To be clear, you were inquiring about an intellichem originally. That system is an ORP and PH probe that monitors those two parameters and adjusts/doses chemical accordingly to its readings and set points. TFP doesn’t advocate ORP per se because (in very basic terms) it is essentially a meter that measures conductivity and correlates this reading to an amount of available FC. While I’ve used and still use ORP in commercial settings, it is not a replacement for reliable chlorine testing and in my opinion for a homeowner is just more trouble than it’s worth.
I was describing the “dumb” acid injection system of the IntelliPH that automates acid dosing only. The way it works is that it injects acid every hour routinely for a user specified amount of time (or percentage). It’s basically an on-off relay for a Stenner pump that doses acid for the length of time you tell it.
All that rambling aside if you get serious about dosing acid with the Intelliph you need to go in eyes wide open and know there are potential issues with the system. The split tank is considered “non serviceable” by pentair and if the o-ring fails and it starts leaking they will want to sell you a $300 tank. In fact the tank is serviceable and you can repair the o-ring for about $17 by finding the correct chemical resistant replacement o-ring online.
Secondarily there are known issues with how much amperage the SWG pulls through the control board causing failures. There is a fairly simple fix that I’ve employed and was well conceived and outlined by
@Dirk and
@ogdento. The thread to my repair is
here.
All that said I’d still advocate the system if you have a need for it and want to automate acid dosing.