Being Held Hostage By My Pool!!! (aka Intelliph installation)

[Derb22]

Dirk,
after reading your post, I have come to the conclusion the Stenner is the way to go. At least for me. Not having any liquid or fumes getting into or around the pump does seem to have its advantages. I have never seen a perilistic pump operate before but it seems I will have far less yearly preventative maintenance.

 

[Dirk]

Dirk,
after reading your post, I have come to the conclusion the Stenner is the way to go. At least for me. Not having any liquid or fumes getting into or around the pump does seem to have its advantages. I have never seen a perilistic pump operate before but it seems I will have far less yearly preventative maintenance.

I'm pretty sure the pump on my IntellipH is similar to yours, and might even be the same manufacturer. It's a perilistic pump. I don't think mine will need any more or less maintenance than yours. Perhaps Stenner just doesn't recommend it as Pentair does. And my hopper is quite sealed, I'm sure, except for the vent, which needs to be there. If you don't have an obvious vent, to let air in and acid fumes out, then both are going to pass into/out of your tank in some other way, or it'll eventually pump itself into a vacuum. So if you don't have an obvious vent, then you have one that is hidden in some way, and you'll have no less trouble than I will regarding corrosion of surrounding metal. At least mine can be redirected as far from my pad as I need.

Anyone care to weigh in on how a Stenner tank vents?

So that's my defense of my IntellipH, based on not ever even seeing a Stenner!

It's primary flaw is that I believe it's going to shut down when the SWG does, but I have a plan brewing to work around that...

 

[Derb22]

I haven't done any real testing of this theory, but I think I've noticed that my pH stays put better than it should, or at least better than I was expecting. It seems I should have had more trouble dialing in the right output than I did. And I've done that twice, once for 31% and again for 1:1 diluted 31%. Each time, it was a simple matter to get the output number just right, then the pH just stays put. Luxurious!

I talk (brag!) about my acid doser more than I should, but I can't help it. I'm glad to have a comrade that understands now what I do, a pool (that needs any amount of acid dosing) without a machine to do it is as silly as one without an SWG (or other chlorine doser). It's just too nice not to have these gizmos, and not to tell others about them!

On a scale of 1-10 I would say I fall into a 6-7 range of being handy around the house. This project was amazingly simple once I gathered the best information and advice and got the gear shipped. Then Lowe’s Shark bite fitting really cut down on the time and issues of joining the 1/4 inch tubing to the T. After one swimming season, I was already tired of the constant nagging worry about PH climbing and dealing with the MA at least once a week and sometimes twice. I would recommend to anyone to tackle this project. For me, and obviously you as well it was well worth it. I suspect micro-dosing has a lot to do with it apparently being easier to hold the PH rather than chasing the PH. Thanks for the detailed description of your project. It definitely helped spur me into action.

- - - Updated - - -

My initial thought is the tank lid does not seal. It’s just a plastic twist on cap, I would guess it is venting through the lid but I don’t have any proof of that. I have put my face pretty close to the pump and lid but haven’t gotten that whiff of MA that grabs your attention. Would be interesting to hear from those more informed than I.

 

[Dirk]

If the cap doesn't have an o-ring, then acid and air are venting through the cap.

 

[Derb22]

If the cap doesn't have an o-ring, then acid and air are venting through the cap.

definitely no o-ring on the cap.

 

[Dirk]

Then beware of surrounding metal objects. I first learned about MA venting reading about a guy that destroyed a lot of the stuff in his garage, because he was storing MA in it. The jugs you buy have caps that are designed to vent. So even a gallon jug with the cap screwed on tight can contaminate metal close by or in a confined space. Could your tank do that under the right circumstances?

 

[Derb22]

Well. You see the set up in the picture. If it vents straight up I’m ok. If it vented toward the old heater no harm, however I wouldn’t want it venting near the new heater when I bite the bullet and spend the money.

 

[Dirk]

I don't know the properties of MA vapor. Up? Down? Wafting everywhere? I'm going to redo my vent tube so that it doesn't have a dip in it, and exits about four feet away, above and to the right of my pad. I'll know at some point what's in its path of destruction! I'll take more pictures of nearby metal, and compare periodically to monitor if anything is corroding more than it should be outside.

 

[Derb22]

Mine is outside with very little metal and decent airflow. So I will monitor it as well. A good idea about the pictures.

On on a side note. Lowered the PH to 7.4 ish a few days ago. This morning, before the auto-dose it was sitting right at 7.4 - 7.6.
This is a beautiful thing!!!!!! In the old days I would already be back up around 7.8 or higher.

 

[Dirk]

Welcome to the club!

 

[Derb22]

IMHO this one is a no brainer. Fooling with MA a couple of times a year versus a couple of times a week. I’m a little surprised more do not install acid injection. I suppose not everyone with SWG’s have PH creep.

 

[Dirk]

I think that is true. But knowing what I know now, even if I had to add acid but once a week, or every other, I'd still want a machine to do it. There's another reason, though, which I'm sure I've already mentioned. Most who have to deal with pH-rise allow the pH to get very high in the acceptable range, then dose MA to bring it all the way to the bottom of the range, to give them the most time between dosing. I like the idea that my pH, and my TA, don't yo-yo like that anymore, but stay virtually constant day to day, even hour to hour. I think that has to be better for my finish, even if by just a little bit.

 

[Derb22]

I absolutely agree with the yo-yo effect, I was certainly guilty of doing just that. I would wait until I saw 8.0, give a deep sigh, go suit up with all the protection and slightly overdose so that I would maybe gain an extra day or two before repeating the process all over again. That cannot be good for the pool finish or the pool itself.

 

[Derb22]

17 days and the PH miraculously stays 7.6. I am LOVING my Stenner pump. I feel like I can now be comfortable checking on the chemicals around once a week. This is true TFP!!!!

 

[kimkats]

Score!!!

 

[Dirk]

17 days and the PH miraculously stays 7.6. I am LOVING my Stenner pump. I feel like I can now be comfortable checking on the chemicals around once a week. This is true TFP!!!!

As I continue to adjust runtime and output % down for both my SWG and IpH (due to cooling temps), I seem to notice a trend. The FC is a bit of a struggle this time of year. Seems to be very sensitive to temp and sun and SWG settings and scheduling. This was expected. But the pH is very stable, even as I adjust the IpH. The pH seems to be moving a tiny bit as expected. I decrease runtime and the acid demand rises a little. But I'm talking like pH 7.7 to 7.75, if that. It's as if the IpH and my pool have found their groove. Much like before the IpH: the pool wanted to be at 8.0+. Didn't matter if I left it alone, or blasted pH down to 7.2 with MA, it quickly returned to 8.0+. Now, with regular automated acid dosing, I've got it at a steady pH of 7.7, and that's where it stays.

Which is awesome!

 

[santacruzpool]

Darn it, this thread is making me think about getting a Stenner pump for acid addition.

Now I just need to figure out how to wire it to my Jandy panel - I have several open relays and could use the Jandy iAqualink as the "timer" I think. Turn it on for "X" number of minutes every day to inject a small amount of acid. Right now my pool uses about 16 oz per week - so say 2oz per day of the weaker low fume 14% MA.

 

[Dirk]

Darn it, this thread is making me think about getting a Stenner pump for acid addition.

Now I just need to figure out how to wire it to my Jandy panel - I have several open relays and could use the Jandy iAqualink as the "timer" I think. Turn it on for "X" number of minutes every day to inject a small amount of acid. Right now my pool uses about 16 oz per week - so say 2oz per day of the weaker low fume 14% MA.

We've got a guy doing something similar over here. Though he's Pentair. He's still trying to figure out the relay wiring, so he hasn't tried the dosing scheduling yet.

As long as the relay clicks on and off for a consistent number of seconds/minutes, then it should just be a matter of adjusting the schedule and the dilution of the mix in the acid tank. I don't know Stenner at all, but I would think, if there is a choice, to get the pump that outputs the least. As in, the least ounces/minute. Unless that would be somehow affected by back pressure or whatever, the slower it doses the more control you'd have. I really like that my IpH doses a tiny amount seven or eight times a day. It's sort of a "time-release" thing. As the pool and SWG are causing acid demand slowly throughout the day, that demand is being met slowly throughout the day. Rather than blasting it all into the pool, all at once, once a day. I mean, plenty of pools get their acid dose once a day, every other day, once a week, or even less. No big deal. But I just like the notion that my pH is even all the time: hour to hour. Point was, if your pump is dispensing slowly, and your dilution is lower, then you could schedule doses several times a day (assuming your automation has scheduling slots to spare, mine wouldn't).

My automation system allows for relays to be tied together, programmatically and/or electriclly, so that one always comes on when another does, or can't come on unless another is. That capability would be a natural for acid dosing, in that you'd set up the acid relay so that the acid pump can't inject unless the filter pump is running. Something for which Stenner users that rely on dedicated timers have to come up with a work around...

I suppose you'd still want to have some sort of flow switch protection, too. You'd wire that in series with the pump and relay. So the relay and the flow switch would both have to be closed for the acid to pump. Something like that.

If you found that you couldn't schedule a short enough interval for dosing, you'd just dilute the mix until you could. And/or dose every other day.

Keep us posted if you decide to jump into the rabbit hole!

 

[santacruzpool]

We've got a guy doing something similar over here. Though he's Pentair. He's still trying to figure out the relay wiring, so he hasn't tried the dosing scheduling yet.

As long as the relay clicks on and off for a consistent number of seconds/minutes, then it should just be a matter of adjusting the schedule and the dilution of the mix in the acid tank. I don't know Stenner at all, but I would think, if there is a choice, to get the pump that outputs the least. As in, the least ounces/minute. Unless that would be somehow affected by back pressure or whatever, the slower it doses the more control you'd have. I really like that my IpH doses a tiny amount seven or eight times a day. It's sort of a "time-release" thing. As the pool and SWG are causing acid demand slowly throughout the day, that demand is being met slowly throughout the day. Rather than blasting it all into the pool, all at once, once a day. I mean, plenty of pools get their acid dose once a day, every other day, once a week, or even less. No big deal. But I just like the notion that my pH is even all the time: hour to hour. Point was, if your pump is dispensing slowly, and your dilution is lower, then you could schedule doses several times a day (assuming your automation has scheduling slots to spare, mine wouldn't).

My automation system allows for relays to be tied together, programmatically and/or electriclly, so that one always comes on when another does, or can't come on unless another is. That capability would be a natural for acid dosing, in that you'd set up the acid relay so that the acid pump can't inject unless the filter pump is running. Something for which Stenner users that rely on dedicated timers have to come up with a work around...

I suppose you'd still want to have some sort of flow switch protection, too. You'd wire that in series with the pump and relay. So the relay and the flow switch would both have to be closed for the acid to pump. Something like that.

If you found that you couldn't schedule a short enough interval for dosing, you'd just dilute the mix until you could. And/or dose every other day.

Keep us posted if you decide to jump into the rabbit hole!

Must Resit, Must Resist...

 

[martuned]

I might buy this as well, been researching and reading a lot on the forum. Amazon has the extended warranty for 4 years for $30, it says if they can't fix it they send you a gift card etc. Wonder if this would cover the motor/tubing etc.