New timer for my stenner

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tripletrouble

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Jun 11, 2013
7
New Jersey
I Just got this new timer to control my stenner, http://www.amazon.com/50049-Outdoor-Outlet-Wireless-Programmable/dp/B00ZYLQZEK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1461022983&sr=8-2&keywords=wion
I have had this for a week just testing to see if it works. Pool isn't open yet so i just have it plugged in outside with a light plugged into it. So far it seems like its going to work good. Hasn't lost its wifi signal in a week. I have tried to simulate any problems that might happen like power loss and wifi disconnect and once everything is back on it connects back up. The only thing i observed is if it looses power while it is on it doesn't turn the switch back on when power is restored. But, you can turn it on from the app and it will turn off when the timer completes. The app is very basic and easy to use, timer has 1 min resolution and can pick individual days of the week or all days. It has a feature which allows it to connect to the cloud and you can control it from anywhere on the internet. I am always paranoid about things on my network that connect to the outside world on their own. Did a packet capture of it's connection and it connects to (210-71-198-37.HINET-IP.hinet.net) which is a server in Taiwan. Seems like it just uses that to relay the apps connection across the internet. Still looking into what else it is doing. I did notice even with cloud connect turned off it still tries to connect to the server, just not as frequent. I will update this if i find any problems with it, but so far it looks good:D
 
Just wanted to update on the Wion timer. It's been working great so far. I really like the countdown timer. You can create a one time countdown timer that doesn't affect the daily timers. For when you have a heavy bather load.

One problem I am having, thats not related to the timer, is my usage has gone up from last year. I am running it about 2 hours 15 min. a day just to maintain 5ppm. All other years I was at about 45 min. a day. I did replace my tube in the stenner and I thought I put the wrong size in. But, I have triple checked it and it is the same as before. Also, my chlorine level is droping fast in the tank. So my new theory is that where I bought the chlorine from had it laying around from last year and it degraded. It's supposed to be 12.5% and I asked them if it was fresh and they said they send the old stuff from last year back to the factory so all of it they just got in. I've been buying from them for the last 3 years and never had a problem before but who knows. I'll be buying more next week so I will see if anything changes.
 
tripletrouble said:
Just wanted to update on the Wion timer. It's been working great so far. I really like the countdown timer. You can create a one time countdown timer that doesn't affect the daily timers. For when you have a heavy bather load.

One problem I am having, thats not related to the timer, is my usage has gone up from last year. I am running it about 2 hours 15 min. a day just to maintain 5ppm. All other years I was at about 45 min. a day. I did replace my tube in the stenner and I thought I put the wrong size in. But, I have triple checked it and it is the same as before. Also, my chlorine level is droping fast in the tank. So my new theory is that where I bought the chlorine from had it laying around from last year and it degraded. It's supposed to be 12.5% and I asked them if it was fresh and they said they send the old stuff from last year back to the factory so all of it they just got in. I've been buying from them for the last 3 years and never had a problem before but who knows. I'll be buying more next week so I will see if anything changes.
Click to expand...

Is there a possiblity you have something growing? Have you checked your CC levels lately? We have had alot of rain in Houston these last couple months and noticed my CYA was going way down and causing me to use more chlorine. Brought CYA back to 45 and now have been able to maintain my 5.5ppm FC and also turn my Stenner pump down!
 
I'm using almost 4 times as much chlorine as other years. My c=4.5ppm cc= 0ppm, OCLT= 1ppm, CYA= 30ppm and borate= 50ppm just checked this morning. I am going to bump up may CYA to 40 or 45. Water looks good. I think i read on here someone had a way to check chlorine level by diluting it and testing. Maybe I'll try that just to see. I'm really thinking they sold me old stock. I will find out soon when I get more or if my test is successful.
 
About the timer, I'm always leery of anything that connects to the web. How "chatty" is it with the server(s) in Taiwan, and can your timer's location be pinpointed via MAC address or some other metric? Can usage patterns be read to determine whether you are away on vacation? Can the server operators, outside of US law, sell this data to some 3rd party who would find the information useful? The mere fact that you own one of these already says something about you: You like high tech toys and you probably have a houseful of similar cool stuff. Paranoid? Maybe. I work for an agency that sees thousands of web based attacks every day. It's a multi-billion dollar business. Just be aware that it's technically possible to build up extensive profiles of people and households via innocent web enabled devices like these.
 
I use two of these Z-wave relays to control my pool pump and the Stenner pump.
https://www.amazon.com/GoControl-Z-Wave-Isolated-Contact-Fixture/dp/B00ER6MH22/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1465564603&sr=8-2&keywords=z-wave+relay

If I had found a WiFi switch that could handle the pool pump load I would have gone that route. I have not had it working that long and if I find it is not reliable, I will jury rig a wifi switch to handle more current with a relay or something.

The problem I have is that my pool equipment is located at the far corner of the yard and there wifi and z-wave signal are not that great out there.
 
Requarding security no doubt there is potential for intrusion or unwanted data colection but there is a fair amount of ananimity due to the shere voulme of devices being added to networks. Can you be singled out and monitored sure but someone needs to have a reason to do so first, right now most of us are grains of sand on a beach. I am lucky enough to be able to have an internet connection for computing and personal communication purposes and a seprate one for the "internet of thigs" Thermostats, Garage door opener, Pool, Sterio Solar electric system ect. If any of my devices were to be tracked the IP would show up as one of 20,000 other customers serving 1/3 of my city, even someone who has access to the router I am on could only narrow it down to my neghiborhood, it would literly take boots on the ground to find me.

I never register these type of devices with my real name, address, or username I would normaly use for things like banking. For those who are not lucky enough to have a totaly seperate network there are routers avilble that have seprate firewall setings for Home user vs Guest. Putting your thermostat lights or pool on the guest network provides a measure of protection. Not perfect but cyber security can be like other forms of personal security if you are doing what you can and others around your are doing nothing the criminals will usualy go after the low hanging fruit first.
 

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Sorry took so long to reply, been very busy.

I was able to block my wion switch from the internet. I use a pfsense hardware firewall and was able to confirm it could not "phone home". Everything still worked even without it connecting. Only thing is you can't access it away from home, obviously. It is very chatty when connected, sending small amounts of data about 10 times a minute. Not too worried about some hacker knowing when i add chlorine to my pool :D.

Also, bill1974 they do make a timer for the pump. It is a WiOn 50054 Outdoor Wi-Fi Smart Box. It has a small antenna and should get a better wifi signal. I was thinking of getting one to replace my mechanical intermatic.
 
I just installed a WiOn 50054 for my Stenner pump. I had previously used a Grasslin by Intermatic:

Amazon.com: Grasslin by Intermatic GM40AV 24-Hour Electromechanical, 40A, SPDT/DPDT, Auto-Voltage, NEMA 3R Outdoor Plastic Enclosure: Home Improvement

but it died after less than one year. I liked the Intermatic because it has 15-minute toggle switches. I run my Stenner 45 minutes per day. If the chlorine drifted up or down, or I had a heavy bather load, it was easy to tweak the runtime by flipping a toggle or two.

As to the WiOn . . . .

Installation was easy, pretty much the same as an Intermatic. The build seems sturdier, especially compared to the Grasslin. The terminals are covered with flip-up, clear plastic covers, which feels safer. The bottom half of the unit has a removable plastic cover, which covers all of the terminals and the cable port. It is held on by two screws, which makes it more of a pain to remove than the Grasslin cover, which just clipped in place, but hopefully it won't need removal very often.

There is a physical power button on the box, which toggles the power regardless of the timer settings. After installing the box, but before connecting to it via WiFi, I manually toggled the power button. Worked just fine.

WiFi connection was easy. Select the box as your network, give it your home network's password, then wait for it to connect. Mine wouldn't connect the first time and I had to reset the WiOn (hold down the power switch while using a paperclip to press the reset button). The second time the connection went smoothly. It may be because I tried the first time from an iPad - the app is iPhone only (it runs on an iPad, but it is not universal).

Setting timers is simple with the app. I started by setting a countdown timer for one minute. Give it a date, a start time, and an end time. That worked just fine. The app keeps the timer, so you can run it again by giving it a new date.

Setting a schedule, called a programmable timer, is similar. Give it a start time, an end time, and then select the days of the week you want it to run. Since I just installed the timer tonight, the schedule hasn't run yet.

There are three other times that probably won't be much use for pool equipment: astronomic timer (sunrise and sunset), vacation random, and security random.

So, my initial impression is good. My equipment is located under a deck, so being able to control it remotely is a lot more convenient. I also get finer control over run times. I'll try to post an update after I have time to observe how it runs under the schedule timer.

And there is a software power button, which works the same way as the physical power button.
 
My pool is 24k gallons. The only drawback with the stenner setup is you still have to find and lug around chlorine. I have a 15 gal. tank that usually last about 1.5 months. My ph likes to stay around 7.6 if i drop it to 7.2 in a week it goes back to 7.6 and stays there. I am back to dosing 45 min. a day since i got 15 more gallons last week.
 
Not sure what happened, but I just checked my pool and found no FC. I opened my phone and there were none of my WiOn devices being shown. Seems no FC was injected for at least a day or so. I rebooted my WiFi server and now all is well. The pool still looks good. This is just a data point. I'll keep an eye on this.
 
JayG said:
Not sure what happened, but I just checked my pool and found no FC. I opened my phone and there were none of my WiOn devices being shown. Seems no FC was injected for at least a day or so. I rebooted my WiFi server and now all is well. The pool still looks good. This is just a data point. I'll keep an eye on this.
Click to expand...

That's a bummer. I've actually been manually dosing my pool the last few days as I tested something else. But my timers are still set up, so I guess it wasn't a system wide thing. I shall be keeping an eye on mine now too though.
 
BTW, I am also running the Woods wion timer on my Stenner and decided to perform a test in anticipation for using it in a more critical non-pool application. The test was to see if, when coming back from a power outage without access to wifi the device would operate utilizing the timer. Unfortunately, it failed to operate its timer as it seemed to be stuck in a "where's my wifi" loop instead. While I could engage the relay by pushing the button, as long as it hadn't yet connected to wifi, the programmed timer remained not functional.

I can live with this failsafe behavior on the chlorine doser, but not for more critical applications which need to restore their state after a power loss with the assumption that wifi may not be available upon resumption of power. Interestingly, this also implies that one cannot "program" the timer and then move the device out of the wifi range to operate.

Anyway, it's a great little box, but it's not perfect.
 
I'm looking to buy the WiOn 50049 Outdoor to control my stenner. Are you running an extension cord or was there an open outlet to power this device next to your filter?

I'm attaching a pic of my setup in case anyone has a recommendation on where best to get power.
 

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