What’s the pressure supposed to be?

[Msfish]

I have a variable speed pump that I i’ve been trying to lower the speed since we now have cooler weather. I have been running my pump at around 1800 rpm’s for the last several weeks. I just went to clean my cartridges and noticed that my pressure is only around seven. Is this because the RPMs are so low? I raised the RPMs to 2000 and it went up to 10. Should the filter pressure be in a specific range?

is it okay to have a low pressure? Could there be another issue I need to consider?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Ms,

What you see is perfectly normal.. I run my pump at 1200 RPM and my filter pressure is only about 1 or 2 lbs...

Filter pressure is kind of backward to what you think.. High pressure is bad and lower pressure is good. Filter pressure is actually the amount of effort it takes to force water through your filters.. The higher the pressure the less water flow there is.

Why are you running your pump so fast? The whole point of a VS pump is to run it at a low RPM to save on the electrical bill..

What size cartridge filter do you have? How often are you cleaning your filter? You should not have to do it very often if you have a big filter.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ajw22]

Pressure varies with pump RPMs. Low pressure is fine with low RPMs. Your pressure gauge may even read 0 if your RPMs are below 1,000.

There is no right pressure and other then for troubleshooting the only use for the pressure gauge is to determine when you should clean your filter.

 

[Msfish]

Ms,

What you see is perfectly normal.. I run my pump at 1200 RPM and my filter pressure is only about 1 or 2 lbs...

Filter pressure is kind of backward to what you think.. High pressure is bad and lower pressure is good. Filter pressure is actually the amount of effort it takes to force water through your filters.. The higher the pressure the less water flow there is.

Why are you running your pump so fast? The whole point of a VS pump is to run it at a low RPM to save on the electrical bill..

What size cartridge filter do you have? How often are you cleaning your filter? You should not have to do it very often if you have a big filter.

Thanks,

Jim R.

I am new to setting different speeds for my equipment. I am trying to find the sweet spot for economy and efficiency. If I can run it slower, I will. It is just a matter of me figuring out what is working ?.

I do not know the cartridge size, but there are four large ones. I am only supposed to clean it 2-3x/yr. However, I have cleaned it a couple of times in the last 1.5 months because I did a SLAM and I’m learning the TFP method.

thanks!!

 

[Jimrahbe]

Ms,

If you had a green pool and did a SLAM then you will definitely have to initially clean the filter a lot.. If you have 4 large cartridges you most likely have a CCP 420 or 520. That is what I have.

You run the pump for just three or four main reasons..

1. To generate the amount of chlorine you need if you have a SWCG or use a Tab feeder.. If you manually add liquid chlorine this line does not really apply.
2. To skim the debris off the top of the pool water.. This really depends on how much stuff falls into your pool and how picky you want to be...
3. To mix any chemicals, such as MA or Liquid Chlorine, you only need to run the pump for 2 to 4 hours a day..
4. If you use a suction or pressure side cleaner, you need to run the pump long enough to clean the pool. 2 to 4 hours, depending on your cleaner.

There is no reason you can't do #3 and #4 at the same time...

Your RPM has to be fast enough to turn a SWCG on, or to make the Tab Feeder work. Usually this is about 1000 to 1500 RPM.. Just depends on your pool.

Your RPM has to be fast enough to make any suction or pressure side cleaner work.. With a booster pump this should not be an issue even at 1000 to 1500 RPM..

Your comment.. "It is just a matter of me figuring out what is working ?." is exactly what has to happen. You just need to play with it and find out what works for you.

You only want to run at a faster RPM to do something specific.. As an example.. if you have waterfall, you would increase the RPM to make the waterfall work the way you want.

Keep in mind that chemicals keep your pool clear and sanitized.. The speed of your pump and how long you run it has little to do with the quality of your water.

Edit.. This does not mean you can't run your pump as long as you want.. It is just not required.. I run my pump 24/7 for a number of personal reasons...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Msfish]

Thanks for all that information!!

I’m going to try decreasing the rpm’s and see how it goes. This time of year I get lots of leaves dropping.

I do not have a SWCG and im not using tabs currently. I’m adding it by hand for now.