- Nov 12, 2017
- 12,636
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Short version: ya don't! You just replace it periodically.
This isn't definitive, this is just what I found when I took mine apart. And there's no way for me to know that someone else's IntellipH (IpH) injector isn't designed some other way. Pentair parts do evolve, so who knows (probably only the parts procurement dude in some obscure Chinese factory somewhere, that's who). My IpH is a few years old, and I know there are newer versions. My pump housing looks different than the newer ones, so there you go.
Based on what I found when I replaced my IpH pump tube (totally corroded and flattened), I thought I better see if I needed to replace something in the injector. I thought I read somewhere that the injector housed a duck-bill type backflow preventer mechanism that required periodic replacement. I don't know what a duck-bill BFP looks like, but I expected something that looks like, well, a duck's bill. That's not what I found.
Mine has a little white ball that jams up against a rubber gasket under pressure to prevent flow back to the IpH. Remember the snorkel/mask sets they tried to drown us with as kids? The ones with the hook shaped end that had a ping-pong ball in it that would float upwards when under water and seal off the snorkel from pool water. The injector's BFP works like that, only relies on the pool-side pressure to make the seal instead of water displacement.
Here's a top view of the injector body with one end off. Both ends can be unscrewed from the body.
Here's the backflow preventer mechanism removed, with the white ball inside. Note the gasket (and the gasket in the pic above). Not looking too good. I don't have a new one for comparison, but I don't expect that's what a new one looks like, so there seems to be some degradation. The white gasket, which seals the housing components to each other, looks OK.
Here's the BFP from the side. You can see on top the malformed gasket.
So I think I should replace my injector. I didn't look too hard, but I don't find any of these internal parts readily available. They want to sell you the entire injector. Why would they stock and sell a 50¢ part when they could sell you a $5 part? You know, for $35?!?! Is what it is.
I think I'm going to buy two. So I have a backup. I don't want to deal with supply chain issues when the new one poops out, I'll just replace it "from stock on-hand" and then go in search of a new one to replenish stock. I think it's likely that you could replace this part with some other brand injector, like from Stenner, and maybe that model would have a duck bill BFP, or something else that is replaceable. But this isn't enough money to warrant putting too much effort into working all that out. If I do someday, I'll report back.
Unlike an IntelliChlor, where its initial expense and replacement costs are offset by the chlorine you no longer have to buy, the purchase and maintenance expenses of an IntellipH are only offset by the convenience it provides. Still worth it to me, YMMV...
So, next time... I won't pull it apart again. When I reassembled everything, it leaked a little. I tightened it up, and I think it's OK now, but I might have caused more harm than good. What I should have done, and will do next time, is periodically perform a very simple, non-invasive test of the injector. Maybe a few times a year. All I had to do was unscrew the white nut that clamps the acid delivery tube to the injector body and pull the tube out. Then turn on the filter pump (relatively high RPM) and observe. If no pool water drips out of the top of the injector, then the seals are fine. If I see water, time for a new injector. It doesn't look to me that the injector would fail catastrophically. I think it'll be more like a slight leak at first.
I wrote in another thread: I think the rollers pinching the IpH pump tube are doing part of the job. They seal off the end of the delivery tube at the IpH, preventing acid or pool water from moving in either direction in the delivery tube when the IpH pump is off. Otherwise, if the injector failed, the IpH tank would fill with pool water. Or when the filter pump was off, the negative-pressure draw of the water in the pool plumbing (from gravity) would suck acid out of the tube, and then the IpH tank, and when that was done then all of the water in the plumbing would drain back into the pool. Since that doesn't happen, something is stopping flow in that direction, and it can't be the injector, because then acid wouldn't flow through it when it was supposed to. I think it's gotta be the pump rollers. The BFP in the injector keeps pool water out of the IpH system, but I think the IpH pump itself also serves as a two-way flow preventer when it's not pumping. Just a theory.
So, test your IpH injector once in a while, as I described, and replace as necessary...
This isn't definitive, this is just what I found when I took mine apart. And there's no way for me to know that someone else's IntellipH (IpH) injector isn't designed some other way. Pentair parts do evolve, so who knows (probably only the parts procurement dude in some obscure Chinese factory somewhere, that's who). My IpH is a few years old, and I know there are newer versions. My pump housing looks different than the newer ones, so there you go.
Based on what I found when I replaced my IpH pump tube (totally corroded and flattened), I thought I better see if I needed to replace something in the injector. I thought I read somewhere that the injector housed a duck-bill type backflow preventer mechanism that required periodic replacement. I don't know what a duck-bill BFP looks like, but I expected something that looks like, well, a duck's bill. That's not what I found.
Mine has a little white ball that jams up against a rubber gasket under pressure to prevent flow back to the IpH. Remember the snorkel/mask sets they tried to drown us with as kids? The ones with the hook shaped end that had a ping-pong ball in it that would float upwards when under water and seal off the snorkel from pool water. The injector's BFP works like that, only relies on the pool-side pressure to make the seal instead of water displacement.
Here's a top view of the injector body with one end off. Both ends can be unscrewed from the body.
Here's the backflow preventer mechanism removed, with the white ball inside. Note the gasket (and the gasket in the pic above). Not looking too good. I don't have a new one for comparison, but I don't expect that's what a new one looks like, so there seems to be some degradation. The white gasket, which seals the housing components to each other, looks OK.
Here's the BFP from the side. You can see on top the malformed gasket.
So I think I should replace my injector. I didn't look too hard, but I don't find any of these internal parts readily available. They want to sell you the entire injector. Why would they stock and sell a 50¢ part when they could sell you a $5 part? You know, for $35?!?! Is what it is.
I think I'm going to buy two. So I have a backup. I don't want to deal with supply chain issues when the new one poops out, I'll just replace it "from stock on-hand" and then go in search of a new one to replenish stock. I think it's likely that you could replace this part with some other brand injector, like from Stenner, and maybe that model would have a duck bill BFP, or something else that is replaceable. But this isn't enough money to warrant putting too much effort into working all that out. If I do someday, I'll report back.
Unlike an IntelliChlor, where its initial expense and replacement costs are offset by the chlorine you no longer have to buy, the purchase and maintenance expenses of an IntellipH are only offset by the convenience it provides. Still worth it to me, YMMV...
So, next time... I won't pull it apart again. When I reassembled everything, it leaked a little. I tightened it up, and I think it's OK now, but I might have caused more harm than good. What I should have done, and will do next time, is periodically perform a very simple, non-invasive test of the injector. Maybe a few times a year. All I had to do was unscrew the white nut that clamps the acid delivery tube to the injector body and pull the tube out. Then turn on the filter pump (relatively high RPM) and observe. If no pool water drips out of the top of the injector, then the seals are fine. If I see water, time for a new injector. It doesn't look to me that the injector would fail catastrophically. I think it'll be more like a slight leak at first.
I wrote in another thread: I think the rollers pinching the IpH pump tube are doing part of the job. They seal off the end of the delivery tube at the IpH, preventing acid or pool water from moving in either direction in the delivery tube when the IpH pump is off. Otherwise, if the injector failed, the IpH tank would fill with pool water. Or when the filter pump was off, the negative-pressure draw of the water in the pool plumbing (from gravity) would suck acid out of the tube, and then the IpH tank, and when that was done then all of the water in the plumbing would drain back into the pool. Since that doesn't happen, something is stopping flow in that direction, and it can't be the injector, because then acid wouldn't flow through it when it was supposed to. I think it's gotta be the pump rollers. The BFP in the injector keeps pool water out of the IpH system, but I think the IpH pump itself also serves as a two-way flow preventer when it's not pumping. Just a theory.
So, test your IpH injector once in a while, as I described, and replace as necessary...
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