Electrical wiring help needed for install of new equipment

[vinnie]

First - Thank you to everyone that has helped me so far. I finally ordered all of my new equipment and it is starting to come in piece by piece. I took a look for the first time at what's inside my pool panel and need some help to figure out what I need to do to get everything hooked up correctly. I have a Intermatic T32404R which is a 100amp panel with two time clocks. One of which has something called a fireman's switch which is being run to my Raypak natural gas heater. I can't find any sort of installation manual that helps me online.

Each timer has 5 terminals. The first has the letter "A" then there is a Line, Load, Line and Load.

I have a two pole 50 amp breaker in the house that powers the pool panel. I see where the power comes into the middle of the panel. Then I have one two pole breaker in the pool panel which each side is running into one of the line terminals in the first time clock. Then out of the load size of that same clock there are connections going to the main pump and connections that go over to the two line terminals of the other clock. Out of the load side of the second clock are connections going to the booster pump. Also coming out of that 2 pole breaker are connections going to the heater. There is also a small wire going from the heater to that fireman's switch. There is also another breaker in that panel that is running to a GFI under the panel. Lastly there is a GFI breaker that is going out to two conduits which i'm assuming are running to my lights.

So - My question is how should I connect my new equipment. The new equipment being an Intelliflo VF which is replacing the current pump. An Autopilot Digital which will be a new piece of equipment, I don't have a SWG currently. The booster pump I don't use but I'd like to keep hooked up just incase of emergency.

With the help of everyone I know I'll more then likely be hard wiring the Intelliflo and bypassing the timers. I'll be doing the same for the Autopilot and that will turn on with the flow switch built into it.

Should I run the Intelliflo, the Autopilot and the booster pump right to that 2 pole breaker and just disconnect everything going to the timers??

What do I need to do with that fireman's switch if I'm not using the timers anymore? Will the heater work like normal if I leave it hooked up or do I need to do something with it?

 

[JasonLion]

If you aren't already familiar enough with electrical wiring to figure this out quickly and easily on your own, it is best to hire an electrician. Working with high voltage wiring is dangerous. There are various mistakes you can make that could kill you right now, or kill other people in the future. It isn't that electrical wiring is really all that difficult, it is actually fairly simple, it is just that mistakes can be deadly. There simply isn't any way we can walk you through this part without there being a risk of missing something really really important.

When you are working on the plumbing, worst case is water gets on the lawn and you need to buy a new fitting. When you are working with 240 volts, worst case is you die.

 

[TizMe]

I agree with Jason.

I am deathly (excuse the pun) afraid of electricity ! When we put plugs on the deck of the pool I had my F-I-L come and do it because he is used to working with stuff like that.
Im sure I could figure it out but as Jason says one mistake and

Do yourself a favor and hire an expert !

 

[vinnie]

I'm not too worried about the electrical part as much as I am with this line going to the Fireman's switch. If I bypass the timers, what should I do with that wire from the fireman's switch that goes to the heater?

I work for an electrical distributor and have plenty of electrician buddies that will help out with making sure everything is done correctly with re-wiring the new equipment.

 

[JasonLion]

As with everything else, there are several different ways to wire the heater, none of them ideal. I would probably power it from the timer with the fireman switch and setup that timer to turn the heater on for some period that is shorter than the time you have the pump on.

This is another of those situations where the IntelliFlo would be way more useful if it had one relay, or even a low voltage "pump on" indicator output. They are trying to get you to buy one of their automation systems.

 

[vinnie]

I was reading over the manual for the Raypak. Looks as though it also has a flow meter like the Autopilot. Would it make sense to just hard wire the heater and bypass the timer altogether? Then the heater would cycle on and off as the pump came on and the flow meter did it's thing in the heater?

If that will work I think i'll need to disconnect that firemans switch and rewire it back in the control panel of the Raypak.

What do you think?

 

[JasonLion]

Depending on the flow sensor in the heater is not such a good idea. Flow sensors in heaters are not always all that reliable and the consequences of it failing are worse. A heater left running without flow will generally destroy it's self.

 

[vinnie]

Electrical connection for Heater

I have a 400k btu Raypak heater that is currently running off the same 2 pole 20amp breaker that is in my Intermatic panel that the timers / pump / subpump are running off of. I'm changing the pump out to an Intelliflo VF and adding an Autopilot Digital DIG60. I plan to bypass the timers and run the Intelliflo and Autopilot off that 2pole 20amp breaker.

Will I be ok keeping the heater wired to the same breaker or should I add a breaker?

And if I add a breaker should I stick with a 2 pole 20 or would I be better off changing the voltage over to 120 for the heater and just getting a single pole 20?

Thanks