Recommended Flow Schedule with Variable Speed Pump and Salt Cell?

[SunnyvaleJ]

Hi,
I have an intelliflo variable speed and the intellichlor. Both controlled by an Easy Touch panel. Does anyone have any recommendations on what schedule to use so that I can save on electricity cost? Or even how it should be done on an EasyTouch program setting.

I've read the recommendations for lowering RPM for filtering. However, with a salt cell there is a minimum flow required.


Thanks.

 

[Jeronimo21]

I have this same exact setup, so I am curious as well. Is your SWG an IC40??

 

[jblizzle]

You need to find the minimum RPM that will reliably keep the swg running. And then to save the most in electricity run the swg at 100% And Run the pump as long as required to maintain adequate FC.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Sunny and Jero,

Welcome to TFP... A Great resource for all schedule seeking new pool owners...

As far as saving electrical costs it does not matter a whole lot with the IntelliFlo. You can run that pump 24/7 at 1,200 RPM for less than $15 bucks a month.

Here is my standard answer to your question...

Each pool is a little different... You generally run a pump for three reasons:

1. To keep surface debris moving and being pushed into the skimmers. The more debris the more often you need to run the pump.

2. If you have a Salt Water Chlorine Generator (SWCG) you'll need to run it long enough to generate the amount of chlorine needed.

3. To circulate the water to ensure the chlorine is effectively distributed throughout the pool. Two or three hours per day is all that is needed for this to happen in most pools.

There really is no one answer that fits everyone.

So you just need to decide what works for you...

For reference... my SWCG's flow switch is intermittent at any speed less than 1,100 RPM.. so when generating chlorine I run it at 1,200 RPM. A couple of times a day I like to increase the speed to 1,800 or so to help the skimmers work better for me. And when I run my waterfall, the pump runs at 2,900 because that is where the waterfall looks the best.

But these are my numbers, your numbers may be very different. Play with it, you can hurt a thing.

And.. if you guys have ScreenLogic, how much effort is it to click an Icon and set the speed to whatever you want???

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[SunnyvaleJ]

Hi, thanks for the replies. I have an IC40. My EasyTouch doesn't have any fancy screenlogic. It's several years old.

The Pentair Site says the flow minimum is 25 +/- 5 gpm. I guess I'll play with the settings. I assume it will turn itself off if the flow drops.

I have no water features and use a electric robot for cleaning. I just need to filter and chlorinate. Based on Jim's message, I'll attempt to program running at low RPM for 12-16 hours and then bump it up at night for SWG.
I think i will need to cheat the Easytouch and do this via the "Feature" setting for the SWG. So it thinks it needs to run at a higher GPM.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Hi, thanks for the replies. I have an IC40. My EasyTouch doesn't have any fancy screenlogic. It's several years old.

The Pentair Site says the flow minimum is 25 +/- 5 gpm. I guess I'll play with the settings. I assume it will turn itself off if the flow drops.

I have no water features and use a electric robot for cleaning. I just need to filter and chlorinate. Based on Jim's message, I'll attempt to program running at low RPM for 12-16 hours and then bump it up at night for SWG.
I think i will need to cheat the Easytouch and do this via the "Feature" setting for the SWG. So it thinks it needs to run at a higher GPM.

Sunny,

I can't think of a reason to run the pump slower than what is needed to close the flow switch.. If you run your pump long enough to generate the amount of chlorine you need, then you don't "need" to run any more. If you just want to run more fine, but I recommend running at a high enough rate to generate chlorine and turn the % down on your SWCG..

I use "Features" to increase my pump speed.. It is set to run when in "pool" mode at 1,200.. Then if I turn on feature #1 it goes to 1,400, Feature 2, is 2,000 and Feature 3 is 2,900. You may already know, but the pump will run at the highest setting it is given.. So if you turned on pool and feature 2 at the same time, the pump will run at 2K RPM.. When you turn off feature 2, the pump will slow to 1,200 the pool setting.

But, you know what they say about opinions and recommendations... So, whatever works for you is just fine with me...

I should mention that ScreenLogic is an add on and cost less than $400... A pretty Easy DIY install.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[The dog]

I have the same setup. See my sig. I run my equipment at 1700 rpm for 10 hours with the swg set at 50% for 10 hours. I have found that in my case 1700 is the minimum I can do to reliably activate the swg and filter the pool. I have a cleaning mode (on a feature) set to 2500 rpm. I run that in conjunction with the filter mode for 2 hours a day to get the crud off the water and into the skimmer. I have a high speed set to 3100 rpm that I use when I add chemicals or when there is a lot of crud on top of the water. I use it when necessary and turn it on manually when needed.

I'd run your swg at 50% for 10 hours a day so you can try to figure out how much chlorine it is generating in those 10 hours. You can then adjust it up or down if you need it. The only time I'd run the swg at 100% is if I need to super chlorinate.

It will take a couple days for you to figure it out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk