Pool Pump Timer Not Working -Things Aren't Always As Bad as They Seem

Within the span of a few weeks my Polaris pump stopped working and my pool pump timer stopped working. Luckily this pump worked yet, but I had to turn it on and off manually - what a pain.

Before calling the pool service people I thought I would look into fixing it myself.

I opened the door that encloses the timers and first checked to see if the motor was running. To do this is quite simple. The timer (big yellow dial) is mounted to a steel plate. In this steel plate is a hole - about 3/8 inch diameter. If you shine a flashlight into this hole you can see the gears of the timer motor. Obviously if the gears are moving the motor is good. My gears were not moving.

So I started looking for a model number of what to order.

What I didn't realize at first is that everything is 'modular'. You have 2 timers which are controlled by 2 tiny motors.

If you remove the plate (with switches) at the bottom of the timer assembly (just 2 screws), this whole plate and switch assembly can be pulled out.

Then if you go all the way to the top of the box you will see a small tab that is protruding down and is holding the timer plate in place. By pushing on this tab, you can move the whole timer plate so you can have access to the back.

Once there, you will see a small motor/gear box which runs the timer.


All you have to do is get the model number off of it and find a place to order one.
I found one at the same place as I purchased my Polaris pool pump www.PoolSupplyWorld.com.

After receiving it, changing it was quite simple. All you had to do was remove 2 tiny screws which held the motor/gear box on. (This was the hardest thing since I didn't have a small enough screwdriver or a hex head screw driver to remove these 2 screws. If I have to do this again, I will go buy one of these screwdrivers first.)

After you get the gear box removed, you just have to loosen the screws at the ends of the wires and remove them.

All in all, you only have to remove 2 screws to remove the gear box and then the 2 screws to attach the wires.

One major reminder: Turn the power off to the pool at the circuit breaker before attempting any of this work. I didn't mention it above so thought I should say something here.

Pretty simple. Pretty straight forward. Real cheap