Got my timer all out of whack...

[lindz18]

During all these drains and refills I have been manually turning off my pump back and forth. Well, of course now my time is off because I shut it off by the breaker when I was between refills to make for certain it didn't come back on while not water was in the skimmers. So, last night I pulled the dial out and reset my time. My pump usually goes off around 7pm and it was nearly 8pm. I reset my time but then my pump was still running because I had manually turned it on late to clean my pool after its normal 7pm shut down. Well, to turn it off I had to flip the silver lever of course. I guess what I am saying is will it come back on with the timer with the lever flipped off??? I won't know until 11 am today. I honestly have never payed attention to if the timer mechanically flip that lever on and off or if there is something internal that shuts off while on the timer. I even pulled my dial out last night and changed my time to about 6:45 and let it run to see if it went off correctly at 7pm and it didn't. Confused here... While we are on this subject, pool run time advice would be greatly appreciated. I have read the article about it and here is what my situation is and what I come up with...

My pool is in the shade early morning from about sunrise to 9-10 am. Then, sun beats down all day until about 5pm it is in the shade until sunset. There aren't trees close enough to deposit any leaves much. They are about 60 yards out. I have concrete all around of course and the sunroom is on one side of the pool, retaining wall on the other and sod/concrete close to ends of pool so there just really isn't much debris other than grit blowing in off the concrete and of course those bugs and the occasional frog that feels the desire to take the plunge. Right now it runs 11a-7p. Surely, I can reduce that time. I think it running from 5-7 is probably a waste... I still have to determine how well my chlorine levels stay up however.

 

[Richard320]

Is your timer one of these?

When you start turning it on and off manually really close to the time it's programmed to do it, weird things can happen. But otherwise, those Intermatics are pretty much foolproof.

Eight hours is probably more than enough filter time. My pool survives on a mere three hours a day. You'll just have to experiment the way it says in Pool School and see what your pool likes. I'd set it up to start at least half an hour before you get home to do your testing. Then it's already mixed and you can test and dose it with no waiting.

 

[lindz18]

Is your timer one of these?

When you start turning it on and off manually really close to the time it's programmed to do it, weird things can happen. But otherwise, those Intermatics are pretty much foolproof.

Eight hours is probably more than enough filter time. My pool survives on a mere three hours a day. You'll just have to experiment the way it says in Pool School and see what your pool likes. I'd set it up to start at least half an hour before you get home to do your testing. Then it's already mixed and you can test and dose it with no waiting.

Yep, that's it ^^ Does the timer flip the lever on and off itself? I have the lever in the off position right now because that is the only way I knew how to turn it off last night when it should be off with the timer. That is where I was confused.

 

[Richard320]

Yep, that's it ^^ Does the timer flip the lever on and off itself? I have the lever in the off position right now because that is the only way I knew how to turn it off last night when it should be off with the timer. That is where I was confused.

When the little trippers go by, they flip the switch on or off. If you turn it on when it's past turning off, it'll stay on until the clock comes around again to the off time. It's very primitive, which is why it's generally so troublefree.

 

[lindz18]

So there's really nothing you can do if you turn it on/off after the timed off position? It is off right now, will it turn it on at 11?
And I edit the on/off time simply by moving the little needles? My instructions aren't inside the panel. Guess they came off somewhere down the line.

 

[Richard320]

So there's really nothing you can do if you turn it on/off after the timed off position? It is off right now, will it turn it on at 11?

If the "On" tripper is at 11:00, yes.

 

[jcowart]

Yes the on off will actually move the silver switch. If you manually turn it on after the off arm tripped, it will run until the off arm comes back around. If you manually turn it on then off it will trip when the on arm comes around. The issue is around 30 minutes of the arm trip. In that time the arm has made contact with the switch but not moved it. If you need to manually control it right then, you have to move the dial forward or backward. Just reset the time when your done. As said, they are manual and kinda fool proof.