There is no way to answer a question like what pressure should my system be? All systems are unique.

1. The water temp is not going to be a big deal. If you want to have it precise, heat the spa to 68+ and calibrate that way.

2. If your pump is set for a specific flow rate and you restrict flow by closing three valves, yes, it's going to increase pressure as it's trying to maintain something with less capacity. You need to find the optimum flow for those jets and attach a feature on the pump to run when you only use jets. You can expect the pump to run full tilt on pool mode and then change it to spa without consequence.

3. You have to know that manual has a flow and a set flow reading. Are you reading the actual flow or the set flow? Same for rpm. If you set rpm in manual, it will not give a flow. If you set a flow, you need to read actual flow. You'll know it's dialed in when you read the rpm and it levels out.

4. The heater will run on less than 30 gpm but set it around 42-45.

5. The salt will run at less than 25 w/o issue.

Is there anything besides flow restriction that can effect the pumps ability to calcualte and rev to a the proper GPM flow. (my pool is about 40 degrees and the pump only lets u set water temp to 68 can this have a dramatic effect?

Filter pressure %?

If you exceed 100% you are now pressure managed and not flow managed. The water temp setting has a minimal impact if none according to Productmanager

Well just went out and did some more tests.....i ran a backwash cycle and it reset my filter to 0% i went and reset pool & filter data: set pool to 35k & filter on at 12:00am of at 11:59PM, started filter cycle pump primed and then went down to 1855 rpm burning 423 watts and it says 24 GPM and filter pressure is at 9.... does that sound right? i have 3 2" suction lines fully opened and 2 2" return lines fully open... my GPM data is way off from what i have seen on here how can that be?

25 gpm on the smaller pipes usually is under 1500 rpm and under 300 watts. Those numbers don't add up. First, don't look at the numbers until the cycle starts the next day. I've found the pump will seem to want to play catch up if you program and then turn it on in the middle of it's cycle.

You're not programmed right with those numbers. 35K in 12 hours is 2916 per hour or 49gpm. That is not the conservation utility companies are looking for. Don't pay too much attention to what the flow is saying right now. Set the pump to what is a saving mode in terms of gpm. With 35k you are on the high side of running one pump. Most will install two when approaching 40k. To maintain 30gpm you would need to run 19.5 hours. Yes, it's a lot, but it will still save a ton. You can shorten that by not filtering the entire volume of the pool daily which is not always needed.

At those levels, you'll be under 300 watts.

Hey i think u might have misread....i set it for 24 hour run time thats how it figured 24 gpm......

I went and did some more tests:

Manual mode "set flow"

set Flow to:

GPM RPM Watts Filter Pressure
15 1545 258 6
20 1675 315 6-7
25 1875 427 7
30 1955 500 8-9
35 2080 600 10
40 2170 685 11-12
45 2265 775 13
50 2355 887 15

All of the above tested with 4 2" suction lines wide open and 3 2" return lines 1 of em being a pipe stubbed up for waterfall not hooked up

when i closed some this resulted at 50 GPM test
1 2" waterfall return closed
50 gpm 2370 900 15

when i clsoed a suction line
50 gpm 2400 926 15

when i clsoed 2 suction lines
50 gpm 2435 956 15

Is there anyway i can test the flow to see if this thign is setting itself right?

So, 3 2" returns and one stubbed off according to your post...

If you have only 2 returns of course you will have a higher load on the pump at any gpm. You're a couple of hundered watts and a few hundred rpm higher than most jobs I see but with 2 returns, I'd expect that. Closing suction lines is not going to make any difference.

If you're at 35k and running 24 hours, ???, and it's reading 24 gpm, it's dead on. What are you looking to confirm? The gpm is right, the watts and rpm are the result of your system. Small filter?, dirty filter?

I'm looking at your original post. The question is...
"I notice when i turn all of the return valves off except for the 3 jets the pressure builds considerably and the pump wants to ramp up in rpm.....if i open the deep return it drops right away as its relieving pressure but my flow from the return jets dies. So my questionis what shoudl my filter pressure be if im using my return jets by themselves? Should I try to increase/decrease rpm untill opt pressure? I noticed with 2 skimmer valves opened fully it didnt matter if i opened main drain and/or suction cleaner valve."

If you set a flow of 55gpm on your pump, it will try to maintain that in any mode you set. That is not necessarily the most efficient. If you want efficient spa jets, go to manual, set a base of 50gpm. Look at the rpm and pressure on the tank. Continue to increase flow u ntil rpm just hits 3400 or the psi is at or about 20-22. That would be an optimum MAX flow. Any more gpm than that (which the pump can do) is a waste. Optimum for filtration is just the opposite. Set it to 35 and go down while monitoring skimmer action, sweep needs, etc. That would be you desired low gpm. Multiply that by 60 and divide 35k by that. You now have you hours of run time. If you run a feature for a sweep or waterfall, calculate those gallons and subtract from 35k. The remainder is divided from that filter gpm and you now have a revised hours of operation.

Jet return should not be an issue as your in pool mode. You don't need major flow there unless you're in spa mode.

How much restriction/load does the heater and salt gen cell put on the flow? Is it worth plumbing a bypass around the heater when its not in use?

"4. The heater will run on less than 30 gpm but set it around 42-45."

Typically you want 1 gpm per every 100k btu's so teh 42-45 is correct, the 30 gpm is too small.

It's always good to give yourself a buffer incase of bypass valve failure, so I would run the heater at 50gpm.

that didn't answer my question....lol

"How much restriction/load does the heater and salt gen cell put on the flow? Is it worth plumbing a bypass around the heater when its not in use?"

Depends on the heater, and salt cell, but I really coudlnt see it being worth the time. Since the salt cell and heater are off, the flow requirements will be lower, and at a lower flow rate the friction loss (head) will be lessened.

You are also asking for trouble when you completely bypass a heater because there is a possibility that it could become active without any flow going through it. You could rememedy this problem w/ a flow switch and psi release valve, but I wouldn't its not worth the trouble or headache.

Thanx, question answered.....

I am wondering how the hell that pentair cost calculator comes up with its #'s because in no way are mine even near the same.

A 35k pool turned over once in 16 hours at a rate of .25KW is 90 cents a day.....lol that would mean its using 250 watts at 36 GPM.....at 36 GPM im using more than double the wattage....can i swap pumps please?