Time to upgrade all the equipment

May 3, 2018
23
TX
We bought a house back in December. The pool equipment is old and we were going to replace it toward the end of season this year, however the pool pump decided to burn out, and this leading us to do the full swap now. Our goal is go to a VS pump for energy efficiency and to a Quad DE to get the best filtration. We have a 22,000 gallon in-ground plaster pool.

Current setup:
- Pump: Hayward RS1500 (1.5 HP)
- Filter: Pentair TA60/600 Sand filter
- Inline chlorinator feeder
- Booster pump
- 1.5" piping


Upgraded setup:
- Pump: Pentair Intelliflo 2 VST (011055) (will turn this down from the max 3450 RPMs so we are not killing our system)
- Filter: Pentair Quad DE filter 60 SQ (188592)
- Removing inline chlorinator feeder and using that run as a placeholder for a SWCG down the road
- Keeping booster pump
- Re-plumbing everything above ground to 2" sch 40 piping with unions, Jandy valve, and check valves (2)


Few questions:
- Since the Intelliflo pump is a 3 HP pump and mine was a 1.5 HP - limiting the maximum RPMs in the programming will be the best move to limit the overpowering my system?
- We have 2 Intermatic pool timers (booster pump and main pump) on our wall that we would like to clean up. With the new pump will I still need one for the main pump? I thought they were built in.
- Can I use the Intelliflo pump with my booster setup? A PB told me he would recommend a Jandy because of the AUX function it has for the booster pump.
- Is the 60 sq filter the correct size for mine or should I go to a 80? I was looking at the turnover charts on Pentair's website for the 60 and it would be 2.5x what my turnover is for a 8 hour period with my current setup.

Think this is all the questions I have for right now. Thanks for all your help.
 
je,

The IntelliFlo is a great pump and you do not have to worry about "too much" HP.. VS pumps should really be called variable horsepower pumps, because you only use the HP you want.

I have two pools that have 1.5" plumbing, small DE filters, and 3 HP IntelliFlo pumps that have been running for almost 6 years without any issues at all...

I have a robot, and am not at all a fan of booster pumps and pressure side cleaners, but your PB is correct in the fact that the IntelliFlo has no ability to control the booster pump. Most people just use the existing mechanical timer for booster pump control.. The IntelliFlo, as well as almost all over VS pumps, has its own timer/control panel..

The bigger the filter the less you have to clean it.. A specific number of water "turnovers" per day are more of a myth than fact and are not at all required. I would not base any decision, one way or the other, on turnovers.. I recommend that you buy the biggest filter you can afford...

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
 
JE,

quote by Jim:

"The bigger the filter the less you have to clean it.. A specific number of water "turnovers" per day are more of a myth than fact and are not at all required. I would not base any decision, one way or the other, on turnovers.. I recommend that you buy the biggest filter you can afford..."

This is very good advice..in this case, bigger is better bc of the maintenance you'll endure if you go smaller.

Get the 3HP intelliflo and use the timer for the booster pump..toss the other one [or keep as spare] for the new intelliflo...the pump at its keypad has everything you need...
 
je,

The IntelliFlo is a great pump and you do not have to worry about "too much" HP.. VS pumps should really be called variable horsepower pumps, because you only use the HP you want.

I have two pools that have 1.5" plumbing, small DE filters, and 3 HP IntelliFlo pumps that have been running for almost 6 years without any issues at all...

I have a robot, and am not at all a fan of booster pumps and pressure side cleaners, but your PB is correct in the fact that the IntelliFlo has no ability to control the booster pump. Most people just use the existing mechanical timer for booster pump control.. The IntelliFlo, as well as almost all over VS pumps, has its own timer/control panel..

The bigger the filter the less you have to clean it.. A specific number of water "turnovers" per day are more of a myth than fact and are not at all required. I would not base any decision, one way or the other, on turnovers.. I recommend that you buy the biggest filter you can afford...

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

That’s Jim. Great points and will take them into consideration. At the moment a robot is not in the budget, but is something we are considering for down the road. For now, I will leave the booster’s mechanical timer on the wall, but remove the main pump one as it’s timer is built in.

As for the filter, we were considering the 100 sq ft. so we will go with that one then.
 
JE,

quote by Jim:

"The bigger the filter the less you have to clean it.. A specific number of water "turnovers" per day are more of a myth than fact and are not at all required. I would not base any decision, one way or the other, on turnovers.. I recommend that you buy the biggest filter you can afford..."

This is very good advice..in this case, bigger is better bc of the maintenance you'll endure if you go smaller.

Get the 3HP intelliflo and use the timer for the booster pump..toss the other one [or keep as spare] for the new intelliflo...the pump at its keypad has everything you need...

Awesome. Thanks for confirming this TSTEX. I’ll keep the spare as a backup.
 
Je,

One thing you can do is use the current pump timer as an on/off switch for your new IntelliFlo.. Just remover the on/off dogs and then use the manual override switch as a simple on/off switch when you want to do some kind of pump maintenance..

Most likely means you can use the original whip and wiring for the IntelliFlo...

Thanks,


Jim R.
 
Jim,

Actually, I just learned that here on the forum. When they installed my vs speed pump and swcg they where both on the same timer and the installer removed the pins on the timer. Which meant if they turned off the timer it would loose my timer setting on the pump and the swcg was constantly running since my flow switch failed. Luckily it was still under warranty and I noticed because of the forum. Since my flow switch failed it was causing my swcg to not function correctly, it wouldn't calculate salinity correctly and it stoped generating.
Thanks to forum I was able to find out that my swcg wasn't turning off.
 
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