Intermatic Timer Clock Replacement: 120V T101R201

[MorningStar]

Hi,

I am looking for a little help. Im not sure if this timer is wired for the pump or just the light. I remember it working intermittently for the pump. Anyways, see the pic for the wiring diagram. The primary control desired is for the pump. The light doesn’t seem to work so I don’t care if that is off the circuit. I need to know if it should be wired to “A” and “1” to control the pump? Just don’t want to fry the replacement motor…it may not even need the replacement if it’s not currently wired for the pump. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Jimrahbe]

M,

Let me start off by saying you have the biggest 'cluster' I have ever seen...

I 'think' I know how it basically works, but I can't be absolutely sure..

It appears to me that your light circuit is not connected to the timer at all.. Except that it sends a constant 120 volts to the clock motor.. I assume the conduit on the left is going to your light circuit.

A is Neutral connection
Pin 1 is your Line in (Hot 120 volts) to the Timer... Blue(1) wire from the left conduit.
Pin 2 is your Load out and goes to 2 loads.. Blue(2) and Red wires for your main pump and your booster pump.. No way for me to tell which color wire goes where..
Pin 2 is also connected to your Fireman's Switch Circuit via a black wire going to a microswitch that opens the circuit when the timer is manually turned off. This circuit provides AC power to the pump when the heater switch is turned on. This AC power comes in on the Blue(3) wire from the left conduit to a wire nut and then a black wire to the microswitch.

This all assumes that your pump is being run off of 120 volts AC.

All that said, I am not sure of your question.. " I need to know if it should be wired to “A” and “1” to control the pump?"

What is it???

Inside the timer in your pic, the hot side of the pump is connected to pin 2.
The Neutral for the pump is not currently being provide by the timer.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[MorningStar]

Jim,

Thanks for the help. Yes, 120V. My main purpose is to get the timer clock working again. I tried two things: 1) I moved the hot lead of the clock to pin 1 “line” and capped the hot lead from the “light outlet”. Upon resetting the breakers, the booster pump breaker remained tripped. Next, 2) I replaced the motor with the original circuit/wiring and the clock is not running but everything else works as before. Also, there are 3 feed cables in from the house wall, but only two breakers marked in the sun-panel inside: 1) pump 2) booster pump. Boy, this is frustrating. Maybe I need to investigate the GFI / box wiring/ circuit. I’m surprised they send power to the clock from there…

Update: there is no power from the wall to the GFI. Also, I don’t understand the reason the clock is being wired from the GFI. I don’t have any more ideas.

 

[Jimrahbe]

M,

Do you have a voltmeter??

As a quick test, please plug a drill, or light, into the GFCI outlet for the pool light and tell me if it work or not.. If not, try to reset the GFCI outlet

You are trying to troubleshoot several problems at the same time. I suggest that you pick one and get it fixed before moving on to a new problem.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[MorningStar]

I understand, but they have these tied together so I have to work backwards. I used an outlet tester- outlet is off. Used a voltmeter on the white and black wires to the outlet- no voltage.

So in order to get the clock working, what do you think about this diagram (add pink line)… (just remove the light wiring/circuit completely…

 

[Jimrahbe]

M,

The pic is too small for me to see...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[MorningStar]

 

[Jimrahbe]

M,

That is how the clock motor should have been wired to begin with..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[MorningStar]

Thanks for all the help Jim! I got it hooked up and it works, however the plate the motor is attached to is very hot. I checked after 30 minutes. It is spinning in the correct direction. Maybe I need to swap the motor leads? I turned the breakers off for now.

 

[Jimrahbe]

M,

The leads are bidirectional.. it does not matter.. The motor needs to be mounted because it used the chassis as a heat sink.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[MorningStar]

Jim,

That's what I figured but I've seen some diagrams with them switched, so I thought just maybe that could be the issue. Thanks for confirming the bi-directional operation and heat sink. I checked on a separate indoor timer and the plate was a little warm (maybe 10 deg F above ambient).

So... yesterday I used a 16 AWG Al braided wire on the neutral (A on the timer) because I was having difficulty finding my copper supplies. This morning, I switched out to a 12 AWG solid copper wire as I thought the thinner wire may be causing the heat. It was running with a little bit of warmness (typical). However, I checked again in 30 minutes and the motor had stopped moving with the plate a little warm. I checked again 30 minutes later and the plate was at ambient.

Thanks for the help again. I thought this would be a simple swap, but it's just not going well. I don't have any more ideas to get it operational. I guess time to give up or call in an electrician.

 

[Jimrahbe]

M,

Did you replace the whole timer or just the motor??

Motors can go bad, but the mechanism as a whole can also go bad, where it takes too much effort from the motor to turn things..

From my point of view when things are very old it is often smarter to replace the whole thing (Timer) vs. trying to repair it.

I really doubt that the electricity, that is powering the motor, is somehow 'bad' and causing the issue.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[wireform]

Your wasting energy for no reason. They start having problems you speak of is when you move forward and buy a replacement mechanism. Linked below is what you have. Save the electrician fees and go it yourself. Cut the power to the timer via the circuit breaker, have the new one close and just move the wires over to the new to the same location, then call it done. The one I linked has the mounting holes for the fireman's switch but doesn't come with one. You just unscrew from the old one and fits in the same place on the new. I just did several this way in the past few weeks as it's a no brainer to just transfer over from old to new.

Amazon.com

a.co

The red circles are where you mount the fireman's switch.

 

[TinFoilHat]

Just a warning here, if you replace the timer get the correct matching voltage, 120 or 240, that the timer runs on. My experience is that it's easy to get the wrong one.

 

[MorningStar]

Jim/Wireform,
Thanks for the support guys! I'll have to pick this up in 2 weeks as I'm leaving for Australia tomorrow. I'll look into testing the motors to see if they are functional and also a replacement timer mechanism to try when I get back. I'll let you know how it goes. I appreciate it!

TinFoilHat,
Yes, 120V. I checked with Intermatic as well and they said the clock timer replacement is WG430-20 (Still has WG430-3 printed on the back, same as the old one.) Just to note - I don't know the difference between WG1570 but I found a review on Amazon saying it will not work for a T101

Intermatic T100 series timers/ with parts, manuals and wiring

Intermatic T100 series timers/ with parts, manuals and wiring

waterheatertimer.org