Quote Originally Posted by AnnaK View Post
We're having a timer wired directly into the breaker box in the basement. The pump up by the pool has some strange plug-in and receptacle and we could not find any sort of adaptor to insert a timer. Wiring it into the box will be more convenient, anyway, since the pool is about 75 yards away from the house up on the hill. Id much rather go in the basement to make changes or turn it on/off than truck up there in the rain or depth of night.
Except that most timers have an easy on/off switch. So if you have to backwash, you will have to throw the breaker for the pump. And the timer will now turn on/off the entire sub-panel at the pool unless you run a separate circuit to the pool for lighting etc.

I'm not sure I understand why it would be a problem to wire ANY wierd plug to the timer. If you can wire it to a panel/sub-panel, you can wire it to a timer, its all just wires at one end! We have a 220V, 50amp run off the main panel in the house to a sub-panel at the pool. The timer is wired directly to a 220v breaker in the sub-panel, and the pump and SWG are wired to the timer. Other circuits are wired directly to the sub-panel (pool lighting, solar controller, 110v plugs, etc).

We have an unusual pump plug as well, but the "source" side of the plug is wired to the timer.