Intermatic P1353ME 3-Circuit Pool/Spa Digital Time Switch by Intermatic

I updated my 20 year old pool equipment in mid-2013, basically mimicking the existing design with new pumps and controller. The existing MiniMax 400 heater and Purex 2000 diatomaceous earth filter are still working flawlessly and are in excellent shape; so they were cleaned thoroughly, and the filter was repainted and fitted with new filter elements.The design of my pool pumps is pretty basic with three pumps: a main pool pump, an auxiliary spa jet pump, and a Polaris cleaner pump. The new main pool pump is a Pentair WhisperFlo 240V 1HP 2-speed pump, the auxiliary spa pump is a Pentair SuperFlo 240V 2HP single speed pump, and the cleaner pump is a Polars PB4-60 120V 3/4HP pump. A new Intermatic P1353E controller was purchased to replace two old mechanical timers. Mode two of the Intermatic P1353ME controller is designed to control a 2-speed pump and another pump, in my case the Polaris pump. A new Intermatic PE30000 enclosure was purchased to hold the controller, circuit breakers, GFCI receptacle and wiring.Rewiring the new equipment was pretty straight forward. I studied the existing wiring and matched that against wiring plans available on the internet and in the instruction manual that came with the controller. The basic elements of my design are (see pictures):1) The Intermatic P1353ME controller was configured for 120V;2) A neutral is connected to terminal 1;3) L1 from the main pump breaker is connected to terminals 2, 3 and 5;4) The high speed line for the main pump and L1 to the pool heater are connected to terminal 4;5) The low speed line for the main pump is connected to terminal 6;8) L1 from the cleaner pump breaker is connected to terminal 7;9) L1 to the cleaner pump is connected to terminal 8;10) L2 to the main pump and L2 to the pool heater are connected to L2 of the main pump breaker;11) The spa pump leads are connected directly to a breaker (which acts as it's on/off switch);12) The pool light leads are connected to a GFCI receptacle which is directly connected to a breaker.With this setup, the pool heater will only operate when the main pool pump is in high speed. Also, mode 2 of the controller limits the pool cleaner operation to when the main pump is in high speed as well.This installation has operated very well for the past 2 1/2 years. Even though the main pump is operated 10 hours a day on low speed, I have seen a 60% savings in electricity use over the old single speed pump which was operated only 3 hours a day. I only operate the Polaris cleaner on weekends; turning it on automatically switches the main pump into high speed (very convenient). The Intermatic controller was very easy to program; the program is retained when the power is off, time of day is not and has to be reset. The pumps are very easy to clean. I am very satisfied with everything overall.Yesterday there was a short interruption in commercial power to my house. When I came home I noticed my pool pumps were not on. I was very disappointed to see that the Intermatic controller failed to come back on after that power outage. There is no reset switch on the controller, but there is a fuse in the back, which was still good. I started to think that the controller was damaged by the power surge, but then I noticed the clips holding the fuse were not holding the fuse securely. The controller came back on after squeezing the clips together with needle nose pliers and resetting the fuse.So, I'm still very satisfied with everything! I chose a 2-speed pump over a variable because they cost less and in reality, the main pump is only going to operate at a single low speed anyhow (variable is unnecessary). All the equipment is reliable, operates efficiently, and is in good condition. Operating costs have decreased significantly.

This is the exactly model that I've had installed on my pool pump for many, many years. It never gave me any problems and it has lasted a very long time. I wired it exactly like the old timer, which is pictured above. Easy to install. Turned off power at the main breaker and I took pictures to make sure I wired it exactly the same way. Viola, it started right up.Intermatic customer support was nice enough to go through some troubleshooting of my old timer just to make sure I needed a new one, before making this purchase. Good support from manufacturer, quality timer for my 2 speed pump on Mode 2.

I replaced an old intermatic mechanical timer that kept mangling the trippers. I'm not an electrician, but have a family member who is a master electrician. He hooked it up in less than ten minutes. It snapped easily into my existing intermatic weather proof box. He left it off at the breaker. When I came home I flipped on the breaker opened the programming instructions to page 23 and literally had it programmed in less than 3 minutes. I have a simple one speed Polaris pool cleaner pump that I put on circuit 3 and the main pump on circuit 1 (as per the instructions).....it gives clear instructions on other configurations as well. I'm a little confused as to why others had difficulty programming their pumps as if you know how to program a typical digital alarm clock you would be able to program this very easily. Unless you are an electrician I would recommend making life easy and hire a good electrician to wire it for you. Then you don't have to fry your new 190 dollar timer by accident. Anyway, mine has only been working for two days..... Time will tell how long this thing will last. Hope this review helps someone out.

Easy to program and install. Almost perfect instructions but a little behind some feature changes. Intermatic tech support was super and prompt. I need freeze protection where I live and the documentation for setting it was not complete. The unit has new firmware that recognizes the freeze protection but instead of allowing the user to set the temperature there is a built-in setting that is about 38 F.

I've had 2 of these timers. The first lasted 1 year when it burned out, I stupidly bought another. The 2nd lasted less than 2 years. You can see the cost of these things—way too much money for a product that does not last. I would look for other alternatives. /save your money and don't waste it on this piece of... There are other less expensive timers out there that can provide you with the same service and are longer lasting. I could buy 15 plus other timers for what I paid for these 2.