wiring swg and var speed pump

[atlas]

Just purchased new var speed pentair pump to replace my single speed pentair that died from chameleon intrusion!! I currently have a mechanical timer that controls both my aqua rite and my pump, since my new var speed pump has built in timer i need a constant hot connection. My plan was to move the pump load wires over to the hot leads inside the timer, then run the swg within the pump timers run time. ie. pump on 12 t0 6 and set the swg in the mechanical timer on from 1 to 6. does this sound reasonable? Thanks

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!!

That is the easiest way, although not perfect. Ideally you never want the SWG to have power when you are not running the pump. So what you propose would work ... assuming the pump never has a problem and that the 2 timers do not drift. Might be safer to leave a gap between the on and off times.

Another more involved method would be to add a current sensing relay. This would do away with the mechanical timer and would supply power to the SWG whenever the relay sensed current being draw by the pump.

 

[chiefwej]

What you are proposing is exactly what I did when I put in my new VS pump last month. My pump runs a couple hours (8-10:30) at a higher RPM to clean the pool and warm a bit w solar panels, then a mid speed (10:30-4pm) to chlorinate during the high sun time, then at 4pm, drops to very low speed (1,000rpm) until 2 am (just because it's only 100watt draw and oh boy does it make the water sparkle). I have the timer set to run the SWG from 8am to 4pm. So far it works perfectly.

If the mechanical timer and pump timer ever did get out of sync, you will still have the flow switch to keep the SWG from running without the pump.

 

[timerguy]

I had already replaced a pair of the t-104s ( 1 for pump and the other for Polaris boost pump) with an intermatic digital timer w/freeze sensor before last winter. When I installed the swg this spring, I just wired that into the previously unused circuit 2. Then last month, I replaced my pump with the Pentair VS and reconnected the existing wiring bundle to the new pump. To get the freeze sensor to run properly, I'll have to set my pumps timer for 24/7 operation at the lowest rpm and a higher setting for when I want to run the cleaner, then the intermatic timers circuit 1 to turn on/off for the period I want to run the cleaner. The freeze sensor will energize circuit 1 whenever the air temp is 32 or below. Since the water temp will be lower than 50 by that time, I'll just disable circuit 2 so the swg won't turn on. One of these days, I'll replace the polaris with a robot.

 

[susa]

We chose to remove all mechanical Intermatic wall box timers and allow the computer on the Pentair to determine when to run and when to turn on the Chlorine Generator. This is done with a simple Current Control Relay that measures the power curve of the pump and turns on the power to the IntelliChlor Transformer or keeps it off if pump is running at a lower speed (below 130 to 140 watts of power)

This allows us to run at ultralow speeds (15 GPM at around 112 watts) for extended hours selectively and once pump speeds up for about 4 to 5 hours during the night, the transformer and Chlorine Generator is also powered on.

 

[prs]

Susa, would you mind sharing what brand of Current Control Relay you used for this.

Right now my SWG is turned on/off only by its internal flow switch, and I think I need to put in a pump amp relay for safety reasons.

Edit, I think I just spotted it in your signature...correct?

 

[susa]

The brand and model is a link in my sig

 

[rmturner54]

My VS pump and SWG are all connected inside the mechanical timer, when the mech timer turns on it turns on both my SWG and VS pump. At that point when the VS gets power, it's internal program takes over and starts on V1 speed which is a higher RPM thats called prime speed, it's programmed for 4 minutes i believe, then the pump moves to V3 which is the normal run setting I have set for 1200RPM. THee is also a V2 speed which is manual control for things like a vac based cleaner.

 

[jblizzle]

My VS pump and SWG are all connected inside the mechanical timer, when the mech timer turns on it turns on both my SWG and VS pump. At that point when the VS gets power, it's internal program takes over and starts on V1 speed which is a higher RPM thats called prime speed, it's programmed for 4 minutes i believe, then the pump moves to V3 which is the normal run setting I have set for 1200RPM. THee is also a V2 speed which is manual control for things like a vac based cleaner.

Yes, that is the way the smaller VS pumps are designed to work. The larger full featured ones work differently.

 

[rmturner54]

I kinda figured that. My pool is a no frills one. No water features... just a pool.

 

[atlas]

Thanks for all the help, I will keep in mind the current sensing relay, although I was able to run the aqua rite timer within the pump timers run time and its working perfect. And my utilities dropped $50.00 first month!!