Intelliflo Variable Speed Pump Trouble - Help Needed

[Davnjenn]

Hello All,

I've been an avid reader of this site for years, but never had any problems that required help until now. My intelliflo VS pump is 14 months old and just came down with an issue. My pentair Suntouch controller provides power to the pump and Pentair IC40 just as it should at the appropriate time, but the pump motor fails to turn. The display on the pump has power. I removed the controller cable from the pump to manually turn it on. The display acts just like it normally would (pump speed increases, watts go up, priming is displayed) and looking at the display you would think the motor is working, but it is in fact not turning at all. After a few seconds the display then shows a priming error warning, I assume because there is no actual water flowing.

Does anyone know of anything I can do to try to get the motor to work. Pentair is closed now and I need to get it working.

 

[Davnjenn]

FWIW, I tested voltage at the breaker and the pump contacts. All are good. Does anyone know if these have an internal battery? Even though the breaker has been off for days, when I turn it back on the time is still accurate. Is there a way to do a hard reset on the controller? It's just really strange that it acts like it's working and the display shows the pump speed and watts increasing without the motor turning. I'm desperate for suggestions...

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

That is very strange. Why do you think it isn't turning? No noise, no fan? Sounds like maybe the pump works but a valve or two on the return side might be closed.

 

[Davnjenn]

Welcome to TFP!

That is very strange. Why do you think it isn't turning? No noise, no fan? Sounds like maybe the pump works but a valve or two on the return side might be closed.

No noise, no fan, nothing but the display lit up and appearing to be working.

I spoke with Pentair tech support this morning. They're sending out a new drive controller (the brain that attaches on top of the motor) as they suspect the malfunction is internal. They stated that if it was a problem with a seized motor or similar there would be an over current alarm. It's a pretty easy part to change so I'm hoping it fixes the problem. I'll report back with the results as soon as it comes in.

 

[Davnjenn]

The new drive controller came in this morning. It took about 10 minutes to change it out and everything is back to working like normal.

I want to publicly thank pentair tech support, especially Jeff, for helping get me back up and running. Having a kids birthday pool party looming and a broke pool was very stressful. Jeff consulted with the tech team as my issue was a first for them and they got my part shipped out the same day.

Also, I did pay a pool tech $200 to install everything when it was new even though it's not a very tough job, but having the extended warranty protection because of it saved me a lot on this repair. The drive controllers can be found for about $600 shipped. My advice is to do as I did and pay a little more up front to ensure you have that warranty when you need it!

 

[pooldv]

Great, thanks for posting back your solution. Glad it is working!