Pool timer wiring dilemma

I am in the process of installing an aquarite salt water chlorine generator. Before I do anything I want to make sure of something and get some clarification.

Three pictures for reference at a pool forum where there seems to be some confusion.

formatting link
Picture A shows the intermatic timer with the terminal protector labeling the(5) terminals as ( from left to right). A

1 ( Line) 2 ( Load) 3 (Line) 4 (Load)

Now, in picture B, coming into the timer on the right are the pump motor wires and this confuses me. Green to ground- Ok Black to 4 (load) - Ok and Black to 1 (Line)< Huh?

Coming in from the left are the wires from the aquarite. From the aquarite manual I read as if it should be wired as such...( aquarite is pre-wired for 240VAC) Green to ground. Red to ? ( load 2?) Black to ?(load 4?)

What confuses me here is that one power line( Black) from the pool pump is wired to 1 (Line) terminal. I thought this should be wired to a load terminal? The second power line (Black) is wired to 4(Load) Green to ground lug.

THAT said it appears the that line coming into it( red wire)is from the switch ( that I use to manually turn the pump on an off) the in housing just below the timer box. This pump switch is and x-10 wide /flat type switch.

The toggle switch below IT also controls power to the pump( it is left in the ON position) Pool light switch and GFI outlet are NOT affected by either the pool pump or toggle switch, both have constant power.( I assume the light runs FROM the GFI.

I have no clue what the black box between the light and the GFI is. I do have a remote control x-10 to turn on and off the pump/light?

Reply to
RakeKiller
Loading thread data ...

It&#39;s hard to tell exactly what&#39;s going on here, but: The black box is a "deck box". The conduit from the under water fixture must go to a deck box. It likely gets its power via the gfci and the switch. The time clock #1 and #3 are the feed 240 volt for the clock motor. #2 is the load from #1 and has nothing on it. #4 is the load from #3 and has two wires connected to it. It would appear that one leg of the load, is incorrectly connected to the line, and they&#39;re only using the clock to break the second leg

Reply to
RBM

So does that mean that one lead ( on line 1)to the motor has constant power OR does the fact that one lead runs through a load side(4) the circuit is broken. It seems wrong, but this was wired by a professional and has worked flawlessly for 5+ years.

Reply to
RakeKiller

Both load conductors should be disconnected through the time clock. If one leg is run live, and the other is broken through the clock, it will work fine, but the motor will have live current at it, even when it&#39;s not running, which could be dangerous

Reply to
RBM

So the motor is switched on when both leads go hot. What I don&#39;t understand is how the pump (x-10)switch activates the motor.

Reply to
RakeKiller

It&#39;s 220 it there is no neutral. 110 from each leg one switched one not switched. Close the switch and then the motor sees 220 and starts.

Rich

RakeKiller wrote:

Reply to
Rich

My guess is that the X-10 is in parallel with the leg that the clock is switching

Reply to
RBM

I see you&#39;ve already started to move wires. Whatever you do, don&#39;t lose track of how they were connected originally. The pictures will help but I wouldn&#39;t rely on them. One black wire can look a lot like another.

Did this setup ever work? Since you&#39;ve had the house, or are you relying on the seller that he didn&#39;t change things since it worked?

Finally, what I would do is make a drawing of the wires as you found them. Make one drawing that&#39;s rather pictorial, and then make another drawing from that, arranging the lines more logically.

Then I would make a drawing based on how I would have wired it if I bought all the parts new. That&#39;s assuming you understand how these things work, and you should make sure you understand that soon, and some time before you finish this second drawing. After all, you can&#39;t remain at the mercy of the wires that you found there.

Then compare the two drawings so you see all the similarities, and all the differences. If you can rearrange connections so that nothing changes electrically but the wiring seems more simliar to the other do that. I&#39;ll bet you can get the differences down to one or two. If you can get the differences down to one or two, you can probably change the wires to match your drawing and it will work. Keep a clear record of what you changed.

If you can&#39;t get the differences down to one or two, you probably still don&#39;t understand how the thing works, or you would understand why it is wired the way it is now.

Reply to
mm

Yeah, I agree with moving the black wire to the load side. That could be connected that way because the timer had a defect on one line of the 220V relay. It would still work fine but leaves the wiring hot from neutral all the time, not just when the timer is activated.

So get your note pad out and draw up the wiring diagram.

Reply to
jiml

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.