Replacing old Intermatic timer

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Flboy44

Well-known member
Jan 30, 2022
129
Central Florida
Pool Size
12000
Surface
Fiberglass
My timer(1998) only runs the SWG. I am no longer trusting it because of several glitches. In replacing it, I have heard the mechanical timers are still more reliable than the digital ones! And I see they have dropped in price, a lot! Amazon, from $150, now $70. Stay mech?
Or even better alternatives now?
 
i'm the other half of those conversations @Rancho Cost-a-Lotta just linked to, and i can vouch for the sonoff. i just changed my intermatic timer for a sonoff R2 basic on sunday...it was a (relatively) easy swap (i had some pump wiring in there that i had to get some advice on first), but it has been running since sunday night and has been good so far. as was mentioned there, one thing to watch out for is your wifi signal inside the box - i had to move one of our access points to the kitchen (directly on the other side of the wall from the pool pad) to get the sonoff to stay connected with the box closed.

i flashed mine with tasmota, which isn't necessary but IMO makes it easier to control things, as scheduling is built into the firmware. i set up four timers on mine...on at 6am, off at noon, on at 9pm, off at 11pm (which corresponds with the times my pump is on). so far, so good.
 
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The Amazon reviews are a bit sketchy on those units. Also, a digital unit, Dewenwils is iffy!
The reliance on solid wifi is a red flag for me!
The price of the digital Intermatic is a bit higher than I want, especially if I get my kids to buy the house. I am sure they would go fully automation in short order!
So that may be putting me back into a mechanical unit!
 
Flboy44 said:
The Amazon reviews are a bit sketchy on those units. Also, a digital unit, Dewenwils is iffy!
The reliance on solid wifi is a red flag for me!
The price of the digital Intermatic is a bit higher than I want, especially if I get my kids to buy the house. I am sure they would go fully automation in short order!
So that may be putting me back into a mechanical unit!
Click to expand...

from what i've read, they only require wifi at boot. once it boots and gets the time from the internet (based on the timezone you configure), the timers are run on the switch itself...your only potential issue there would be on a power outage, if it can't reconnect to wifi to reset the internal clock. it only needs solid wifi at all times if you want to be able to control it remotely at any time, vs just wanting the timers to run on the switch itself to turn the SWG on and off. this is of course with tasmota, i'm not sure how the OEM sonoff firmware operates (it may be different).

i haven't tested it yet, but that's the gist of what i've gotten from my reading. that being said, you could always get yourself a plastic box rather than just putting the sonoff inside the metal box like i did. when i open the door to the box, it had no issue connecting to any of the APs in my house that are quite a bit far away...it just had an issue staying connected with the door closed. a RF neutral box for the switch itself would solve that issue.

keep in mind of course that if you're going to go back to a mechanical unit, you're always at the mercy of power outages screwing up the clock and no automated DST changes (which is what led me to want to go digital and then to the wifi switch in the first place).
 
Flboy44 said:
Ugg, per info, it stores everything in the cloud! Florida house, masonry walls and metal studs! So wifi coverage is a joy to manage.
Click to expand...

that's the advantage to flashing it with tasmota, it takes the cloud out of the equation. it literally just gives you a local webpage that looks like this, and you can configure the timers from here...you just have to give it an internet connection to configure the actual time and then at every boot (after a power outage, for example)...at least that's how i understand it.
 

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crackers8199 said:
that's the advantage to flashing it with tasmota, it takes the cloud out of the equation. it literally just gives you a local webpage that looks like this, and you can configure the timers from here...you just have to give it an internet connection to configure the actual time and then at every boot (after a power outage, for example)...at least that's how i understand it.
Click to expand...
From my reading, it has to be at least on a lan! It has no ability to maintain a schedule on it’s own.
 
Flboy44 said:
From my reading, it has to be at least on a lan! It has no ability to maintain a schedule on it’s own.
Click to expand...

with tasmota or the OEM firmware?

either way, you could probably pretty easily solve this by either adding an AP outside or close to it (like i did) or by putting the switch in a plastic box that doesn't cut the signal when closed. if you don't want to do either of those options, then the sonoff probably isn't an option for you...but that comes with other problems like we discussed earlier (no clock sync on power outages, no automatic DST changes, etc).

it's just a question of which problems do you want to deal with? for me, it was a no brainer - getting wifi to the switch was a one time fix vs keeping the intermatic timer out there and having to mess with it multiple times a year when the clock gets out of sync.
 
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also, another thing to consider: if you get another access point to get wifi out to the switch, you're also getting an extra benefit out of that (as in a stronger wifi signal you can better use while outside). since the sonoff switch is 1/10th the cost of a new intermatic timer, you could probably get a cheap wifi AP and still come out ahead plus have that added benefit, rather than spending more on a timer that is only going to control the SWG and do nothing else.
 
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From my searches, it appears I am looking at
crackers8199 said:
with tasmota or the OEM firmware?

either way, you could probably pretty easily solve this by either adding an AP outside or close to it (like i did) or by putting the switch in a plastic box that doesn't cut the signal when closed. if you don't want to do either of those options, then the sonoff probably isn't an option for you...but that comes with other problems like we discussed earlier (no clock sync on power outages, no automatic DST changes, etc).

it's just a question of which problems do you want to deal with? for me, it was a no brainer - getting wifi to the switch was a one time fix vs keeping the intermatic timer out there and having to mess with it multiple times a year when the clock gets out of sync.
Click to expand...
I would say, investigating a standalone access point is an option.
Otherwise, I see there are several digital timers that have an acceptable price point.
 
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I really need to step back and revisit my objectives! #1, not having my new SWG’s control relying on a flimsy flow switch. #2 not having the SWG running with direct sun on it. A plus would be providing protection to the entire equipment pad!
 
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