Pentair Intelliflo SVRS pump constantly alarming "Clear Drain Before Restart" and Constant Air Bubbles from Pool Jets

[miqqq1]

Hi folks, new member here. I just bought a house with a 14x28 inground salt pool. Pool was built in 2018. All Pentair equipment including Easytouch control panel, Intelliflo SVRS pump, Intellichlor chlorinator and Pentair heater.

Opened the pool mid-May with use of the heater and have had NO issues at all. No longer needed the heater in the last 3 weeks and things have been going great. But yesterday, the pump suddenly started Alarming "Clear Drain Before Restart".

Pump alarms then turns off every 3-5 minutes. Water level is perfect, chemical mix is perfect, skimmer and drains are 100% clear, pump basket clear and lid is lubed and sealed. I properly primed the pump (a few times) but still noticed that small air bubbles have started to come out of the two pool jets closest to the pump. This has not been happening until now. I am a fairly mechanical guy but can not figure out what the problem is.

Any advice or recommendations?

 

[Jimrahbe]

m,

You are just going to have to learn to live with it. It can't be fixed, just worked around.

I know because I have one..

I like to say that if my next-door neighbor just passes a little gas, my pump will shut off. It is not quite that bad, but close. The standard IntelliFlo pump is the "Gold Standard" of pool pumps. The SVRS version of the IntelliFlo is the "Brown Standard" of pool pumps.

The pump will shut down anytime it just "thinks" that there is a problem with the suction side water flow. In my case, if my water is just a little low and I turn on my waterfall, the pump will likely stop. If I close the air relief valve on my filter too fast, the pump will shut off, if I manually change a valve a little too quickly, the pump will shut off, etc.

The biggest problem is that once it shuts off, it will try to turn on again, over and over until it just gives up.. (There is some limit, but I don't remember what it is.)

The simplest way to get around this is to just run the pump 24/7, that is what I do.. If the pump never has to prime, it almost never has an issue.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[miqqq1]

m,

You are just going to have to learn to live with it. It can't be fixed, just worked around.

I know because I have one..

I like to say that if my next-door neighbor just passes a little gas, my pump will shut off. It is not quite that bad, but close. The standard IntelliFlo pump is the "Gold Standard" of pool pumps. The SVRS version of the IntelliFlo is the "Brown Standard" of pool pumps.

The pump will shut down anytime it just "thinks" that there is a problem with the suction side water flow. In my case, if my water is just a little low and I turn on my waterfall, the pump will likely stop. If I close the air relief valve on my filter too fast, the pump will shut off, if I manually change a valve a little too quickly, the pump will shut off, etc.

The biggest problem is that once it shuts off, it will try to turn on again, over and over until it just gives up.. (There is some limit, but I don't remember what it is.)

The simplest way to get around this is to just run the pump 24/7, that is what I do.. If the pump never has to prime, it almost never has an issue.

Thanks,

Jim R.

It is completely useless like it is. It will not run more than 3-5 minutes then stop. Surely there is a cause and fix for this? Would Pentair really put out a pump this bad??

 

[miqqq1]

It is completely useless like it is. It will not run more than 3-5 minutes then stop. Surely there is a cause and fix for this? Would Pentair really put out a pump this bad??

Do the newly discovered bubbles coming from my pool jets mean I have a suction leak somewhere?

 

[Poolbreh]

They came out with these pumps after title 14 to prevent entrapment. They are a headache to say the least. It could be be a suction side leak. Make sure lid oring is clean and lubed, check all drain plugs are hand tightened, if you have a heat union on intake make sure it’s lubed and hand tightened. Diverter valves can leak from lid sometimes. You can run a garden hose over intake and see if bubbles stop to try and identify source.

If all else fails get a heavy duty plumbers bladder and stick it in the skimmer with pump off and all valves open. It will pressurize intake and potential leaks will expose themselves

 

[Jimrahbe]

M,

Show us several pics of your equipment pad, so we can see how all the plumbing connects.

It could be that the pump is bad.

My comments were assuming that the pump works most of the time.

Pentair really put out a pump this bad??

SVRS is a "safety" feature, so they did not incorporate any kind of adjusts to match your specific plumbing. My guess is that not all pools have this problem.

I went back and looked at your original post. When it does alarm, I assume you are pushing the "reset" button on the pump itself.

Try starting with the main drain shut off, then try starting on just one skimmer at a time.

Thanks,

Jim R

 

[miqqq1]

My neighbor has the exact same pool that I have. After seeing me out there for a while today, he came over and introduced himself today. Said he has had this issue one time before, then he had me backwash the pool for an extended amount of time, felt like maybe 2-3 full minutes, then a normal rinse to clear the sight glass. I added 4.5 scoops of DE and this totally fixed my problem!!! My pump has been running like a sewing machine for over 2 hours now. Doesn't make sense to me but it certainly seemed to work. Overnight will tell the tale I guess

 

[miqqq1]

M,

Show us several pics of your equipment pad, so we can see how all the plumbing connects.

It could be that the pump is bad.

My comments were assuming that the pump works most of the time.



SVRS is a "safety" feature, so they did not incorporate any kind of adjusts to match your specific plumbing. My guess is that not all pools have this problem.

I went back and looked at your original post. When it does alarm, I assume you are pushing the "reset" button on the pump itself.

Try starting with the main drain shut off, then try starting on just one skimmer at a time.

Thanks,

Jim R

Thx Jim, you are very correct about the sensitivity of this pump. When switching from floor drain to skimmer, the pump will shutdown if I move the valve lever anyway faster than a snails pace! So, here are the pics that were requested. As I stated last night, we did an extended Backwash and rinse then slowly added 4 lbs of DE directly in to the skimmer. Since we had just backwashed 4 days prior, it surprised me that this seemed to fix the constant pump alarms . The pressure gauge on the filter dropped from 26psi to 16. So this morning I checked the pool and the pump did not alarm at all throughout the night. The filter pressure is still steady at 16psi. However, the bubbles coming out of the pool jets have returned, and they seem to be worsening. I attached a pic of the bubbles. We have had no issues with bubbles in the past but, we have only owned this house for a few months. Do you think I have a developing problem? Any suggestions from you guys are always greatly appreciated!