through the skimmer (barring obviously a lot of debris thrown into my pool via storm etc)?
You need circulation to distribute the chemicals. The skimmer would hopefully catch debris before it sinks. Then run the cleaner when you think the floor is dirty. Just note you might need more speed for the skimmer to work well also.
I have not run my robot since probably November. There is a lot of leaves and debris on the floor, but the chemistry is still fine. Now that it is warming up, time to clean up the pool.
I have not run my robot since probably November. There is a lot of leaves and debris on the floor, but the chemistry is still fine. Now that it is warming up, time to clean up the pool.
I think that maybe that is my problem. I try to vacuum my pool every day, when I should just concentrate on running the skimmer every day. Right now I'm trying to fine tune what rpm's I need to have a skimmer keep my pool clean. On a side note, I'm having a problem with my spa being half empty when I come home from work, and I don't understand why. My automated valves are all 180degrees valves, but the one that is the return is set so that it only allows 100% to the spa (while the pool return is closed) obviously for my jacuzzi setting, but then when I turn my spa off, it simply resets back to maybe opening the pool return 25-50%? I have a feeling that when I have both my skimmer and pool pump open 100%, that the return back to the pool is hampered and I'm not getting all my bang for my buck. Any thoughts?