Pentair Intelliflo VS 3HP (model 011018) Freeze Protection

[bedelliott]

Hello, the past 2 mornings my weather has hit the high 20s and my pump was not running, and according to the Pentair web site freeze protection should kick it on when the air hits 36 degrees (unless this verbiage only applies to a letter model, my pump is 4-5 years old). I confirmed that my FP IS enabled (associated settings are 40-degrees and 1000 RPM - and I never set this 40-degree setting, so I wonder how this correlates to the Pentair site potentially saying 36?). The Pentair site also says "if the pump is running a schedule, it can be manually turned on to override the FP during a freeze condition" and also says "if the pool is running a schedule this will override FP". Has anyone dug into this to know exactly how it works? my pump is scheduled to run from 10-5 every day - does that mean FP won't work, do I have to cancel the schedule in order for FP to work? that would seem very odd, and potentially very destructive if an unexpected freeze happened. Anyway, I'd love anyone's experience with this, thank you!

 

[jmastron]

I'm pretty certain they just mean that if there's a schedule that has the pump running already or has it starting while the freeze protection is on, the pump will keep running even after the temperature goes up.

There are a couple different versions of the manual floating around, some calling it "Anti-Freeze" and some "Thermal Mode", but similar otherwise. From https://www.poolsupplyunlimited.com/Products/Manuals/136227_201921210147.pdf, on page 16 it says the default temperature is 40 as you saw (and I think that's the lowest it can be set to). I'd check the "enable" setting also just in case that got disabled at some point.

Have you taken a thermometer out to the pump to see what the temperature is there? I don't see a way to have the pump display what it thinks the ambient temperature is, unfortunately. Depending on how the equipment is laid out and the overall highs and lows, it's conceivable that the thermal mass of the equipment pad keeps it a bit warmer there. The manual does note that it's only to protect the pump, not the pool itself and that the sensed temperature can vary.

Others with the IntelliFlo can comment; I think I've only noted ours running for this once or twice because even though it gets down into the 30s (or high 20s) occasionally here I'm very rarely outside that early

 

[bedelliott]

thanks for your reply! I did find a different manual out there that mentions the 40, like mine is set to, so I guess on my pump it's called "Anti-Freeze". It's definitely Enabled, and the temp is definitely sub-30 right next to the pump, I checked several times with a high-end grilling probe I have. I found a tech support line for Pentair so maybe they can inform me of a sensor this might have on it, hopefully something easily replaceable. I think I remember it kicking on in years past. thanks again!

 

[Jimrahbe]

B,

My understanding is that the freeze mode that is built into the pump is to just protect the pump. It is not what should be used to protect the pool plumbing.

That is what my manual says anyway.

My pump runs 24/7, so I don't use freeze protect anyway. If I did not run my pump 24/7 already, I would anytime the temperature was expected to be below freezing.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[1poolman1]

Pentair's language is so that no one can claim the Pentair pump as the cause of freeze damage that may occur to other pieces of equipment. They say the freeze protection is for the pump only, but if the water is moving not only the pump but all other parts are relatively safe.

We had a hard freeze in locally in December, 1990 that caused much damage to pools and equipment. Low 20s at night never above about 34 for almost two weeks, not usual in the Sacramento Valley. The simple solution; have the pumps run during the freezing hours, usually 2:00AM - 8:00AM. I set my pool to run those hours before the advent of variable-speed pumps. It got me through two more episodes of below freezing temperatures that we had in the mid 90's without any issues. Since variable-speed pumps have arrived, I set every one that I install to start its filter cycle at 2:00AM and usually run it at least 14 hours a day, changing speeds as it goes. That way I don't have to depend on freeze protection actually working.

 

[bedelliott]

For anyone who cares.... I spoke to 2 different Pentair techs and they both said that the anti-freeze function is only to protect the top/LED screen (they call it the "drive", the brains of the unit), so when the temp drops it kicks the pump on for only long enough to warm up the drive, if even just a few seconds, then turns it back off, it's not at all intended to protect the whole pump from the water inside it freezing/expanding & cracking the pump. This doesn't make any sense to me, I've never heard that electronics are sensitive to weather (electronics much more complicated than a pump are in the frigid cold weeks on end, think about cars/planes/etc. in Minnesota, Alaska, etc.), but that's what 2 techs said so who knows. Guess I'll have to create my own schedule to run when it might freeze, then manually kick it on each time. this is a serious deficiency with the pump - it would be so easy for them to let the pump run as long as the outside temp is below a certain point. it just doesn't make any sense but I'm throwing in the towel on this one.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Elliott,

You can run an IntelliFlo at a low RPM 24/7, for less than $20 bucks a month. I just don't see much of an issue running 24/7 for the few days a year that we drop well below freezing.

Another option is to use the cable port on the side and set up an external input that would turn the pump on at a preset RPM until the input goes away.. Obviously, the input would come from a freeze protect module.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[bedelliott]

Elliott,

You can run an IntelliFlo at a low RPM 24/7, for less than $20 bucks a month. I just don't see much of an issue running 24/7 for the few days a year that we drop well below freezing.

Another option is to use the cable port on the side and set up an external input that would turn the pump on at a preset RPM until the input goes away.. Obviously, the input would come from a freeze protect module.

Thanks,

Jim R.

I completely agree Jim, and I'm happy to run it 24/7 when any threatening weather comes to town, given Pentair techs don't seem to know how my pump works, so I'll set one of the speed buttons to do that. It's not a $ issue, it was more that I like knowing exactly how things work and maximizing the benefits of whatever I've bought, so if I could have bought a replacement sensor or something to fix my pump that would have been my first choice, but I'll run it full time at low RPM when it gets cold, just in case. I'm also checking out the SunTouch, or whatever they have that'd be compatible with my 011018, but I suspect that's probably not going to be worth the money.