Need Help Setting Up Schedule

[KMorg]

Hi There,
First time post here. We just got our pool started up last month and unfortunately our start up guy was less than professional. My weekly service guy has been great, but I always hesitate taking one man's opinion as gospel. I'm simply not educated enough yet to know if I'm tracking correctly.
Currently, I believe I have my EasyTouch 8 scheduled via the ScreenLogic Config (on my phone, screenshot attached), to run at 1250rpm from 1pm-10pm, 3000rpm from 10pm-4am, and 2200rpm from 4am-1pm. My pool guy wants me to run it at 2200rpm when I'm not at 3,000rpm, but I see on here that people are running their Pentair Intellipro VSF at 1,000rpm so that seems excessive to me. The SWG was installed last week after our 30 day curing period of our plaster. We do have an auto pool cover but it's currently too hot here in Las Vegas to keep the pool cover on. The water is 90 degrees currently. My questions are as follows:
1. Is this an appropriate schedule/rpm for my set up?
2. Do I need to be running the pumps 24/7?
3. When I run the pumps at low RPMs, the GPM on the Screenlogic app doesn't register anything, is this normal?

I think that's all for now. I got recommended to TFP from a co-worker and I'm blown away by how helpful it is so far!
Thanks so much.

 

[Jimrahbe]

K,

The whole point of having a VS pump is to run it as slow as you can to get the job done.

Since you have a SWCG, the slowest speed that you ever want to run is the RPM that closes the SWCG's flow switch plus 100 or 200 RPM just to make sure.

Most likely whatever speed makes your SWCG work, will also be fast enough skim your pool well.

Since you have an IFCS, you will need to determine what speed it takes to make your IFCS work well.

There is no requirement to run the pump 24/7, but a lot of folks that have VS pumps and SWCGs find that running 24/7 works well for them. It allows you to make a little chlorine all the time and skim all the time. In my location, I run 24/7, mostly at 1200 RPM, for less than $20 bucks a month.

Perfectly fine if you want to run less than 24/7, but you will still need to run the pump long enough to generate the amount of chlorine your pool will use each day.
The less you run the pump, the higher the SWCG's output will need to be.

Why are your running the pump at 3000 RPM at all? Is that what it take to make sure IFCS work???

The main problem with your current schedule is that your SWCG will only be on between 1 pm and 10 pm.. This is because your SWCG will only work when in the Pool or Spa mode. (This assumes it is wired correctly, it may not be, which would be bad..)

Pool High and Pool Low will not turn on the SWCG, because just using the word "Pool" does not turn on the SWCG.

Your Pool Circuit needs to be on for the total amount of time your pump will be running each day.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Jimrahbe]

K,

I would not even worry about GPM readings as they are just not needed in most cases.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[KMorg]

Great info, thanks Jim.

I’ll go figure out what the flow rate is that closes the SWCG flow switch and set that up plus 100-200rpm.

I don’t have a PC or an old enough Mac to run the Configurator there, so I’m on the iPhone only. When I go to “setup circuits”, setting up on the pool circuit is grayed out on the pool circuit and not selectable when setting up other circuits. Any ideas on that so I can make sure that the SWCG is active?

So far, 3,000rpm is the speed that will get all my IFCS heads to pop up. Does that seem too high?

Thanks,
KC

 

[Jimrahbe]

KC,

3000 seems a little too high to me, but then I don't have an IFCS.. Lets see what @proavia has to say about it.

Your Pool Circuit is already set up.. All you need to do is change the schedule. It is now 1 PM until 10 pm. I suggest 8 am until 8 am which will run it 24/7.

You can leave Pool high and low just like they are if you want, or change the speeds if you want.

The way this works is that when the pump sees two or more speeds at the same time, it will run the fastest one. So your pump will still change speeds when Pool high or low come on, but the Pool circuit will still be on at the same time. This means the SWCG will run 24/7, so you might need to turn the output % down.

If you don't want to run 24/7, just make sure the Pool Circuit is scheduled to be on for the entire period you want the pump to be running.

I'm sure if you ask your pool guy, he is going to tell you that you "must" turn over your pool water X times a day. This is an old myth and just not true, although believed by my pool 'professionals'... With a 20K pool and a 40K cell, running the pump long enough to make the amount of chlorine you need each day will be plenty of water flow.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[proavia]

3000 seems a little too high to me, but then I don't have an IFCS.. Lets see what @proavia has to say about it.

Every pool and IFCS setup is different. The rpm necessary to get it to clean best will vary. I find my pool works well at 2900 rpm - but yours may work sufficiently at a lower or higher rpm. You just have to experiment with it. Set it for a specific rpm and let it run for a few days. Adjust the rpm up/down to find the sweet spot.

The G4V heads are the A&A venturi heads and should work at a slightly lower rpm than the older non-venturi heads.

I've found running at 2900 rpm from 6-8 am and from 4-6 pm daily works best for my setup. I don't have the venturi heads - but wish I did.