IntelliPh opinion

[diamonddog]

I understand that people at TFP are not in favor of devices that monitor and dose sanitizer for ORP.

What about the IntelliPh which monitor PH and doses out acid to keep the pool in balance? This only monitors PH and doses acid (no chlorine) What about the argument that this is better to keep it constant rather than manualy dumping it in which creates spikes and defiencies when not poured in soon enough?

 

[Newdude]

Many have them and like them. It’s pretty much identical to the SWG debate. The entry price scares a lot of people off. Other than that they work great to their ability and if you turn them loose and forget about them, it’s only a matter of time until things get out of whack.

So if you have the funds, go for it and make sure to keep a close eye on it at first to dial it in, and keep checking to see if it needs any tweaks thereafter.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

More people seem to have problems with the ORP than success, if you read the threads-

Google search results

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mknauss]

monitor PH and doses out acid to keep the pool in balance

Intelliph does not do that. It simply adds how much of the acid you have in its tank you tell it to each day.

There are systems that sense pH (they are combined with ORP for FC). They are fine for pH. But you do need to test pH often and calibrate the system. Also set up the system such that it cannot dump a bunch of acid in the pool if it gets out of calibration.

 

[avspin]

I have had an intelliph for about 4 years now. It does not tell me what my ph is. I set it to dose acid a certain amount every hour. Which, as stated above is set from testing. If my ph creeps up I increase the dose and vice versa.

It dispenses about a foot in front of my SWG, which helps keep the fins clean. I use mine about 5-6 months of the year then bring it into the garage during winter. You will need to change the tubing in the pump once a year. In my case I can get two years due to usage.

The only issue I had was this week. My automatic pool cover is broken and I'm waiting for a new one so I've been tested every two days. Ph was going up and I keep increasing. But it didn't help. I decided to let the intelliph add acid right then and immediately I noticed it did work. I thought the pump was bad. Pulled out a multimeter and found the pump not getting any power. Turned out the pins in the molex connector had broken. Easy fix since I have that stuff on hand.

Only other issue is not to breath when adding acid to the tank.

 

[diamonddog]

Intelliph does not do that. It simply adds how much of the acid you have in its tank you tell it to each day.

OK, got it. I believe the Intellichem does?. I understand the money aspect of this. But lets leave that out of the equation for now.

What if I got the IntelliChem. Allegedly it does monitor PH and doses accordingly in alignment with the monitoring. I get the ORP monitoring is not recommended. I can use the intellichem just for acid dosing and it should work ok? I rarely adjust my SWG anyway (only about 3 times a year.

 

[mknauss]

You can. I believe there is a way to bypass the swcg control. The intellichem must be plugged into the swcg controller I believe.

 

[scchan1w]

I am considering adding a Intellichem or IntellipH as well for pH control. One thing I've tried recently is the WaterGuru water monitor. I've had it for 2 weeks now, it's pretty accurate in pH and about 0-2ppm low in FC (I have a SWG and have about 50-60 CYA, and usually have about 7-8ppm FC and WaterGuru reports 5-7ppm). I'm considering either adding an IntellipH. With an IntellipH, IC60, Intellicenter, and WaterGuru, I can monitor my pH and FC daily, and if needed, make slight tweaks based on WaterGuru readings. I don't expect to need to make many tweaks based on this setup. The cost is $300 for the WaterGuru + $100 per year in monitor cassetts + $600 for IntellipH, so about $900 upfront + $100 per year. Or I can get an IntelliChem for about $1400, plus probably the same $100 per year for new probes (replace every 2 years?). Or I can return the WaterGuru and go back to manually testing a few times per week (or maybe just once a week as I'm more confident in my chemistry) and just do things the old fashion way and save the money. These are some alternatives to consider. I'm debating this myself.