Need Help with Timer Purchase

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mickey4paws

mickey4paws

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Apr 10, 2009
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S.E. MI
I hope I'm posting this in the right place. Anyway, I am buying a timer for my pump and I also have a SWG, and had a couple questions. First, I understand there are ones for a 110 line and a 220 line. I'm not sure which I have for my pump. Unfortunately, my breaker box is not labeled for the 2 breakers that have the double bars (which I'm told would indicate a 220 line) so I'm going to turn on the pump and see which breaker it is. But in the meantime, I understand Intermatic is a good make to get. What does single pole versus double pole mean? Should I look for one that also turns off the heater 20 min before the pump? Is that really necesary? Here's what the site says:

"This two circuit switch is designed to turn off a gas fired swimming pool heater approximately 20 minutes before the filter pump shuts down. Eliminates the problem of pounding and knocking due to overheated water, reduces scale and lime deposits and extends the service life of the heater."

I will love a digital timer but can't afford one right now so it will have to be mechanical. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. These were a couple I was loooking at:

http://www.aquasuperstore.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=357
 
The Intermatic T100 series is a great choice.

Some gas heaters absolutely require being turned off a little early, some don't care at all, and many are in the middle, where it will almost always work if you don't turn it off early but all around it is better if you do turn off early. If the heater manual says that you need a fireman switch then you should get the timer that says it turns the heater off early. If the heater manual doesn't say that then you can nearly always get away without it, though it can extend the life of the heater as they say.

You shouldn't need to worry about single pole versus double pole, get the timer for the voltage you are using. Technically, single pole means it switches one wire, and double pole means that it switches two wires at the same time.
 
Thanks so much for the reply, Jason. This is what I found out this morning: We have a main panel that has a 220 switch that controls a subpanel. The pool pump is controlled by the subpanel. The switch that controls the pool pump only has one bar and says "20" on the switch itself. So, this sound like a 110 line, correct?

Our heater is really, really old. In fact, for the past 3 years we've been told it needed to be replaced, but managed to get another season out of it every year. So it is on its last legs for sure. All it has to control it is a manual switch on the heater so I'm not sure how that would work with a timer. But since we're going to be getting a new heater in the near future, maybe having the timer with the feature to turn off the heater early would be good to have. What we usually do is the last person out of the pool just turns the heater off, and this is most always at least an hour before we'd turn off the pump. We don't leave the heater on all the time.

Regarding this statement: Technically, single pole means it switches one wire, and double pole means that it switches two wires at the same time.
The Intermatic T100 series is a great choice.

Some gas heaters absolutely require being turned off a little early, some don't care at all, and many are in the middle, where it will almost always work if you don't turn it off early but all around it is better if you do turn off early. If the heater manual says that you need a fireman switch then you should get the timer that says it turns the heater off early. If the heater manual doesn't say that then you can nearly always get away without it, though it can extend the life of the heater as they say.

You shouldn't need to worry about single pole versus double pole, get the timer for the voltage you are using. Technically, single pole means it switches one wire, and double pole means that it switches two wires at the same time."

We are having our salt water generator installed the same time as the timer. So I am assuming the SWG also gets connected to the timer? Or, does it just get connected to the pump? If it does get connected to the timer, then wouldn't I need the double pole?
 
The SWG gets connected to the timer in exactly the same place that the pump is connected, it does not need it's own pole. As I said before, get the timer for the voltage you are using, and don't worry about single pole vs double pole.

If the heater doesn't have a thermostat, then connecting it to the timer is not as useful. Still, it is nice to guarantee that the heater never goes on when the pump is off, just incase you leave the heater on by accident.
 
Thanks, Jason, I really appreciate it.

Edit: I bought the T101P3. Got a really good price on it too.

I found the manual for my heater and it says it has a millivolt system and says the heater will shut off when the filter system shuts off, so it looks like the heater won't run without the filter and pump running. But like I said before, this heater is on it's last legs. I'm crossing my fingers we make it through another season.
 
Those look nice, Meatloaf. Too late though because I already bought the Intermatic T101P3. I found a brand new one on Fleabay for $49 plus shipping so decided to get it. At least if I ever decide to upgrade in the future, I will have the enclosure for the tightwat :)
 
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