Frankenstein Pumps. Janair IntelliStealthFlo

[variance]

Ok.. maybe I just have too much of this modification mentality from cars
but given that I've seen some complaints saying that Pentair's Impeller is inefficient.
and that Jandy's is the best.

If money wasn't an object.

Intelliflo + Jandy Impeller? guessing fitment wouldn't work in the whisperflo pump?

in that case... would removing the whisperflo pump and attach the Jandy Pump to the Intelliflo motor/control assembly work?

Im basing my modification theory on how I saw another company marketing variable flow pumps with the exact same features as pentair (except their stuff was on the wall. not on the pump)

They built it around the max-e-glass pumps though which leads me to believe that
maybe a modified hybrid jandy/pentair intellistealthflo pump could be created.

 

[JasonLion]

I would not say that Pentair's impeller is inefficient. The Pentair pumps are some of the best on the market. By the specs, the Jandy Stealth looks to be just a hair more efficient than the Pentair WhisperFlo, but they are quite close and both are superior to most everything else.

I wouldn't go swapping impellers, they tend to be designed for a specific pump housing. But you can generally swap motors easily enough. With a little work it should be possible to attach a Jandy Stealth pump assembly to an IntelliFlo motor assembly. Or you could use a stock three phase motor and put together a speed controller (which is essentially what Ikeric has done).

I haven't heard of anyone working on this kind of project. The possible gains are fairly small compared to the huge gain you get by going from a single speed pump to a variable speed pump. Still, it could prove entertaining.

 

[Hal3]

put together a speed controller

Does anyone make a speed controller that can jut be plugged in ahead of the pump to manually decrease the rate and save money?

 

[mas985]

Here is a variable frequency drive (VFD) that might work, depends on your motor, but these controllers do not come cheap. The cost of the controller plus pump is usually near what an Intelliflo would cost.

Also, just putting a controller on a single phase motor is less than ideal and will not have the performance of an Intelliflo but would probably still be more cost effective than without it.

You can usually find VFDs on Ebay but most if not all are for 3 phase output which would mean a motor change as well. If you are going to spend the money for a VFD, you would probably be better off just buying a 4x160.

 

[variance]

I would not say that Pentair's impeller is inefficient. The Pentair pumps are some of the best on the market. By the specs, the Jandy Stealth looks to be just a hair more efficient than the Pentair WhisperFlo, but they are quite close and both are superior to most everything else.

Ah. I had gotten the notion it was inefficient from this: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pools/msg081405008842.html?74 rather long thread discussing Jandy 2-speeds vs the Intelliflo and PSC vs the PMSM motor used in the intelliflow.
Happy to hear the WhisperFlo pump assembly isn't as inefficient as I feared. (I just got the intelliflo VF installed recently)

I wouldn't go swapping impellers, they tend to be designed for a specific pump housing. But you can generally swap motors easily enough. With a little work it should be possible to attach a Jandy Stealth pump assembly to an IntelliFlo motor assembly. Or you could use a stock three phase motor and put together a speed controller (which is essentially what Ikeric has done).

Three-Phase motor = PMSM motor?
I thought Ikeric's was identical to the Intelliflo VS except that it had its drive mounted to the wall vs mounted on the motor itself.

I haven't heard of anyone working on this kind of project. The possible gains are fairly small compared to the huge gain you get by going from a single speed pump to a variable speed pump. Still, it could prove entertaining.

Before I decided to suck it up and get the Intelliflo. I had managed to acquire a Jandy Stealth Pump with a broken motor basically for free. was looking to retrofit a intelliflo VF motor/drive onto the assembly. (I may still do it.. too much time on my hands)

One thing I don't like about the VF is that the controls/display mounted on the pump can't be re-oriented as they are built into the drive. (the pump display is against the side of my shed and I have to pretty much strain or read upside down to change any settings at the moment.)

It would have been nicer to have the drive off the motor and mountable on the wall
for heat and accessibility purposes. (I suppose they want you to get $1000 intellitouch for that though, still i'd prefer the drive not to be directly on the motor itself.)

 

[JasonLion]

Ikeric uses a stock three phase motor, but the IntelliFlo uses a custom PMSM. A PMSM is a permanent magnet synchronous motor. All three phase motors are synchronous, but a stock three phase motor doesn't use permanent magnets. A PMSM motor has a slightly higher inherent efficiency than a stock three phase motor, but just slightly. A stock three phase motor has a significantly better inherent efficiency than a single phase motor.