IntellipH Manual Dosing

[MyAZPool]

I became curious about the whole "manual dosing" thing with the IntellipH.

The manual states that "approximately 4 oz of acid will be dispensed within the 60 seconds of the manual dosing cycle. Well, to me, that is a bit ambiguous, since the MA is normally diluted by 50%. So, it got me thinking. Is it 4 oz of solution (50% MA and 50% water) which is 2 oz of actual MA, or is it 8 oz of solution and actually 4 oz of MA.

So I removed the feed tube and tap from the plumbing, inserted a cap into the plumbing tap, and placed the feed tube into a bucket.
I then fired up the pump and actuated the manual dosing cycle.

I measured the amount of solution that was fed into the bucket. It was exactly 5 oz of solution. So, it only makes sense that a 60 second manual dosing cycle would deliver 2.5 oz of actual MA.

So now I know how much actual MA is being introduced into the pool when performing a 60 second manual dosing. I think this is beneficial information to have, especially during the winter, when occasional manual MA dosing is required and when "tracking" one's pool chemistry and chemical use.

Reading the manual, I am under the impression, that when manual dosing, the "Dispense Amount Percentage" setting is irrelevant. Can anyone actually confirm this fact? Am I to assume, that a manual dosing cycle is equivalent to a 1 hour/100% setting under the "auto mode"? The manual indicates an MA dose of 2.13 oz per hour at 100%. That would make sense if my assumptions are actually correct, but I have learned that making assumptions when it comes to interpreting Pentair documentation can be risky.

It would be great to hear from other's with similar type information or advice regarding the IntellipH, since I am still a bit of a rookie using this Acid Dispensing System.

 

[bdavis466]

The IPH works just like the SWGs do. Adjusting the percentage adjusts the run time of the acid pump each hour that the SWG is scheduled to run. If you have the IPH set to 100% it should run about 30 seconds and dose a little over 2oz each hour the pump/SWG is scheduled to run. Say you run your pump 6 hours a day, you'll get 12.78 oz of whatever is in the tank injected each day.

For dosing to occur the SWG can't be cycling diagnostics, cold water, low flow or in SPA mode (assuming your SWG % is set to <5% not necessarily SPA mode).

The IPH isn't intelligent, it has no idea what its pumping. You'll need to cut the dose by the amount you've diluted the tank if you want to know the actual amount of acid dosed...This really isn't all that important because the only thing that matters is the pH of the pool - if it's low, decrease the percentage and if it's high, increase the percentage.

See page 4 of the manual:

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• bdavis466
• Jan 22, 2019

The manual explains that very poorly since they went off pump run time but you'll figure it out

 

[bdavis466]

I'm not certain but I don't think the manual was updated since the pump heads were changed. I imagine that's why your's dosed 5 oz instead of the stated 4 oz.

I've had both heads on my IPH and the newer style definitely flows better.

 

[MyAZPool]

I'm not certain but I don't think the manual was updated since the pump heads were changed. I imagine that's why your's dosed 5 oz instead of the stated 4 oz.

I've had both heads on my IPH and the newer style definitely flows better.

Brian, thanks for the clarification.
Makes sense about the 5 oz vs the 4 oz discrepancy.
I fully understand about the "auto" dosing restrictions, that is why I am currently using "manual" dosing.
Thanks again,
r.

 

[MyAZPool]

If anyone might be looking for further detailed information regarding this topic, here is some additional information that I discovered.

Background: I am currently in the process of transitioning from the use of the IntellipH Acid Dispenser System to a different type of acid dosing system. This new system uses a Songle model SRD-05VDC-SL-C relay to control the peristaltic pump. I am just waiting on the arrival of a "snubber" circuit card in order to complete the transition. Hence, I will continue to employ the use of the peristaltic pump and tank of the IntellipH system but I will eliminate the IntellipH controller from my automation "mix". This is due to the fact that it is really no more than a fancy looking dosing timer and which requires the use of a fully operational IntelliChlor SWCG, in order to dose in an automatic mode. For my use, I've found this fact to be an unacceptable restriction.

The software that will control the relay requires that I enter the flow rate (mL/min) for the peristaltic pump and the capacity of the acid storage canister (tank). This is so the software can then calculate and display the level of liquid in the tank in real time and provide warnings of a "Low Acid" condition...

Now, since I've come to learn the hard way to NEVER entirely trust what I read in Pentair documentation (I've been burned more than once). I did some testing on my own and here is what I discovered.
Note: The results of my tests were obtained from my own particular IntellipH Acid Dispenser System and its associated peristaltic pump. There is no guarantee that a different one will produce the exact same results but it should be very close.

1. The manual dosing cycle of my IntellipH ran for 58.5 seconds. I performed this test three times and it was the same each time.
2. I removed the chemical injection tube from the injection check valve and placed the end of the tube in a measuring cup. During each manual test, it expended exactly 105mL (3.7 fl oz), of liquid which equates to 1.8mL of liquid per second.
3. That is a flow rate of 108mL per minute (or 3.8 fl oz), and which is the number that I needed to plug into the new software.
r.