Proper pump speed for VS pump?

12 years ago

I've been getting conflicting opinions about what rpm's I should be running my new pentair VS-3050 pump.

I've got a 12K gallon pool, 2-inch pipes and the skimmer is about 35 feet from the equipment. It's a pretty standard pool with no spa and is basically a rectangle with a 6foot deep end. The filter is a pentair 420 cartridge (150 GPM). We are using a vacuum cleaner and it is using one of those skimmer\main drain setups where most of the suction is thru the skimmer and nothing really goes thru the main drains.

Can someone recommend a ballpark rpm setup for this configuration? I've got one guy telling me about 2300 rpm and one guy telling me that 1000 rpm is fine. I'm sure it's more scientific than this....

Thanks

Comments (5)

stupid48
Original Author
12 years ago
Actually, I'm not 100% sure of the pipe diameter. I just found some scrap that was 2 inches but for some reason I remember that possibly the pipes going to the skimmer were larger than that....
poolguynj
12 years ago
Most skimmers have two ports, one at 1.5" and the other @ 2.0" for connecting to the system.

The VS-3050 is the old base edition of the Intelliflow line. The newer one, the VS, has an LCD panel and can be programmed with internal timers that aren't on the 3050.

Which one do you have?

How are you chlorinating your pool? Salt cells and erosion feeders have minimum flow requirements to function correctly. Erosion feeders have higher flow requirements.

Scott
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stupid48
Original Author
12 years ago
Sorry for missing some details. It is a brand new VS-3050 and we are using the intellichlor system...
stupid48
Original Author
12 years ago
doh, forgot to mention it's an IC40. My pool guy had me buy the larger model even though the pool is only 12k gallons. I read in one forum where someone say that the minimum flow rate for the ic40 must be 25GPM
mas985
12 years ago
Hmm... Somebody asked the same question on another forum.

Around 1000 RPM will be the most energy efficient but may not be fast enough for skimmers or cleaners so a little trial and error may be in order. A very rough approximation for flow on 2" plumbing is around:

Flow Rate (GPM) = RPM / 35