Wow Jamcha, that turned out really nice! ..the easytouch8's are amazingly functional aren't they. Sorry did not read all the details, did you get the smartphone control link to go with it?
New pool/spa build in North Texas Updated: PICS
- Thread starter jamcha02
- Start date
Yes, I have the screenlogic II. Its especially useful with the intellichem as I can monitor the chlorine and PH right from my phone.
Very very nice! Pardon my ignorance but what is the little storage tank (with a yellowish liquid in it) off to the side of equipment pad? Congrats on a successful build!
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk
Its a container which holds muriatic acid and doses the pool based on the readings from the intellichem ph sensor. Essentially, it keeps PH in check automatically.
Ahh thanks! I thought it might be something like that. How convenient!
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk
I'm back with some random thoughts and observations. here goes.
* We finally got consistent good weather over the weekend and I was able to apply the Dupont Stonetech Saltwater resistant sealer. The process was fairly straightforward and so far my impressions of the product are good. I hosed down all of the stonework and travertine decking and let it dry for about 3 hours. Once the surface was dried, I was able to apply the sealer. I had to use a roller and a brush for application as this sealer is not recommended to be sprayed as it has potential to oxidize and harden as it leaves the sprayer. This can make sealing large areas tedious, as it was for me.
I sealed roughly 1000 sq ft of travertine decking (1 coat). 133 ft perimeter of OK flagstone coping (2 coats). and another 1 coat on raised bond beam/spa stonework and retaining walls. All in, about 5 gallons of sealer.
The sealer is water based, consistency of 1% milk. It goes on easy, absorbs quickly, and leaves no white residue upon drying. Very easy. Cure time is 72 hours before water can touch the surface
* The intellichem is an interesting product. Keeps my PH rock solid at 7.5, no problems here. Like others in the forum have eluded to, the ORP monitoring is quite unreliable and serves as more of an information data point for process control. I have been monitoring things very closely and can share some observations and theories. ORP definitely drifts up about 50-100 mv as the sun goes down. My theory on this is as the sun rises, the chlorine is more prone to bind to the CYA, thus making the chlorine less effective which lowers ORP. I keep the CYA at 50
The other interesting observation is that once salt was added to the pool, which subsequently increased TDS, I have noticed that the ORP/FC relationship has reversed. Instead of ORP increasing as chlorine increases, it now actually DECREASES - very strange. I found this out the hard way as the intellichem had the intellichor producing chlorine at 100% for the full pump run time which had my FC levels at 10, while ORP was sitting at around 525mv. Manually adjusting the intellichor output and getting FC back down to 4 (with cya of 50) has brough the ORP back up to 650.
* I am still seeing a lot of negative posts when people request advice on in-floor cleaning systems. I also see quite a bit of false information. The bottom line is that is works (at least for me). I have high standards for how clean my pool is and this thing does the trick. I have never used a robot or vacuumed manually. The concerns about power consumption are also overblown. I run my intelliflo roughly 12 hours a day. 9 of those hours are at 1750rpm, which translates to 380w and 35GPM flowrate. 3 hours are at 2800 rpm, which translates to about 70GPM flow and 900w. With my electric rates at 10 cents a kilowatt hour, this is about 30$ a month all in - not bad at all
* We finally got consistent good weather over the weekend and I was able to apply the Dupont Stonetech Saltwater resistant sealer. The process was fairly straightforward and so far my impressions of the product are good. I hosed down all of the stonework and travertine decking and let it dry for about 3 hours. Once the surface was dried, I was able to apply the sealer. I had to use a roller and a brush for application as this sealer is not recommended to be sprayed as it has potential to oxidize and harden as it leaves the sprayer. This can make sealing large areas tedious, as it was for me.
I sealed roughly 1000 sq ft of travertine decking (1 coat). 133 ft perimeter of OK flagstone coping (2 coats). and another 1 coat on raised bond beam/spa stonework and retaining walls. All in, about 5 gallons of sealer.
The sealer is water based, consistency of 1% milk. It goes on easy, absorbs quickly, and leaves no white residue upon drying. Very easy. Cure time is 72 hours before water can touch the surface
* The intellichem is an interesting product. Keeps my PH rock solid at 7.5, no problems here. Like others in the forum have eluded to, the ORP monitoring is quite unreliable and serves as more of an information data point for process control. I have been monitoring things very closely and can share some observations and theories. ORP definitely drifts up about 50-100 mv as the sun goes down. My theory on this is as the sun rises, the chlorine is more prone to bind to the CYA, thus making the chlorine less effective which lowers ORP. I keep the CYA at 50
The other interesting observation is that once salt was added to the pool, which subsequently increased TDS, I have noticed that the ORP/FC relationship has reversed. Instead of ORP increasing as chlorine increases, it now actually DECREASES - very strange. I found this out the hard way as the intellichem had the intellichor producing chlorine at 100% for the full pump run time which had my FC levels at 10, while ORP was sitting at around 525mv. Manually adjusting the intellichor output and getting FC back down to 4 (with cya of 50) has brough the ORP back up to 650.
* I am still seeing a lot of negative posts when people request advice on in-floor cleaning systems. I also see quite a bit of false information. The bottom line is that is works (at least for me). I have high standards for how clean my pool is and this thing does the trick. I have never used a robot or vacuumed manually. The concerns about power consumption are also overblown. I run my intelliflo roughly 12 hours a day. 9 of those hours are at 1750rpm, which translates to 380w and 35GPM flowrate. 3 hours are at 2800 rpm, which translates to about 70GPM flow and 900w. With my electric rates at 10 cents a kilowatt hour, this is about 30$ a month all in - not bad at all
hey jamcha02 ... are you still happy with the solution to tap the intellichem outlet into the suction side of the pump? Do you see any issues with pump priming (I saw something mentioned somewhere about issues priming pump with this config).
- Sep 8, 2013
- 606
I am glad the in floor system is working for you. I am happy with my infloor system also
Yes, love it. No issues at all with pump priming and intellichem runs flawlessly on my low speed setting 1750rpm)
I do not think its possible to get it to work at such low flow rpm with any other configuration unless someone wants to chime in.
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Awesome, Martin. I know that was one of your concerns pre build. Glad it worked out
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Thanks
For anyone that is interested - I am getting ready to make some slight modifications to my plumbing. Currently, I have a variation of a heater bypass, but this design is better, I believe.
Interested in any feedback from the plumbing experts. Previously, when routing flow through the heater, my flow meter records a flow loss of 50%. Yikes!
With this design, I will program the easy touch to flip the actuator valve once per day for 10 minutes to flush the heater.
This design gives ultimate flexibility to maximiZe efficiency at high and low speed.
I have also contemplated removing the tab feeder as the tab feeder setup includes the feeder itself and an inline check valve just before. I suspect this accounts for a lot of head loss, but haven't found any data or accounts to prove this theory.
The only concern I have with having intellichem outlet on the suction side is the line in the installation manual that says to avoid it because the vacuum could cause damage to the sensors. I haven't seen data that says its a real issue, but I hate to go against the manual for warranty purposes.
My plumbing will be very similar to yours. I am going to go ahead and remove the tab feeder and check valve. I have a spa fountain line valved on the return side, separate from the spa return for spa mode. It's valve stays mostly closed. I think I am going to put the intellichem outlet on the pool side of that mostly closed valve and check valve. My inlet is after the filter. That should give plenty of differential to allow flow through the flow cell and allow operation at low speed.
My plumbing will be very similar to yours. I am going to go ahead and remove the tab feeder and check valve. I have a spa fountain line valved on the return side, separate from the spa return for spa mode. It's valve stays mostly closed. I think I am going to put the intellichem outlet on the pool side of that mostly closed valve and check valve. My inlet is after the filter. That should give plenty of differential to allow flow through the flow cell and allow operation at low speed.
Please report back on how that setup works - I'm very interested in the bottom end rpm that can trigger the flow meter in that configuration
How well did the new A&A G4 cleaning heads work out? We are doing a pool build with them as well.
They are working great. My high speed for cleaning is 2850 rpm which is lower than the typical 3200-3400 required for in floor cleaning systems due to the extra flow provided by the Venturi design.
Make sure they are also using Venturi skimmers so you can focus 100% pump suction on the main drain for best results.
Make sure they are also using Venturi skimmers so you can focus 100% pump suction on the main drain for best results.
Thanks - we are very happy with the builder, southernwind pools - they have taken very good care of us. The pool will be entered in the annual apsp awards this year