Sunday project: wiring help needed for replacing intermatic timer

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Browse through the topics in TFP Wiki (link at the below under Quick Navigation). There are a few articles like this one:

Hayward Aquarite SWG - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[ajw22]

I see - are there links I can read that dive into the actual design of a SWG - the modules in it - the components and what each module does?

We don’t go into as much technical detail here as you are looking for.

The basic chemistry for chlorine generation using rare earth plates and electrolysis is the same across all manufacturers..

Pentair, Hayward, Jandy, and take different approaches with their control electronics. Although just about all the models in the USA vary the generation % by turning power to the cell plates on and off.

Australian and European manufacturers vary generation % by varying voltage with constant generation. Some of those models get imported here.

There are also different techniques for flow sensing with flow switches or gas traps.

You have to study the manuals for each device to get insights into their design. None of these are serviceable at the component levels and no maintenance manuals are published.

SWG How It Works - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

SWG Generation Cycle Times - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[plnewb]

just about all the models in the USA vary the generation % by turning powe to the cell plates on and off

Is there a way to source the cell plates directly? How much do they cost?

 

[ajw22]

Is there a way to source the cell plates directly? How much do they cost?

Never seen a vendor selling plates.

And the plates are I think are titanium and would have to be sized for the cell and the cell plates welded together. Not a simple DIY assembly with a screwdriver.

This post said...

Where can I buy replacement salt cell plates

I am looking for a site to buy replacement plates for the salt cell. I learned how to fix the heat limiter for under $3 so surely someone has to have an idea where to purchase the plates. Thank you you in advance.

www.troublefreepool.com

Swimming Pool Chlorination - De Nora
I think that most plates are made by DeNora Tech. I don't think that you can buy them but you can inquire. Even if you could buy the plates, trying to replace them would probably be very difficult.

 

[plnewb]

Fascinating. So the end consumer's way to use these plates are to use the ready made "true union" units (that has all the electronics inside with the cells with the power cable coming out and two unions on each side) and throw them out if the cells or electronics were ever to die (unless the manufacturer honored the warranty, which may or maynot include S&H)?

 

[ajw22]

Fascinating. So the end consumer's way to use these plates are to use the ready made "true union" units (that has all the electronics inside with the cells with the power cable coming out and two unions on each side) and throw them out if the cells or electronics were ever to die (unless the manufacturer honored the warranty, which may or maynot include S&H)?

Depends on the design.

Pentair packages the electronics in the cell and makes the entire package disposable.

Hayward and others use a separate control box for the electronics and the cell only contains the plates.

Advantage of the Pentair design is the consumer gets a complete new system every replacement cycle with less problems over the cells life. With other systems the consumer eventually is left diagnosing problems between the control electronics and the cell. Jandy makes their system even more complicated with a few replaceable modules in their Aquapure SWG and cryptic fault numbers.

 

[crackers8199]

If (or when) the sonoff dies, could you update this thread please?

just figured i'd throw in an update here since it was specifically asked for: going on 14+ months now with the sonoff controlling the SWG, and no issues so far (knock on wood) except that one of the wire covers (the one at the top of the switch) fell off recently, i'm guessing due to the heat. i looked and it looked like the plastic had cracked where the screw inserts were, so there was no way to reattach it...i threw some electrical tape on it and put it back in place, and also added electrical tape to the bottom cover (which was still in place but probably eventually would suffer the same fate). so far, that's holding up pretty well.

other than that though, no issues with the sonoff controlling the IC40 at all so far (knock on wood, again). i'm just getting to the point now where i'm going to start trying to put a nodejs controller in place, so i'm not sure if i'm going to leave this in place or rip it out in favor of letting the pi control everything via RS485 (or some combination thereof)...but i'll update here once i get to that point.