Pool cleaner only works sometimes

[Jimrahbe]

Hello @PumpinIron

Quit calling the cleaner you have a "Robot." My robot has heard about this and now appears to have deep depression. I'm going to have to take her to therapy, and you know what that can cost.

Actual robots are powered by low voltage electricity and do not need the pool pump running to work. They are in my opinion, about 10 x better than your suction cleaner, but as @JoyfulNoise points out, not everyone agrees with me.


They look this this... https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=2c7f...4OUE0N0FBJnZpZXc9ZGV0YWlsJkZPUk09VklSRQ&ntb=1

With the speed you are running the pump, your electricity must be free...

I think that reason your cleaner works sometimes and not at other times is that you are changing the pump speed.

Your schedule is set to run the Pool circuit from 8 am until 7 pm.. This would run the salt cell.

Your High Speed circuit is set to run 7 PM pm until midnight. This is when the cleaner would run. (And due to poor scheduling, your salt cell will not run.)

I suspect that during the Pool Circuit run time, you are manually tuning on the High Speed circuit. When you do this, the cleaner runs and when you don't turn on High Speed, the cleaner does not run well.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Jimrahbe]

P.

I also noticed you have a couple of old cartridges on the ground. You do know that you just clean them and put them back in. They should last 7 to 10 years.

When was the last time your filter was cleaned???

What is your filter pressure when running at Pool speed and what is it at High Speed?

As a reference, when I am in Pool mode, my pressure is about 1 or 2 lbs.

As a side note, I never recommend running the pump in the GPM mode, I like the RPM mode, which works much better for most people.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[PumpinIron]

Hello @PumpinIron

Quit calling the cleaner you have a "Robot." My robot has heard about this and now appears to have deep depression. I'm going to have to take her to therapy, and you know what that can cost.

Actual robots are powered by low voltage electricity and do not need the pool pump running to work. They are in my opinion, about 10 x better than your suction cleaner, but as @JoyfulNoise points out, not everyone agrees with me.


They look this this... https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=2c7f...4OUE0N0FBJnZpZXc9ZGV0YWlsJkZPUk09VklSRQ&ntb=1

With the speed you are running the pump, your electricity must be free...

I think that reason your cleaner works sometimes and not at other times is that you are changing the pump speed.

Your schedule is set to run the Pool circuit from 8 am until 7 pm.. This would run the salt cell.

Your High Speed circuit is set to run 7 PM pm until midnight. This is when the cleaner would run. (And due to poor scheduling, your salt cell will not run.)

I suspect that during the Pool Circuit run time, you are manually tuning on the High Speed circuit. When you do this, the cleaner runs and when you don't turn on High Speed, the cleaner does not run well.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Yep, robot was clearly a newbie mistake on my part. I wasn't sure what to call it, but "cleaner" is obviously the better word. Those robots look...expensive

We have solar here and my electric bill is usually negative (meaning I get credits). Still, I want to make sure I have things right so I'm playing around with the speeds.

As far as my pool circuit schedule and high speed circuit schedule goes, do you have any recommendations for what times I should run them and for how long? I know that this may be a hard question to answer, but a starting point would help. Currently it's just running on the same schedule that the previous owner had it set at.

I've heard some people say that the pool circuit schedule should be running 24/7. Not sure if there is any truth to that.

I am not turning on the high speed circuit during the pool circuit run time. I've done that a few times just to test things out, but I've never made a habit of it.

 

[PumpinIron]

P.

I also noticed you have a couple of old cartridges on the ground. You do know that you just clean them and put them back in. They should last 7 to 10 years.

When was the last time your filter was cleaned???

What is your filter pressure when running at Pool speed and what is it at High Speed?

As a reference, when I am in Pool mode, my pressure is about 1 or 2 lbs.

As a side note, I never recommend running the pump in the GPM mode, I like the RPM mode, which works much better for most people.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Yep, those pool filters are going to get cleaned soon. Going to take them to the self-service car wash and blast them with the pressure washer and the filter cleaner solution I bought. The filters I have in there are brand new, only a few weeks old. That being said, I don't know the pressure off the top of my head but last I looked the pressure was around 1-2 lbs., so where it ought to be from what I've read.

Thanks for that tidbit about GPM vs RPM. Maybe I'll make the switch as these are merely the settings the previous homeowner had the pool set at. I've asked multiple local pool guys for baseline recommendations and every single one of them has answers that are so wildly different with no overlap whatsoever.

 

[Jimrahbe]

I've heard some people say that the pool circuit schedule should be running 24/7. Not sure if there is any truth to that.

P,

I run my Pool Circuit 24/7, mostly at 1200 RPM, but not because is it necessary, but because it works best for me. I like making a little chlorine all the time and I like skimming all the time. Since it costs me less than $20 bucks a month, I feel it is well worth it.

Your pump currently runs 16 hours a day, but your SWCG is only on for 11 hours. This is because (if your cell is wired correctly) the cell will only work if you are in the Pool mode or Spa mode. If the only circuit that is on is the "High Speed" circuit, then the cell should not be getting any power.

Tonight, when the High Speed is running, look to see it the cell has any lights. Let me know what you find.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[PumpinIron]

P,

I run my Pool Circuit 24/7, mostly at 1200 RPM, but not because is it necessary, but because it works best for me. I like making a little chlorine all the time and I like skimming all the time. Since it costs me less than $20 bucks a month, I feel it is well worth it.

Your pump currently runs 16 hours a day, but your SWCG is only on for 11 hours. This is because (if your cell is wired correctly) the cell will only work if you are in the Pool mode or Spa mode. If the only circuit that is on is the "High Speed" circuit, then the cell should not be getting any power.

Tonight, when the High Speed is running, look to see it the cell has any lights. Let me know what you find.

Thanks,

Jim R.

You are correct, the cell doesn't have any lights when high speed mode is running. Of course I haven't tried running a high speed schedule at the same time as the pool schedule, but it sounds like the SWDC will not run regardless as long as the high speed mode is running.

If this is the case, do you have your SWGC wired differently so that you can run it at the same time as the high speed mode, or do you simply not run the high speed mode at all?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Of course I haven't tried running a high speed schedule at the same time as the pool schedule,

P,

That is exactly what you need to do!! That is how it works. In general, you schedule the Pool Circuit to be on the total time you want the pump to run each day. The Pool circuit's speed is the slowest speed you can run with the cell's flow switch closed, plus 100 RPM just to make sure it stays closed. This means that anytime the pump is running you are making chlorine.

Then you can make the pump run faster by adding Feature Circuit that have additional speeds, like your "High Speed" Circuit.

When the pump sees two or more speed requests, it will always run the faster one.

Your SWCG is wired just like it should be..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[PumpinIron]

P,

That is exactly what you need to do!! That is how it works. In general, you schedule the Pool Circuit to be on the total time you want the pump to run each day. The Pool circuit's speed is the slowest speed you can run with the cell's flow switch closed, plus 100 RPM just to make sure it stays closed. This means that anytime the pump is running you are making chlorine.

Then you can make the pump run faster by adding Feature Circuit that have additional speeds, like your "High Speed" Circuit.

When the pump sees two or more speed requests, it will always run the faster one.

Your SWCG is wired just like it should be..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Got it, now this is finally starting to make sense.

I'll play around with the speeds, get them as low as I can, then schedule them out appropriately.

Is there a rule of thumb for how much faster the high speed circuit should be running?

For instance, if I figure out that the pool circuit can run at 1200 rpm (just as an example), how do I figure out what rpm to run the high speed circuit at?

 

[Jimrahbe]

how do I figure out what rpm to run the high speed circuit at?

P,

You don't run your pump for fun, you run it for a reason.

You adjust your low speed so that your SWCG works, and you adjust any other speeds to make whatever else you want to run work.

In your case you'd adjust High speed so that your suction side cleaner works the way you want.

If you have a waterfall, you'd adjust the "waterfall" circuit so that your waterfall works the way you want.

It really is just that simple. Adjust the speed so that things in your pool work the way you want.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[PumpinIron]

P,

You don't run your pump for fun, you run it for a reason.

You adjust your low speed so that your SWCG works, and you adjust any other speeds to make whatever else you want to run work.

In your case you'd adjust High speed so that your suction side cleaner works the way you want.

If you have a waterfall, you'd adjust the "waterfall" circuit so that your waterfall works the way you want.

If really is just that simple. Adjust the speed so that things in your pool work the way you want.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Wow, I was really overthinking it!

I got the pool circuit now working great at 1200 rpm and the high speed circuit working at 1800 rpm.

Now it all makes sense. Thanks so much for your help, this is more knowledge than any of these local pool guys ever dropped on me.

 

[Jimrahbe]

this is more knowledge than any of these local pool guys ever dropped on me.

P,

Well, we look at things differently. We are not trying to sell you anything. We honestly have more time to spend trying to understand the actual problem, as we do not have to run off to our next "customer". We are all volunteers that between us we have a pretty good background in how a pool should operate. This means that you don't have one "tech" looking at your problem but many techs all at the same time. It is often nice to get different points of view about what will work best for you and your pool.

Keep us in mind the next time you have an issue. You also might think about becoming a site supporter. It is what keeps this site open and allows me to have fun. Become a TFP Supporter

Thanks,

Jim R.