So the transition over to the hopefully energy saving intelliflow VS-3050 has been anything but good. To begin with we removed the Jandy stealth main pump and polaris booster pump, replaced the main pump with a intelliflow vs with the hopes of helping out our $400 a month electric bill. Week one we noticed that the raised spa spillway was not spilling over, resulting in the spa not circulating and algae forming. The weekly testing of the water showed no chlorine present as well. Week two we went out of town for 5 days, came back and the cover on the pentair 48sq. ft. DE filter had a large crack in it, and the water was down about a foot in the pool, and the bottom of the pool is now stained (no circulation). So far my conclusions are as follows:
1. Pump does not provide enough circulation for the salt cell to be effective, we are having to supplement with pouring liquid chlorine in the pool. (Not happy with this at all!)
2. In order to have circulation in the spa, the PB changed the parameters in the intelliflow pool data entry to have just enough flow to spill over, this results in the pump running at a higher rpm. (defeats the purpose of the energy savings)
3. The intelliflow does not work with the DE filter, within two days of backflushing, the filter "clogs", resulting in no flow over the spa spillway. When I backwash, the media that comes out is not even dirty. Also, if I let the backwashing go for 3-4 days, the pump compensates for the "restriction" and ramps up the flow rate, pressure then goes up in the filter (this is what I assume cracked the filter housing).
4. We (PB and myself) have not found a automatic suction side cleaner that works on the low flow rate, we even had the pentair rep tell us that the great white will work on 25 gpm, well I have one in the pool now, he is correct about is "working" on the low pressure, however I have to turn off the bottom drain suction, and the 2nd skimmer suction, just to get the cleaner to move, then on the low pressure, the cleaner only stays in the deep end, and only cleans a small area. (Not a good solution)
My options as I see them are as follows:
1. I saved the "old" pump and polaris 280 and booster pump, I am thinking of just going back to where I was to start with (which was an extremely satisfied pool owner with a virtually maintenance free pool, except for the extra $100 plus a month bill). Brushing the pool a couple of times a week, and vacuuming once a week is getting very old! My PB even gave me a large pentair cartrige filter which I have built up on a cart with my "old" pool pump to use as an external filter/vacuum. The downside of course is our electricity costs are only going to go up (another 6% bump is coming this year), the $400 and up electric bills are killing us!
2. Leave the intelliflow installed, change out the DE filter to a cartridge filter, install the polaris booster pump and polaris 280. My fear with this setup would be that with the decreased circulation and water flow in the pool, the sand/dirt would just settle back on the bottom and not be filtered. Also, I still would have to supplement the chlorine, not to mention I hated cleaning the last cartridge filters!
3. Install the original pump, but purchase a good suction side cleaner. At least in this version the DE filter and salt cell would once again function correctly, eliminating the need for adding supplemental chlorine. I would save the $20-$30 a month from the booster pump, however I would still need to brush and vacuum weekly.
I am at my witts end! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!
Thanks..
Greg
1. Pump does not provide enough circulation for the salt cell to be effective, we are having to supplement with pouring liquid chlorine in the pool. (Not happy with this at all!)
2. In order to have circulation in the spa, the PB changed the parameters in the intelliflow pool data entry to have just enough flow to spill over, this results in the pump running at a higher rpm. (defeats the purpose of the energy savings)
3. The intelliflow does not work with the DE filter, within two days of backflushing, the filter "clogs", resulting in no flow over the spa spillway. When I backwash, the media that comes out is not even dirty. Also, if I let the backwashing go for 3-4 days, the pump compensates for the "restriction" and ramps up the flow rate, pressure then goes up in the filter (this is what I assume cracked the filter housing).
4. We (PB and myself) have not found a automatic suction side cleaner that works on the low flow rate, we even had the pentair rep tell us that the great white will work on 25 gpm, well I have one in the pool now, he is correct about is "working" on the low pressure, however I have to turn off the bottom drain suction, and the 2nd skimmer suction, just to get the cleaner to move, then on the low pressure, the cleaner only stays in the deep end, and only cleans a small area. (Not a good solution)
My options as I see them are as follows:
1. I saved the "old" pump and polaris 280 and booster pump, I am thinking of just going back to where I was to start with (which was an extremely satisfied pool owner with a virtually maintenance free pool, except for the extra $100 plus a month bill). Brushing the pool a couple of times a week, and vacuuming once a week is getting very old! My PB even gave me a large pentair cartrige filter which I have built up on a cart with my "old" pool pump to use as an external filter/vacuum. The downside of course is our electricity costs are only going to go up (another 6% bump is coming this year), the $400 and up electric bills are killing us!
2. Leave the intelliflow installed, change out the DE filter to a cartridge filter, install the polaris booster pump and polaris 280. My fear with this setup would be that with the decreased circulation and water flow in the pool, the sand/dirt would just settle back on the bottom and not be filtered. Also, I still would have to supplement the chlorine, not to mention I hated cleaning the last cartridge filters!
3. Install the original pump, but purchase a good suction side cleaner. At least in this version the DE filter and salt cell would once again function correctly, eliminating the need for adding supplemental chlorine. I would save the $20-$30 a month from the booster pump, however I would still need to brush and vacuum weekly.
I am at my witts end! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!
Thanks..
Greg
