Intelliflo VF is brain dead

Jump to latest Follow Reply
B

Belldiver

0
Sep 7, 2007
344
Lafayette, Louisiana
Hi folks!

So, I think my Intellflo VF is brain dead. I suspect the pump and motor are fine, but the Control module is dead. I tested both Hot legs feeding the Module and I have power to the unit, but no LED readout at all and no function from the pump.

Couple questions...

1. Can I pull the control module and "hot wire" the motor temporarily to make sure the pump and motor are fine? Does anyone have access to the wiring diagram to the motor? There are only three leads. I just need to know which one is the neutral leg. Can the electric motor take the full load straight from the breaker?

2. Can I purchase just the control module only? How much? Where would I buy this? Is it worth it vs. just purchasing a whole new pump package.

The pump is almost exactly 4 years old now. It runs 24/7/365 and has been flawless up until this dead stop. No squealing bearings or running dry. Even if the pump or motor went bad, I'd still have an LED readout correct? I have nothing right now.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Jim
 
The motor is 3 phase so unless you have 3 phase power, which I doubt, you can't test the motor that way. The best way to test the windings is with an ohm meter. The resistance should be around 1-2 ohms between each leg pair of the windings. Just make sure there are no shorts or opens.
 
mas985 said:
The motor is 3 phase so unless you have 3 phase power, which I doubt, you can't test the motor that way. The best way to test the windings is with an ohm meter. The resistance should be around 1-2 ohms between each leg pair of the windings. Just make sure there are no shorts or opens.
Click to expand...


Mas,

How is this a three phase motor? It says on the motor 230V PH1. There are only three contacts going from the control module to the motor. Hot/Hot/Neutral. Wouldn't three phase have 4 pickups?

Jim
 
Three phase power uses three hot conductors and ground. If ground is handled separately, presumably though a mechanical chassis connection, three phase power could work with three conductors.

The input is listed as 240 volts one phase, but that doesn't tell you what the motor actually uses internally. Nearly all variable speed motors are three phase. I don't personally know anything about how Pentair did it, but I'm inclined to believe mas985.
 
vegaspool said:
Belldiver

I recently installed a Pentair Intelliflo pump for 679.00 after an efficiency rebate, you may have these available in your area.

Pump from Magnolia pool supply 879.00
Rebate from Nevada Power 200.00 :whip:


http://www.magnoliapools.com/Pentair_In ... parent.htm

http://www.energysavvy.com/rebates/LA/h ... isiana-07/

http://www.energysmartnola.info/for-you ... l-pump.php
Click to expand...

Just got off the phone with Magnolia, seems like a good outfit. That price is for the VS pump, not the VF, but still a good price. He also mentioned something interesting, that Pentair is no longer selling the Drive Unit individually, because people were buying them and retrofitting them onto other pumps. What a great idea!
A person could also probably install that power unit remotely to the pump/motor eh? Just extend the wiring? and mount it up on the wall. Hmmm...

Food for thought...
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Belldiver said:
How is this a three phase motor? It says on the motor 230V PH1. There are only three contacts going from the control module to the motor. Hot/Hot/Neutral. Wouldn't three phase have 4 pickups?
Click to expand...

The drive (VFD) has a single phase input but generates a 3 phase output for motor. Three phase has only three conductors and as Jason pointed out, ground is handle separately through the motor housing because technically there is nothing to ground inside the motor and only the outside requires grounding. Also, 3 Phase motors have higher efficiency than single phase motors so that is one of the reasons the Intelliflo motor has an efficiency of 92%.
 
Well, if that is the case, basically I have a perfectly good motor and pump, and Pentair won't sell me a drive unit to control it. 92% efficiency isn't worth squat if a $1200 pump only lasts four years and is non-serviceable.

Might have to reconsider this purchase.

Cheap pump that burns a little extra electricity but lasts 10+ years vs. Intelliflo @ $1200 and a 4 year life?

Thanks for the input everyone!

Jim
 
Belldiver said:
vegaspool said:
Belldiver

I recently installed a Pentair Intelliflo pump for 679.00 after an efficiency rebate, you may have these available in your area.

Pump from Magnolia pool supply 879.00
Rebate from Nevada Power 200.00 :whip:

http://www.magnoliapools.com/Pentair_In ... parent.htm

http://www.energysavvy.com/rebates/LA/h ... isiana-07/

http://www.energysmartnola.info/for-you ... l-pump.php
Click to expand...

Just got off the phone with Magnolia, seems like a good outfit. That price is for the VS pump, not the VF, but still a good price. He also mentioned something interesting, that Pentair is no longer selling the Drive Unit individually, because people were buying them and retrofitting them onto other pumps. What a great idea!
A person could also probably install that power unit remotely to the pump/motor eh? Just extend the wiring? and mount it up on the wall. Hmmm...

Food for thought...
Click to expand...

Why do you need / want a VF ?
In 15 min you can program the VS and its half the price. With the same savings.
 
Belldiver said:
vegaspool said:
Belldiver

I recently installed a Pentair Intelliflo pump for 679.00 after an efficiency rebate, you may have these available in your area.

Pump from Magnolia pool supply 879.00
Rebate from Nevada Power 200.00 :whip:


http://www.magnoliapools.com/Pentair_In ... parent.htm

http://www.energysavvy.com/rebates/LA/h ... isiana-07/

http://www.energysmartnola.info/for-you ... l-pump.php
Click to expand...

Just got off the phone with Magnolia, seems like a good outfit. That price is for the VS pump, not the VF, but still a good price. He also mentioned something interesting, that Pentair is no longer selling the Drive Unit individually, because people were buying them and retrofitting them onto other pumps. What a great idea!
A person could also probably install that power unit remotely to the pump/motor eh? Just extend the wiring? and mount it up on the wall. Hmmm...

Food for thought...
Click to expand...

What the guy at Magnolia said doesn't make much sense. That price is close to a new pump, and you'd have to have an existing 3-phase motor for it to work. BTW, if you look up 3-phase motor controller on eBay, you will find a bunch of them for less than $300 that will convert single phase 220V to 3-phase with speed control. Some even have RS485 control, so they essentially function as the speed control on an IntelliFlo, but without the fancy stuff like the nice menu, etc. If I were going to just "roll my own" and I had a 3 phase pump, I would have just gone this route for much cheaper than purchasing the Intelliflo head.
 
vegaspool said:
Why do you need / want a VF ?
In 15 min you can program the VS and its half the price. With the same savings.
Click to expand...

The VF is what I had before (and still have the corpse). Will a VS head work on the VF body? I'm guessing it's the same motor and pump but don't know for sure.

The VF keeps the turnover (flow) rate of your water constant, as other conditions change, like filter pressure. The VS just keeps the RPM the same, not revving up as it sees restriction, so essentially your turnover rate goes down as your filter pressure goes up. I know, probably a suttle difference...

I'm still debating it. I'm just having a hard time swallowing ~$1200 for a pump that only lasted 4 years.

Thanks,

Jim
 
mas985 said:
The resistance should be around 1-2 ohms between each leg pair of the windings. Just make sure there are no shorts or opens.
Click to expand...

Checked the resistance. There's right at 1.0 ohm resistance between any/all of the legs. Motor seems OK.

I did pull the "brain" apart last night. Found a little moisture/condensation inside the unit and one burnt spot on the board. Doesn't look too bad, going to solder it today and see what happens.

I'm guessing the moisture shorted across the board contacts and caused the problem. It's just one spot, everything else looks good, and the actual phase inverter is completely encased in epoxy.

I'll post some pics later today too.

Jim
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply