Pentair 011018 Pump Question

[bedelliott]

I'm adding a salt cell to my pool plumbing and my pump doesn't have a relay so I can't wire the salt cell to my pump (to come on/off when the pump does). Currently I use the pump's scheduling functionality to turn it off/on, but does anyone know if I can wire my pump to an external timer so that when the timer comes on the pump will know to come on? If so, how would I do this, what would I do with the pump's scheduling stuff to keep it always "on" so that the timer would kick it on? I understand I might want to start running everything 24/7 for a few different reasons, and I'm open to doing that, but half of this is trying not to depend on the flow switch to keep the cell off if the pump didn't come on for some reason. If both were activated by the same timer, even if I run it 24/7, then it seems like a safer approach. I'd love anyone's thoughts please! PS: I'm installing the CircuPool RJ-60+.

 

[PoolStored]

Read the following, starting at the bolded section (next line, I think 1.4), there are several solution. I went with the current sensing relay.

SWG Cell Should Not be Powered When Pump is Off​

SWG How It Works - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[PoolStored]

Without automation, current sensing relay is the safest, because if the power is "on" to the pump, but the pump is not running, the CSR will absolutely cut the power to the cell (my opinion).

 

[bedelliott]

Without automation, current sensing relay is the safest, because if the power is "on" to the pump, but the pump is not running, the CSR will absolutely cut the power to the cell (my opinion).

If I plan to run mine 24/7, maybe I should leave my pump alone & program it to run 24/7 and wire this SWG into this Intermatic timer I have that was previously used for my Polaris booster pump (and tell it to run 24/7 as well). It seems that I'd have zero risk that my SWG could be on without my pump being on (true?), so if that's true, how would a CSR be a safer solution?

 

[PoolStored]

From the wiki article:

This can become a problem when house power is lost, and the pump retains the proper time while the mechanical timer does not.

My opinion...by using a timer, you are assuming the pump is FLOWING. I see pumps fail all the time for many reasons. If the pump stops, you don't know it. With the CSR, the lack of current (pump not running), it will turn off the SWG.

 

[bedelliott]

From the wiki article:

This can become a problem when house power is lost, and the pump retains the proper time while the mechanical timer does not.

My opinion...by using a timer, you are assuming the pump is FLOWING. I see pumps fail all the time for many reasons. If the pump stops, you don't know it. With the CSR, the lack of current (pump not running), it will turn off the SWG.

Regarding the wiki, if my pump & timer get out of sync time-wise that shouldn't matter (I would think) because both would be set to run 24/7. I see your point about the pump failing completely, that's a possibility...