Upgrading pump + salt generator?

[MrM43]

Almost 3 years ago I bought a house with a 15k gallon inground pool and spa. The system was pretty old:

• Two old (15+ yo) single speed Hayward pumps.
• Aqua Logic (T15?) automation board.
• A rusty non-functional gas heather.
• A barely working salt generator.
• Lights that trip the breaker.
• Newer (compared to the rest of the equipment) Pentair filter.

After a couple of months of looking at my electrical bill, I got rid of the main pump and replaced it with a second-hand jandy variable speed pump (as a temporary fix) and while I was at it, got rid of the heather.
The first year I had a guy take care of the pool. He would just come and add chlorine once a week and call it a day without checking the chemestry or anything else.
For the past two years I've been taking care of the pool myself by lurking on this forum and doing everything myself. This last year got a little trickier because the salt generator stopped working completely, but I've still managed doing everything myself.

Now I want to work on my system little by little. Given that I don't have any automation set up (I even had to disconnect the actuator valves because they were not closing all the way lol), I'm thinking of starting by replacing the single speed pump with my jandy pump and get a new pump with a new salt generator.

I'm thinking about getting:
- a Pentair SuperFlow EC-342001 ($1,379) instead of a Pentair InteliFlow EC-011057 ($2,489).
- a Pentair IntelliChlor Salt Generator IC20KIT ($1,459)

I'll hope to add a heather, automation, etc in the following years, but in my mind these two upgrades will be huge.

I plan to do everything myself with the help of a friend. I guess my questions are:

- Am I on the right path? Any recommendations on which way to go?
- Do I need anything else besides the two items above to make it work? I plan to bypass my current Aqua Logic and have these guys direclty to the panel (after probably adding a surge suppressor).

 

[HermanTX]

Welcome to TFP.
Are you thinking you wish to install an IntelliCenter automation system in the future? If so, that will dictate type of equipment you want to purchase now. It appears you wish to get away from Hayward and Jandy equipment.

The SWCG should be rated to 2x your pool volume. The iChlor SWCG does not have a very good track record on the forum but the IntelliChlor IC40 would be ideal for your pool.

Maybe @Jimrahbe or @ajw22 has views on the best pump.

 

[ajw22]

Do you have a spa?

An IC20 is too small for a 15,000 gallon pool. You need an IC40.

Start with the end in mind. If you could buy all the equipment you need now what is the complete set of equipment you want to end up with?

 

[MrM43]

Welcome to TFP.
Are you thinking you wish to install an IntelliCenter automation system in the future? If so, that will dictate type of equipment you want to purchase now. It appears you wish to get away from Hayward and Jandy equipment.

The SWCG should be rated to 2x your pool volume. The iChlor SWCG does not have a very good track record on the forum but the IntelliChlor IC40 would be ideal for your pool.

Maybe @Jimrahbe or @ajw22 has views on the best pump.

Yeah, I think it'd like to install an IntelliCenter system in the future.
It's not that I want to move away from Hayward and Jandy, but more that I'd like to build a system using the same brand and I've heard good things about Pentair. Someone also suggested to upgrade the board(?) of my current Hayward system, but I don't think that's something that I would be able to do myself, so I'm thinking of taking the path I first mentioned.

Do you have a spa?

An IC20 is too small for a 15,000 gallon pool. You need an IC40.

Start with the end in mind. If you could buy all the equipment you need now what is the complete set of equipment you want to end up with?

Ok, thanks for the feedback. Great to know that I need an IC40.
I do have a spa with spillover, if that matters. As mentioned, I got rid of the non working heather, but I forgot to mention that I also have spa hot tub blower. It seems to work, but I've never used it.


If I could buy all the equipment now I would add the heather and the automation system to the pump and the Salt Chlorinator. I'd love to get new LED lights but I don't think they're worth it to me given how expensive they are and how little use I think I'd give them.

 

[wireform]

As long as you stick to one brand you can add the automation later so by buying a pentair vsp you'll be able to connect it to the panel when the time comes and the same would be with the SWCG. The spa would benefit too with the automation as when all it set up properly it would be a one button or swipe on the phone to switch back and forth between pool and spa.

 

[ajw22]

If you go Pentair you need to plan on the Pentair IntelliCenter to control your spa and all the devices you have.

Running the IntelliChlor IC40 without the IntelliCenter only gives you 20% increments of SWG output adjustments. It can take a bit more work getting the right amount of chlorine output as you may need to adjust pump runtime as well as %.