Pentair IntelliFloXF VSF

The IntelliFloXF VSF is Pentair's variable speed and flow pump for large pools, the ones with waterfalls, slides, negative edges and long pipe runs. It's what Pentair names as the replacement for the WhisperFloXF now that the single-speed XF is off the residential market.

It comes as two items that are the same pump. The IntelliFloXF VSF, 022056, is almond. The IntelliProXF VSF, 023056, is black and sold under Pentair's Sta-Rite name. Both are 3.95 total horsepower with a 5.6 WEF, and both are listed on Pentair's pages as available through dealers.

What "speed and flow" means

Most variable-speed pumps run at the RPM you set. This one can also run at a flow rate you set, anywhere from 20 to 140 GPM, and hold it.

That matters because flow changes on its own. As the filter loads up, or someone moves a valve, the same RPM moves less water. In a flow program, the drive senses that and raises or lowers the motor speed to keep the gallons per minute where you put them. Pentair's brochure compares it to cruise control.

It does that inside limits you set in the Min/Max menu:

• Speed: 450 to 1,700 RPM for the minimum, 1,900 to 3,450 for the maximum
• Flow: 20 to 70 GPM for the minimum, 80 to 140 for the maximum
• Pressure: 1 to 50 psi, 30 by default

When the pump hits one of those limits, it keeps running at the limit, lights the warning light and tells you which limit it hit. The pressure it limits is total dynamic head across the pump, suction and discharge together. Pentair says that won't match your filter gauge, so don't set it from the gauge.

Two things catch people out. In a speed program, the flow and pressure limits are off by default and have to be switched on in the Min/Max menu. And the flow number on the screen is an estimate. Pentair's manual says the displayed flow rate hasn't been evaluated to the flow meter requirements of NSF/ANSI/CAN 50. If a health inspector wants a flow meter, this isn't one.

Programs and schedules

There are eight programs. Buttons 1 to 4 are preset to 750, 1,500, 2,350 and 3,110 RPM. Programs 1 and 2 ship as Manual, 3 and 4 as Egg Timers that run for a set time, and 5 to 8 can only be Schedules and ship disabled. Any program can be a speed or a flow.

If schedules overlap, the pump runs the highest flow first, then the lowest flow, then the highest speed, then the lowest speed. When a speed and a flow schedule overlap, the flow program wins. A manual or egg timer command overrides the schedule until it finishes or the next schedule starts.

Two quieter details. Schedules don't run until the Start/Stop LED is on. And the clock keeps time for up to 96 hours without power, so after a longer outage the times need setting again.

There's also Quick Clean, a temporary boost for vacuuming or after a storm (10 minutes by default), and Time Out, which holds the pump off for a set time (3 hours by default) and then resumes the schedule.

Priming, and why it goes to full speed

The pump ships with priming enabled. So the first time you start it, it speeds up to its maximum speed. That's normal.

The sequence, from Pentair's manual: it ramps to 1,800 RPM and pauses for 3 seconds. If there's enough water in the basket, it goes straight to the programmed speed. If not, it runs at the priming speed, 3,450 RPM by default, adjustable down to 2,400, and keeps checking for up to 11 minutes. When it's primed, it holds priming speed for a 20-second delay, then moves on.

If it can't prime in that time, it stops with a priming alarm for 10 minutes, then tries again. After five failed attempts, the alarm becomes permanent and needs a manual reset. And Loss of Prime is on by default: if the pump loses prime mid-run, it pauses a minute and tries again.

The settings that matter:

• Priming speed. A pump close to the water level doesn't need 3,450. Pentair says you can lower it, but set it high enough to cope with day-to-day changes.
• Priming range, 1 to 10, default 5. Lower numbers need more water moving before the pump calls itself primed. If it never leaves priming mode, raise the number. If it leaves too early with air still in the housing, lower it.
• Maximum speed. If you set the maximum below 2,400 RPM, the pump will still exceed it while priming, so that it can prime.

With automation, priming has to be turned off in two places. Pentair says the automation system can't disable the pump's priming on its own. Disable it on the automation, unplug the RS-485 cable, disable it on the pump, then reconnect.

Don't let it run more than 30 minutes without developing full flow. Running dry ruins the seal, and a pump that won't prime has its own checklist.

Installing it

• 230 V only, single phase, 3,200 W maximum, on a two-pole 20 A breaker. Pentair sells a 2-pole 20 A GFCI breaker for it, PA220GF.
• With automation, the pump needs continuous power, wired straight to the breaker, with nothing else on that circuit. The automation starts and stops it over the RS-485 cable, which comes in the box. Wired to a timer or relay instead, it should be a two-pole device.
• Bond it with solid copper no smaller than 8 AWG.
• At least 5 feet from the inside wall of the pool, 3 feet from the heater outlet, and no more than 10 feet above the water. Leave 3 inches behind the motor.
• No 90° elbows straight into the inlet or outlet. Leave a straight run of five times the suction pipe diameter in front of the inlet: 12½ inches on 2½ inch pipe.
• It can't be connected in series with another pump. In parallel, add check valves so one pump can't spin the other backward.
• It has no SVRS entrapment protection. Pentair flags one trap: an IntelliTouch with firmware 1.170 or earlier shows the pump type as "VSF+SVRS". You pick that option, but the pump still has no SVRS. Drain safety covers what that means for the drains.

Thermal mode is not freeze protection

Thermal mode is on by default. When the drive senses 40°F, it runs the pump at 1,000 RPM, or a flow you choose, to protect itself.

Pentair is clear that it's pump protection, not pool protection. The sensor is in the drive on top of the motor, so an indoor pump or a sunny pad reads something other than the air outside. And when the pump is connected to automation, its own thermal protection is disabled. Freeze protection then has to come from the automation's air sensor, which on an IntelliTouch is ON WITH FREEZE in the circuit settings. To get the pump's own protection back, cycle its power.

In a real freeze, Pentair's instruction is to drain it. Stop the pump, kill the breaker, relieve the pressure at the filter, pull both drain plugs and store them in the basket. Cover the motor against rain, snow and ice, but don't wrap it in plastic. Hard freeze protection covers the rest of the pad.

What the alarms mean

An alarm stops the pump and locks the buttons until you press Reset. A warning leaves it running.

• Priming failure: covered above.
• Overheat: the drive is above 130°F, and the pump slows down until it cools.
• Over current: the drive is overloaded or the motor has an electrical fault. It restarts 20 seconds after it clears.
• Over voltage: high supply voltage, or water from another source spinning the pump. Also restarts after 20 seconds.
• Power out: supply voltage too low. The drive saves its settings, which takes about 20 seconds.
• Internal error: clear it and restart. If it comes back, Pentair wants a call to technical service at 1-800-831-7133.
• Speed limit, pressure limit and flow limit: warnings that the pump has hit a limit you set and isn't reaching what the program asked for.

Two more from the troubleshooting chart. The pump won't start while the impeller is still turning. And a squeak at start-up or slowdown is the motor slinger and the motor shaft's rubber seal behind it, not the pump's mechanical seal. Pentair says to lubricate the rubber seals.

Taking it apart

Pentair says the pump should be serviced by a qualified pool professional. The numbers worth having before anyone starts:

• Wait 60 seconds after cutting power, for the drive's stored charge. Let the motor cool 20 minutes before handling it.
• Don't open the strainer pot on a pump that failed to prime or ran without water. It can hold scalding water under vapor pressure. Open the valves and wait until the pot is cool.
• Leave the four tamper-proof screws on the motor alone.
• Protect the gasket between the drive and the motor. Pentair says it's what keeps moisture out, and not to reassemble with it damaged or missing.
• The impeller screw is left-handed and loosens clockwise. On pumps made before October 7, 2019, it's a plastic-head screw that needs a ¾ inch socket and uses an o-ring instead of a washer.
• Seal plate to motor: 75 to 80 inch-pounds. Strainer pot to motor assembly: six nuts, no more than 100 inch-pounds.
• The ceramic half of the seal is lubricated with water and pressed in with the white ceramic face up. Keep both seal faces clean. Pentair says a scratched face leaks.

If it's leaking, where the water shows up says which of these parts it is.

If you have a WhisperFloXF

This is worth knowing before you replace a failing WhisperFloXF. Much of this pump's parts list carries the same numbers as the WhisperFloXF's. The wet end assembly (400000), diffuser and its screws, lid and locking ring, strainer basket, lid o-ring, union parts, mechanical seal, seal plate and seal plate kit, both o-rings, the almond motor base and the fasteners all match.

The impeller is where it differs: this pump's is 400015Z, and the WhisperFloXF uses one of three depending on the model, one of which is 400015. Pentair doesn't publish a fit guide between the two pumps, so measure the pad and the pipe positions before assuming a straight swap.

The practical upshot runs the other way too. If you already stock WhisperFloXF wet end parts, most of them fit this pump.

Buying one

Both versions are Pentair TradeGrade products. Pentair's warranty page says those are intended for brick-and-mortar stores, pool builders and service companies. It gives this pump three years, the same as the IntelliFlo3 VSF, with full parts and labor when it's an in-ground TradeGrade product. The mechanical seal, o-rings, gaskets and basket count as consumables, with one year of parts and labor.

There's no store listing on this page, because Pentair sells it through dealers. At 3.95 total horsepower, it's a lot of pump. The pump sizing guide is worth a look before assuming a big pool needs the biggest one.

Where Pentair's documents disagree

• Automation. Pentair's product page pairs it with EasyTouch and IntelliTouch and ScreenLogic2, and the manual names IntelliTouch, EasyTouch, SunTouch and IntelliComm. EasyTouch is discontinued.
• The warranty page names the IntelliFloXF VSF but not the IntelliProXF VSF.
• The manual calls the same four fasteners "motor nuts" and "motor bolts" a few lines apart, and one sentence in the English edition says "Manual, Schedule y Egg Timer".