Upgrading 33-year-old pool and equipment

viktorleon

New member
Nov 29, 2021
2
Visalia
Hello TFP community. I'm new around here so please go easy on me :) and my apologies beforehand for the lengthy post. My wife and I purchased our forever home about 8 months ago and to our luck, everything was original to the house. The home and pool were built in 1990. There is nothing fancy or complex about the pool... a single body of water with a waterfall and an overflow "pond" to catch all the leaves, etc. I have hired to company to tackle the replastering and "look" of the pool, but I wanted to get my hands dirty and take on the equipment side of things. My dad is an electrician and I'm pretty handy in general, so I feel confident accomplishing this upgrade.

Here is my current setup and equipment (images attached to get a visual):
  • Single-speed pump running the filter, controlled by a DEWENWILS Pool Pump Timer I installed
  • Single-speed pump running the waterfall, controlled by a manual switch
  • Pentair Boost-Rite pump running my pressure cleaner, connected to a timer
  • 2 pool lights (one in the pool and another in the overflow "pond", both controlled by a manual switch
  • There is a pool panel with one intex timer and a bunch of wires
Here is the equipment I hope to install and have on hand:
  • New Pentair Intelliflo3 VSF 011076 with I/O board
  • Existing Boost-Rite pump for Pool Cleaner
  • New Boost-Rite pump for Waterfall
  • 2 new Pentair LED lights
  • New Hayward Pro Series S310T2 Sand Filter (I know, odd one from the bunch, but got it from a friend at a heavily discounted price-he opted for a DE filter instead)
I want to keep things simple and avoid having to buy the EasyTouch or IntelliCenter. Since this pump has a level of automation with the I/O board, I want to connect the booster pump for the cleaner to it and the lights and control them from the Pentair app. This is where I'm stumped... do I just wire the pump to the 16A relay and the lights to the 5A relay and call it a day, or will I need to run additional power to both the lights and booster pump? The install manual is pretty grey. Lastly, I would utilize the existing WiFi timer for the waterfall pump.

All the breakers are currently in my main electrical panel and I believe each device has its own. I will be replacing those to bring them to code. Should I install a subpanel where the existing pool panel is and just have a single breaker at the main panel, or keep it as is?

Again, all input is welcome, and looking forward to learning more about my system.


With appreciation,

Victor

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The relays on the ioboard do not provide power to the devices. They are simply ON/OFF switches.

All the Pentair LED lights don’t last more than a few years. It will be more economical to get a standard light fixture with a bulb and then replace the bulb with an LED bulb. That will cost you a lot less over time.

All pumps require a maintenance disconnect within sight of the pump. With your breakers in the house where will your maintenance disconnect be? Breakers in a subpanel by the equipment can be the maintenance disconnect.
 
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Hello TFP community. I'm new around here so please go easy on me :) and my apologies beforehand for the lengthy post. My wife and I purchased our forever home about 8 months ago and to our luck, everything was original to the house. The home and pool were built in 1990. There is nothing fancy or complex about the pool... a single body of water with a waterfall and an overflow "pond" to catch all the leaves, etc. I have hired to company to tackle the replastering and "look" of the pool, but I wanted to get my hands dirty and take on the equipment side of things. My dad is an electrician and I'm pretty handy in general, so I feel confident accomplishing this upgrade.

Here is my current setup and equipment (images attached to get a visual):
  • Single-speed pump running the filter, controlled by a DEWENWILS Pool Pump Timer I installed
  • Single-speed pump running the waterfall, controlled by a manual switch
  • Pentair Boost-Rite pump running my pressure cleaner, connected to a timer
  • 2 pool lights (one in the pool and another in the overflow "pond", both controlled by a manual switch
  • There is a pool panel with one intex timer and a bunch of wires
Here is the equipment I hope to install and have on hand:
  • New Pentair Intelliflo3 VSF 011076 with I/O board
  • Existing Boost-Rite pump for Pool Cleaner
  • New Boost-Rite pump for Waterfall
  • 2 new Pentair LED lights
  • New Hayward Pro Series S310T2 Sand Filter (I know, odd one from the bunch, but got it from a friend at a heavily discounted price-he opted for a DE filter instead)
I want to keep things simple and avoid having to buy the EasyTouch or IntelliCenter. Since this pump has a level of automation with the I/O board, I want to connect the booster pump for the cleaner to it and the lights and control them from the Pentair app. This is where I'm stumped... do I just wire the pump to the 16A relay and the lights to the 5A relay and call it a day, or will I need to run additional power to both the lights and booster pump? The install manual is pretty grey. Lastly, I would utilize the existing WiFi timer for the waterfall pump.

All the breakers are currently in my main electrical panel and I believe each device has its own. I will be replacing those to bring them to code. Should I install a subpanel where the existing pool panel is and just have a single breaker at the main panel, or keep it as is?

Again, all input is welcome, and looking forward to learning more about my system.


With appreciation,

Victor

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The plumbing leading into the pump should be lowered to be inline with the pump inlet, or as close as can get to inline.
 
The home and pool were built in 1990. There is nothing fancy or complex about the pool... a single body of water with a waterfall and an overflow "pond" to catch all the leaves, etc. I have hired to company to tackle the replastering and "look" of the pool,
You want to ensure they do a complete chip out of the existing plaster. it is labor intensive but will provide the best prep for the new plaster. Do you plan to do any other changes such as waterline tiles, coping, etc.? The TFP Wiki at bottom of the page has many articles on construction and remodeling guidelines.

It would be best to put in a dedicated subpanel for your pool equipment. Have separate circuit breakers for the new VS pump, the water feature pump and the booster pump as well as the lights. The VS pump should have constant power from the CB. You will be able to use the Pentair app to set schedule for the IntelliFlo3 pump. You will need to have the booster pump connected to the timer and have it scheduled to only turn on when the VS pump is on.
BTW - the input to the booster pump actually comes from a tap off of the return line to the pool (Not the pool itself) This is why you need to have the VS pump operating for the booster pump to get the feed water. The exit line of the booster pump is a dedicated line to the pool where your cleaner connects.

The lights can be connected to a new Wifi timer.

Show a picture of the pool and the overflow ”pond”.
 
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