011028 IntelliFlo VS Pool Pump, Almond

I have a pool, spa and water feature which were all installed with Hayward Superpumps, single speed motors running at 3450 RPM 24x7 (pulling 1400 watts each). With a 35,000 gallon pool I'm turning over a lot of water and these were what the pool installer had recommended when putting in the pool in 2016. I should never have listened to the pool installer (for lots of reasons). We has asked for a saltwater pool and he installed chlorine saying that traditional chlorine was better. I spent a fortune over 3 years on chemicals, but this past summer switched over to a saltwater system. I never had to do a thing to the pool or spa after installing them. I have perfectly balanced water all the time. That was fix #1 that improved my life. Fix #2 was installing these Pentair variable flow pumps. I can run them at 1250 RPM's with plenty of flow to the saltwater chlorinator and at 130-140 watts I've cut energy consumption by 90% saving me $500 a month in electric. Fix #3 was swapping out my standard sand with glass media. Pressure went down, flow improved, dirt is much better dispersed and the water has been crystal clear. Almost frighteningly clear to be honest! The clarity has been just unbelievable. So yeah, I did drop some big $$ this summer on upgrades, but the ROI is going to be a very short 6 months. Between the electric and constant balancing act played with chemicals we are saving about $750 per month in the long run. As someone looking forward to retirement, I'm really excited to not be worrying about where that money was going to come from in the budget.

I received my Pentair Intelliflo 3 HP pump yesterday afternoon but needed to purchase pipe seal for couplers so held off on installing until this morning. I had also purchased 2 vacuum/pressure gauges and installed on lower drain plugs so I could compute Total Dynamic Head (TDH) in order to estimate flow-rate versus THD and RPMs. The install went a lot smoother than I had thought it would - I was replacing an old Pentair 2 HP Whisperflo (real workhorse) with this pump and the housing dimensions were identical so the fit was perfect. Note: I had previously added couplers to old pumps and that was a blessing. I also rotated the screen which was very convenient. First impressions - this pump is much quieter than my previous pump and should save me $'s in the long run. Right now, I programmed 3,000 RPMs for 4 hours a day then 1,500 RPMs for 8 hours a day. I had played around with some RPMs and valves and it looks like I'm pumping about 90 GPM at 3,000 RPM (with Main Drains and Skimmer In and Pool and Spa Rtn Out). When I open the Spa Drain as a 3rd Inlet, the flow rate increases. I'm plumbed with all 2" lines but original plumbing isn't ideal and my cartridge filter is probably adding a fair amount to the TDH since only 150 sq ft. I'll come back and give this an updated review once I've had the pump for awhile but I am very impressed so far!

I replaced our decades-old pentair pump with this one back in May after the old one finally gave out. This pump is way, way more efficient (I monitor household electrical consumption in real time and it is way down when running this pump as opposed to the old one). It took about a day of work to get it plumbed in but that is more my lack of skill than the amount of effort that would actually be needed. Hint: I strongly recommend getting the 2 PACK -CMP Hi-Temp Union 2" inch 2MIP x 2" inch PVC Whisperflo & Intelliflo - 2 PACK that are sold along with the pump; they would have saved me substantial time on the installation.

The media could not be loaded. After twenty something years with the old fashioned single speed pump, I splurged on this Variable Speed from Pentair.Amazing how quiet it is!We have a waterfall coming off our spa that is louder than the pump, even though they are only 30’ from each other.You can install this if you’re handy, just remember that you need to order connectors and that the warranty will be void because you are not an authorized installer. I don’t care, I installed it anyway

The media could not be loaded. My new intelliflow pump started making a high pitch whine about 5 days after install. The noise got gradually worse and worse till my neighbor noticed it and said he couldn't sleep at night. He lives at least 60 yards away. I contacted Pentair via their customer support page multiple times within three weeks of install. No reply. Eventually about 5 weeks after install, I posted the video above on youtube and they contacted me within 10 minutes so say someone from customer report would open a case for me.Here's where it gets worse. Since I bought the pump on Amazon and installed it myself, there's only a 60 day parts warranty from Pentair. Note the install is three wires and two pipe connections. Pentair offered to send a replacement part only if I pay a $200 service visit fee and get a written engineer report on what part might be root cause. My message is that my customer support experience has been the worst ever. They don't stand behind their products. They don't want to deal with the public. They will not replace my pump or work with me to find a solution. They only did a token reach out after being shamed on youtube.Before you spend that $1200 on a new VS pump, be aware that you might be getting a lemon and there's no help available from Pentair if you do.This is the last penny I'll ever spend on a product made/sold/related to the Pentair brand. I had read horror stories about them but never thought I'd be involved in one of them. Beware!

Like the pump, hate the warranty restriction (3 years IF installed "professionally", 3 months otherwise). Had a Superflo die after 2 years and learned the hard way (knew the restriction, but older pumps had lasted considerably longer, so took the chance and lost). This pump's extra head works noticeably better with the in-floor cleaning system. Spent the money to have pool pros install so it qualifies for 3 years, but their "professional" installation is not as well done as my "amateur" job (I have to re-work theirs to stop the leaks).