Pentair VSF & Pentair iChlor 30

[Winger 03]

A little backstory.....

I have had the iChlor30 for a couple of seasons and until recently a Pentair Whisperflo 2-speed pump. I typically ran the pump on low 24 hours a day with a low setting on the iChlor and have had great water and no issues. Both pump and iChlor were wired together so when I turned the pump off, the iChlor went off as well.

Fast forward to last week when I replaced the Whisperflo with the VSF. Wiring remains the same but now I am running a program with the VSF and when it turns off the iChlor remains on but shortly turns off since no flow is detected. All of that makes sense. However, is it normal to rely on the flow switch of the iChlot to always work reliably and prevent the iChlor from making chlorine when the pump is off.

Seems ot me that it is a bit risky. Plus I do not like the red lights flashing. Should I have wired this differently?

 

[ajw22]

Yes, you need to put the iChlor on a timer so it is off when the pump is off.

The manual https://www.pentair.com/content/dam...tment/ichlor/ichlor-manual-522709-english.pdf says:

CHLORINE GAS BUILDUP CAN OCCUR WITH IMPROPER WIRING: To reduce the risk of
personal injury the iChlor Salt Chlorine Generator (SCG) Power Center must be installed on and wired to the load side of the time clock, electronically controlled switch, or relay load side, so that it will receive power only when the pool pump is on. Otherwise, dangerous chlorine gas buildup can occur. The SCG should never be energized when the pool pump is OFF and water is not flowing through the unit.

 

[Winger 03]

Well, the iChlor is off when the pump is off because the flow switch recognizes a lack of flow and shuts down. What I am getting at is just relying on the flow switch seems like a bad idea. So by putting the iChlor on a timer, I then have to wire it differently into the panel so that I can use an intermatic timer? Seems to me that there mut be a more convenient way to do that. And I fully admit that I may not quite be getting what you are saying.

 

[ajw22]

You get what I am saying and the manual warning on the risk to not rely only on the flow switch is clear.

 

[Winger 03]

Allen:

Great, so we are on the same page, thanks.

Here is the gap in my knowledge..... I think I need the pump and iChlor to be wired together but with needing it to be completely turned off (no lights on at all) I need it wired to a timer as well. I just can't seem to work out that wiring in my mind.

I could wire both separately to different breakers and have an intermatic timer between the iChlor and the breaker but that nearly renders the scheduling part of the pump almost useless unless I change out the trippers depending on the schedule I decide the pump to run.

There has to be a simple answer that I cannot quite grasp yet. In the meantime, I am going to reprogram the pump to run 24/7 on a very low speed (mimicking the old 2 speed pump I used to have) until I can figure the correct way to get this to work.

A thought - and remember programmable pumps are new to me. The installer programmed P1 to run from 8a to 8p. P2, P3 & P4 are not on a timer just set at different speeds. Even if I am running P2, it will shut off at 8p even though there is no time associated with P2. It that customarily the case? As I see it now, If I wanted to run at XXX RPM's for an indefinite period the only way I can do it is to change the timing function of P1. Is there some sort of override for P2, P3 & P4 that will have it ignore the times set for P1?