One great feature of the Pentair Intelliflo Variable Speed Pump is the self-priming option. The pump is sent from the factory with this option on. However, because the pump runs at maximum power at start up, it is very loud and some people are bothered by it. If your pump is located outside a bedroom or office, you may be annoyed by the sound when the pump starts.
My pump never loses prime, so I am not concerned with the priming feature. When I clean my filter basket I may need to prime the pump again, but that is easy to accomplish by selecting one of the higher speeds manually for a moment when I first start the pump. I prefer to turn the priming feature off to avoid the noise. Here’s a video that shows you how to turn off (and on) the priming feature on the Pentair Intelliflo Variable Speed Pump.
(No Flash Player? Download here: Pentair Variable Speed Pump Priming)
With the pump off, the buttons to press to toggle priming on or off are:
Menu | Down| Down| Down| Down | Select | Select | Down | Enter
Rather than turning auto-priming off, you can also change the priming sensitivity. The pump will detect whether priming is necessary, and theoretically will not go into auto-priming mode if it detects that the pump is primed. However, I have not had good success adjusting sensitivity to reduce unwanted priming. I find it’s better to just turn off the feature.
WARNING: If you turn off the priming feature and your pump detects that it is not primed, it will go into error mode to protect the pump. This is a great feature to save your pump from damage, but it must be reset manually. I have never experienced a problem with this, but if your pump loses prime frequently, it could be a problem. Then again, if your pump loses prime frequently, you should determine the cause and fix it!
Hello Jason,
I have read you story about the Intelliflow, and thought maybe you could of a help for me.
I have recently installed a saltwater electrolyser with PH and ORP control. We also have a Pentair Intelliflow pump on the plumbing. The ORP witch is working with a probe in the plumbing (in the pool water) on Millie volts by electric conduction on the salty water, is not working properly. My problem is that the manufacturer of the salt water generator tells me that this is because of magnatic and/ore electronic interference caused by the Intelliflow variable speed pump. I. am stuck in the middle but like to find a selution. He tells me that the Intelliflow pump works with magnets and seams to cause this?? I.am not a specialist but like to know if this problems is well-known by Pentair. If this is what can we do to solve this? Awaiting any good response, kind regards Hans Cornelisse e-mail address is cornelissehans@gmail.com
Hans,
From the little I know about PH/ORP systems, I understand that it is possible that the pump is causing interference with the ORP probe. The would not be specific to this pump model or brand. All pumps have magnets. The Pentair Intelliflo happens to have a powerful permanent magnet motor. After checking with a manufacturer’s representative, it’s not a known problem by the manufacturer that this specific pump is more likely than any other pump to cause interference.
Did you recently change your pump, or was this equipment all installed at the same time? Moving the pump further away from the probe may help.
In my opinion, PH/ORP systems seem to be more trouble than they are worth, although again I have limited knowledge of these systems. I have an Intelliflo pump and a Pentair Intellichlor Chlorine Generator on my pool, and my pool couldn’t be much easier to maintain. A couple of cups of muriatic acid a month and a few pounds of stabilizer is all it takes to maintain crystal clear water. I could not justify the price of a PH/ORP controller. These systems are marketed toward high end residential or commercial pools. I would have a hard time recommending one except for the most demanding applications.
Hello Jason, To clarify the Ph/ORP system is integrated in a salt electrolysing system of BrightBlue (manufactured in Portugal) we use borehole water in the pool and the salt system was installed one year after the pump. We toque all the pool water out and put fresh (borehole water) in to get writ of the old chemicals. We are in kind of guaranty problems with the manufacturer about this problem. He keeps telling me that it must be the pump, but I. am not convinced and need more prove.
So if you can find more information about the Intelliflow causing the problems I appreciate.
I wish I had more information. All I can go on is that Pentair is unaware of any link between their pumps and problems with these systems.