Starting Equipment List- Construction Starts Sept 25.....

[chrsdmry]

Hello everyone and thanks for the valuable information on here, I have learned a lot in the past week with some good responses on another post I made. We just signed the contract for a freeform gunite pool and here are the specs I am thinking about going with. Please chime in on what you think and let me know if this is something I will be happy with. I am located just outside of Boston, pool season maybe 5 months.

Pool: Gunite 21 x 36 freefrom, 4' to 7'6" with Spa 7' 6" round 18" above pool
Pool House: 22 x 24 (pool equipment behind pool house covered but not enclosed)
Pebble Tech: Midnight Blue
Pump: Pentair IntelliFlo VSF
Filter: Pentair Clean and Clear Plus Cartridge
Heater: Pentair Mastertemp 400k btu
Chlorine: Pentair IntelliChlor I40 or I60 (whatever size is recommended)
Automation: Pentair Intellicenter
Cleaning: Originally I was going to go with IFCS, but axed it and going with high end robot
Lighting: 2 Intellibrite 5G LED colored in the pool and 1 in Spa with Intellibrite Controller
Pentair Magic Stream Laminars: 4 around pool
Pentair Magic Stream Magic Bowl: 2 elevated on column
Pentair Landscape Lighting LED colored (qty 6)

Couple questions:
Should I have a separate pump for the Magic Stream Laminars and Bowls?
Will the Intellicenter be able to control all of these features?
I am adding landscape speakers, can this be tied into Intellicenter App on phone or iPad?
Is there anything else you recommend for this pool build?

Appreciate any input you have and look forward to your responses.

 

[ajw22]

@MyAZPool can you comment on the Intellicenter abilities?

I think you want separate pump, intake in the pool, and automated valves to control the water features. You want a low head water feature pump.

How many gallons in the pool?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Chris,

I'll let MyAZPool, get into the details, but the good thing about the IntelliCenter is that it is expandable, so you can make it control whatever you have..

That said, you need to tell your pool builder exactly how you expect the system to work.. If not, they will plumb it the easiest way possible and you may end up with valves that let you run one water feature or another, but not both at the same time.. ?

Also, when ordering the IntelliCenter, you (your pool builder) needs to order all the option to make it work the way you want.

This also applies to lights.. You can have all the lights on one relay and one transformer, if you want everything on at the same time and same color. But if you want to individually control each light, then each light needs its own relay and transformer.

Your SWCG size needs to be at least 2 X the volume of your pool.. And... you want your IntelliCenter to come with the internal SWCG power supply.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[MyAZPool]

chrsdmry
I concur with ALL of the points made by AJW22 and Jimrahbe above .

Just to expound, if it were my pool,
1. I would have one separate pump for the water features.
2. I would plumb each set of water features (bowls and laminars) with a 3-way Jandy and IntelliValve actuator and then plump each individual feature with a Jandy 2-way for balancing purposes (no actuators). In fact, once you get all the individual features balanced the way you prefer, you can just remove the jandy 2-way valve handles.
3. Recommend the Pentair IntelliFlo VS (011028) or the VSF if you prefer (011056) for the Filter Pump and the Pentair IntelliFloXF VSF (022056) for the water features pump.
4. My personal opinion is that I really like the fact that you opted for the Robot versus IFCS! Great call.
5. Keep audio on a separate app. If you want to control landscape lighting with the IntelliCenter, no problem, but I wouldn't (and personally don't). There are much better apps that allow for much more flexibility and features for landscape lighting.
6. The IntelliCenter can certainly handle all of those features, but like Jimrahbe pointed out, you will first need to determine what lights you want to be able to control (on/off, color and light shows) individually. Once you determine that, then an IntelliCenter model number can be determined.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
All the best.
r.

 

[chrsdmry]

Thanks for everyone's input. I am talking with the pool builder today about all of this. I will get you an update of our discussions. Thanks again