Intelliflo3 VSF 3hp - Brand New and LOUD!

[amylucintfp]

I keep reading that these pumps are so quiet you have to touch them to know they’re running. Mine is 70db (via a couple different apps) and audible clearly from way over 100 feet away with a rather high pitched frequency. Sounds rather like a vacuum cleaner and is easily that loud.

I’m annoyed after two days. Can’t imagine years of this.

Do flow and/or rpm settings make that much difference? Pool pro set a 50% flow rate for day and a 30% flow for overnight.

I’ll contact Pentair too, but this is nuts! I found an older brochure for Intelliflos that tout 45 dbs. Didn’t see anything like that in the Intelliflo3 docs. Could they have changed that much!???

 

[BDY]

I run mine at 1000 rpm 24/7 for the salt cell and i have to touch it to make sure it’s running. I use 2700 rpm for skimming 2x a day for 45 min and also whenever I vacuum and you can hear it somewhat then, but I’ve never gone up to max speed 3500(?).

(For the cell you only need to run it fast enough to trigger the flow switch plus a little extra for safety. )

Just as a point of reference…

 

[Jimrahbe]

Amy,

A VS pump at full RPM is just as loud as a single speed pump.

The whole idea of having a VS pump is to run it slow and that is why they are so quiet.

Your installer is an idiot.

Reduce the pump's speed until the flow light on your cell turns red (low flow).. Then slowly increase the speed until the flow light turns green. Increase the speed a little and call that the slowest speed you ever want to run.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[jamesey]

Yeah, something isn't adding up. Obviously, there's a big difference in terms of decibels between max speed and low rpms (<1000), but it shouldn't be noticeable from 100 feet away at moderate speeds. Especially not enough to annoy you.

Are you easily annoyed?

 

[amylucintfp]

My family would probably say yes

But this really is annoying. No way would anyone enjoy sitting around the pool listening to a vacuum cleaner for hours.

Just for grins, I took my vacuum cleaner outside and checked the dbs. 75 right at it, just like the pump is 75 right tested right next to it.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

The thing to understand is that if you are running it in FLOW control mode, you set the flow rate you want and the pump will raise the RPM’s to achieve that flow. So as the system becomes more loaded up (in the filter) it will require progressively higher and higher RPMs to achieve the same flow rate.

When was the last time the filter was cleaned?

What did your builder consider 50% and 30% of the max flow rate to be? Perhaps your are running the pump at too high of a flow rate.

Most SWG flow switches close at 15GPM and most pool heaters operate at peak efficiency at 40GPM. Most skimmers will skim well at flow rates below 40GPM depending on how the suction side valves are setup.

 

[JamesW]

Mine is 70db (via a couple different apps) and audible clearly from way over 100 feet away with a rather high pitched frequency.

Here is the sound profile as reported by Pentair.

Sound is measured at a specific distance.

70 decibels at what distance?

What is the part number of the pump from the barcode sticker?

 

[amylucintfp]

I’m trying to upload video and being totally unsuccessful. Will have to go figure that out and then I’ll get some uploaded. (Says 3 mbs is too big)

 

[JamesW]

Sell Sheet | IntelliFlo3 VSF Pool Pump

online.flippingbook.com

 

[JamesW]

I’m trying to upload video and being totally unsuccessful. Will have to go figure that out and then I’ll get some uploaded. (Says 3 mbs is too big)

Upload to YouTube and link.

 

[amylucintfp]

The thing to understand is that if you are running it in FLOW control mode, you set the flow rate you want and the pump will raise the RPM’s to achieve that flow. So as the system becomes more loaded up (in the filter) it will require progressively higher and higher RPMs to achieve the same flow rate.

When was the last time the filter was cleaned?

What did your builder consider 50% and 30% of the max flow rate to be? Perhaps your are running the pump at too high of a flow rate.

Most SWG flow switches close at 15GPM and most pool heaters operate at peak efficiency at 40GPM. Most skimmers will skim well and flow rates below 40GPM.

Turns out I was wrong about the programs.

50GPM and 20GPM (apologies to pool pro!).

I backwashed (pressure had climbed from 12 to 22 in the two days since installed at pool opening). Dropped decibels to 72 so not much improvement.

 

[JamesW]

Dropped decibels to 72

Decibels have to be reported at a specific distance from the pump.

Is that 1 inch from the pump or 100 feet away from the pump?

What is the RPM at that sound?

 

[JamesW]

At a distance of 1 foot, the sound reaches 70 decibels at 70% speed (2,415 RPM).

At a distance of 3 feet, the sound reaches 70 decibels at 85% speed (2,933 RPM).

At a distance of 6.5 feet, the sound reaches 70 decibels at 100% speed (3,450 RPM).

At a distance of 10 feet, the maximum sound should be 65 decibels at full speed (3,450 rpm).

Note that the decibel reading is exponential (vs. linear) and the distance effect is also exponential, so sound is actually very complicated to measure and report.

Speed 3,450 rpm.

Distance.......dB
1 foot............80
3 feet............75
6.5 feet........70
10 feet.........65
20 feet........58
30 feet........55
50 feet........51
75 feet........47
100 feet......45

 

[JamesW]

In the realm of acoustics, the inverse square law states that the intensity of sound decreases by approximately 6 dB for each doubling of distance from the sound source. On the other hand, the opposite is true when you move closer to the source.

Let’s say you have a YVC-1000. You connect a microphone to it that’s 1 foot away from your mouth. When you move 2 feet away from the microphone, the sound will decrease by 6 dB. If you double that distance to 4 feet, the sound will drop another 6 dB, resulting in a 12 dB loss from the original level. The diagram to the left should

give you a better visualization of how the inverse square law works with acoustics.

Unified Communications - Yamaha - Other European Countries

uc.yamaha.com

Each time your distance from the source doubles, the sound decreases by 6 dB.

If a sound is 100 dB at the source, it will be 94 dB at 1 meter, 88 dB at 2 meters, and so on.

Therefore, you will generally be able to hear a 100 dB sound at a maximum of 16 meters.

 

[JamesW]

Sound is incredibly complicated.

A pump produces an irregular sound pattern, so the sound will be different at different places even at the same distance.

It might sound louder if you are directly behind the pump vs. being in front of the pump or at the side of the pump.

The sound can also reflect off of a wall, so if the pump is mounted near a brick wall, the sound can reflect off of the wall and combine with the sound coming from the front of the pump to make the pump sound louder than if there was no reflection.

 

[HermanTX]

At a distance of 1 foot, the sound reaches 70 decibels at 70% speed (2,415 RPM).

At a distance of 3 feet, the sound reaches 70 decibels at 85% speed (2,933 RPM).

At a distance of 6.5 feet, the sound reaches 70 decibels at 100% speed (3,450 RPM).

At a distance of 10 feet, the maximum sound should be 65 decibels at full speed (3,450 rpm).

Note that the decibel reading is exponential (vs. linear) and the distance effect is also exponential, so sound is actually very complicated to measure and report.


View attachment 489125

Also, the OP is using multiple apps (on a phone, I presume) so there is some efficiency performance that needs to be considered vs. what Pentair used to create the data in the chart.

 

[Saturn94]

Sound is incredibly complicated.

A pump produces an irregular sound pattern, so the sound will be different at different places even at the same distance.

It might sound louder if you are directly behind the pump vs. being in front of the pump or at the side of the pump.

The sound can also reflect off of a wall, so if the pump is mounted near a brick wall, the sound can reflect off of the wall and combine with the sound coming from the front of the pump to make the pump sound louder than if there was no reflection.

Also, our hearing sensitivity varies a lot with frequency.

 

[JamesW]

You also have to know what frequencies are being produced.

People are very sensitive to different frequencies.

A proper sound analysis would report all frequencies and all decibel levels at multiple distances and at multiple points around the pump.

 

[amylucintfp]

Ok. Absorbing lots of info. I had extensively researched these pumps but was mostly focused on choices and configuration. And all my TFP reading was theoretical so it didn’t compute til I could see it in practice. Thanks for all the input and information.

50 GPM is almost 80% (per the app dashboard) so no wonder it was right at 75 decibels within 1 foot! Just like the sheet says!

I set a new program with the “set back to red and roll forward” method so that’s about 23%/7 gpm. Will adjust based on chlorine, LEDS, etc.

I only seem to get pressure at my filter if I’m running around 50 gpm — runs about 10. 25 gpm has the filter down to 0. Not sure it that’s a problem. Pool pro expected pressure at 50 to be about 12 and for 30 Gpm to be about 5-8. Doesn’t seem quite right that there’s no pressure unless flow rate is that high.

Thanks again!

 

[JamesW]

How many skimmers do you have?

Do you have a main drain?

If yes, turn it mostly off with the valve mostly closed.

Do you have a heater?

Is the equipment pad above, below or at the same elevation as the pool?

If no heater, you should not need more than about 15 to 20 gpm.