I don't know the exact causes but I strongly suspect that it's the management that is killing the company. What I do know is what I see in the field from the outside looking in and my past experiences working and selling to the financial markets of NYC when I was in tech sales. Wow, that was a long time ago. How I got to pools from tech sales is another story. I expect I'll tell that to my grandkids when I have them. A smart man once told me that if he can't be #1 or #2 in a given market, he didn't want to play. I have heard that repeated by several others I have had the pleasure of working with over the years. For most product markets, there is room for two, not three major players. Jandy has become #3 and seems to be fading quickly. Scott

I appreciate you guys trying to help me figure out the leak issue. It's certainly driving us crazy. Our equipment is located above pool level next to the house. It's strange that it will hold water fine all summer but after being winterized (plugs put in returns, etc) and turning cold is when it leaks. The conduit in the niche sounds like a real possibility. We've decided to replace the colorlogics with the same thing. When they do that on Friday, what should they be doing to fix the leak? Is there a type of caulk or sealant that doesn't shrink in the cold? Or will that matter? We're getting so tired of the same on-going problems with this pool. Every spring when we open it and heat it up, the heater igniter (Jandy Lite2, service error message F4) stops working. Any ideas how to prevent this from happening? The repair guy thinks it gets too much condensation from the warm water running through and shorts out.

Wowgreat post..it is comforting to hear from those who have also done their homework and dug a little deeper to see for themselves the truths about all this pump technology. After all, it is the homeowner that has to make an informed decision. Most homeowners who come to this forum are on a quest for information to help them make a decision for themselves or to find out what questions to ask their PB or local professional so they can feel comfortable with the product they are spending hard-earned money for. I apologize if I may seem like Im bashing Intelliflo at times. That is not the intent. The intent is to shine a light on variable speed technology (Pentair, Jandy, Hayward, etc.) and expose some of its strengths and weaknesses. It doesnt matter who is making the variable speed pump. From a technology perspective the truths are: great low speed performance and efficiency at the sacrifice of high speed efficiency. If a homeowner chooses a variable speed pump, please understand this and make sure your PB or installer understands this also. These pumps do not run efficiently at higher flows and should only be used for light duty filtering to realize the cost savings and payback for the extra money spent up front. Variable speed = great for light duty applications but not good for multi-tasking or water features and devices requiring high flow. 2 speed = good for light duty applications and great for multi-tasking or water features and devices requiring high flow. This is a truth of any variable speed technology when compared to 2 speed technology..you name the industry: pool, HVAC, process control, air control, etc. When trying to stretch variable speed technology to cover a broad range of applications, the laws of physics prevail and compromises in design and efficiency have to be made. Until a pool pump manufacturer designs a line of variable speed pumps for different applications, not just "one size fits all", this shortfall on efficiency with variable speed will continue. Unfortunately, some pool experts on this forum do not want to believe this truth and continue to push variable speed without knowing how the pump is going to be used. The result is a homeowner who has paid extra money for technology that may not save them money over the life of the product. If the homeowner is aware of the truths with variable speed technology, then they can make a better informed decision and not be at the mercy of those in the industry who are pushing the sale of higher margin equipment to increase their profit.at the homeowners expense. Racket, cascade and repair guy..no offense..but sometimes I get the feeling you are too close to the pool industry and "cant see the forest through the trees" and are at the mercy of the pool sales folks who have tremendous pressure on them to sell the equipment that the company has spent a lot of money to develop. All while there are no regulations in the pool industry to keep the sales and marketing folks in check and offer real value to usthe homeowners. This massive AO Smith bearing failure trend that the "pool experts" on this forum keep referring to continues to puzzle me. Another pump manufacturer that uses AO Smith motors is not experiencing these massive bearing failures.hmmmm..wonder if this is pointing to a Pentair quality problem instead of an AO problem..its the same bearings in all AO pool pump motors so is Pentair damaging the motors during assembly or mis-applying the motor with their pump design..dont know.but to promote one company at the expense of bashing another company only smells of a strong bias to me. Racket- variable speed compressors are not more efficient than 2 speed compressors.go back to your friend and check his sources of information. There is one HVAC manufacturer with a variable speed air-to-air line of equipment and they claim highest industry efficiency on one of their small sizes, but the other 6 models in their variable speed line are miserably lower than other 2 speed products out there and cost a lot more than their 2 speed counterparts. I can send all kinds of HVAC data your way based on DOE studies and white papers in our industry. Variable speed has been in our industry for over 15 years and continues to be too expensive, too complex and too short on efficiency for most applications out there. Repair guy lightning surges hit transformers and diodes first. Most of the devices you mentioned above are 24V devices that have transformers upstream of the lighting surge. Guess what fails first, the transformer which is a separate component and is easily replaced for little cost to the customer. Does the Intelliflo have a serviceable transformer or any other electric component that can be replaced without having to replace the entire drive.No.and at the homeowners expense. Your post above confirms my suspicion of your bias for variable speed products and for Pentair..you obviously do not like to carry extra parts on your truck for repairs so a "one size fits all" pump or impeller is great for you no matter what the cost is to the homeowner. Who cares if Jandy is changing their designs all the time and discontinuing old designs. If the result is improved efficiency year over year, it is the homeowner who wins with smarter designs and improved efficiencyDont get me wrong, from your previous posts, you certainly understand the limitations of variable speed pumps and I agree with your philosophy of applying variable speed technology for light applications, but your biases are also too strong to ignore. Cascade you are obviously a pool insider as you have stated and have made choices along the way on favorite products over the years. Currently you are with Pentair.congratulations!.and hopefully you have the same philosophies as repair guy when applying Intelliflo. When applied in light duty applications, this technology is hard to beat! If the customer insists on using one for high flow applications such as waterfalls or spas, I hope they also hear from their trusted pool representative of other pump options they have instead of Intellilflo. To sell variable speed as a "one size fits all" is misleading the customer. Sorry for the rant.this is obviously a subject Im passionate about in my profession and I feel homeowners and industry insiders need to understand the truths about variable speed technology before falling prey to an industry that is not regulated. We are all consumers and like to base our decisions on values and truths about the products we are paying hard earned money for. Timcsi Thanks for hanging on here with us and hope this helps shine a light on the truths of variable speed technology that you were after. Would you happen to know what size your pipes are going into and out of the existing pump. Also, how far is the pump from the pool and what kind of filter do you have (model number and mfg. if available). Are there any other water features, such as jets, slides, waterfall, heaters, etc. that are currently using the existing pump for their water flow. Sorry for all the questions and this information will be handy to make recommendations for pump options for your pool. Hope this helps!

Either of those is a good filter. But I'd definitely recommend a backwash valve. It makes maintenance much, much easier. If you don't get one, you'll need to disassemble the filter every time it needs cleaning. Dirty, messy job. If you do get a backwash valve, the 4000's rotary valve has a lot less head loss than the piston valve usually sold with the FNS+. Head loss is important because more head loss means less water being pumped, lower efficiency, louder pump, etc. The loss on a piston valve can be as high as 10-15 percent of total loss, maybe 6-9 ft. of head loss. Very significant. A rotary valve can be more like 1-2 ft. of loss. Anyway, Pentair makes quality stuff and backs up their products well. Hope this helps. Here is a link that might be useful: poolnerd.com -- free pool construction/design info