AquaGrip Touchpad

The AquaGrip touchpad is a swimming touch panel made by Colorado Time Systems (CTS). It is the panel hung at a lane end that senses the swimmer’s finish and turn: a touch closes an internal switch and sends the timing signal that stops that lane’s clock on the timing console. AquaGrip is CTS’s current touchpad line, distinguished by a patented non-slip surface texture; it uses the same all-plastic, air-filled body CTS has built since 1972 and replaces the earlier Standard touchpad. A single user guide (F147) covers both.¹²³

Role in the timing system¶

The touchpads overview covers the history of automatic touchpad timing and the World Aquatics requirements that apply to every touch panel. The AquaGrip pad connects through a cable harness or in-deck plates back to the timing console, which measures the elapsed time and drives the scoreboard; on the CTS Gen7 platform the touchpads are supplied as lane systems that pair with the Gen7 timer.³

Because the panel doubles as the wall a swimmer pushes off during backstroke starts and turns, its face has to give reliable grip when wet. CTS describes the AquaGrip surface as responding to a very light touch while giving a firm push-off.²

Design and construction¶

The pad is of all-plastic construction built on a solid quarter-inch plastic backbone, with molded one-piece connectors and a non-corrosive finish.² Its face carries internally sealed switches across the fully active front, and gutter-mounted models add a switch along the top edge, so a touch anywhere on the face or top edge registers with no dead spots.²

The distinguishing feature of the AquaGrip line is its surface texture. CTS covers it with a patented ultra-fine non-slip texture: US Patent 5,702,799, “Slip resistant texture for wet skin contact surfaces,” describes a texture of particles under about 100 microns applied to a water-resistant sheet, which the inventors found gives unexpected grip on wet skin while still feeling relatively smooth.⁴ The patent, filed in 1995 and granted in 1997, was assigned to CTS and is now held by its parent, Everlast Climbing Industries.⁴ The Standard touchpad uses CTS’s older textured non-skid surface without this treatment; otherwise the two share the same body and manual.⁵³

Pneumatic operation and sensitivity¶

The touchpad is an air-filled panel, and its sensitivity is set by the amount of air inside it. A typical competition setup activates at an internal pressure of about 25 psi (172 kPa).³ Because that pressure acts over the contact area, a small fingertip touch triggers the pad more easily than a flat palm; a correctly inflated pad feels firm, “similar to pushing your fingers into a thick magazine,” while an over-inflated pad feels spongy and may float or lose sensitivity.³ Too little air, or excess internal vacuum, leaves the pad shorted so it reports a false finish soon after the start.³

Operators tune a pad out of the water using a needle to add air and a vacuum pump to release it, working against a test meter until the switch reads correctly; the pad must be dry at the cable end during the adjustment, because water drawn inside will ruin it.³ This pneumatic design is how the panel meets the governing-body sensitivity requirement described in the touchpads overview: the pad must not be triggered by water turbulence but must respond to a light hand touch, and stay sensitive on the top edge.⁶

Models and dimensions¶

CTS sells AquaGrip pads in metric and imperial sizes, in a gutter-hung version (part numbers ending G) and a flat-wall version (ending GF); custom widths are also available.² The larger sizes meet the World Aquatics minimum panel size set out in the touchpads overview.⁶

Model	Size	Part number	Weight
188.5 cm × 90 cm	74.2 × 35.4 in	TP-188.5G / TP-188.5GF	47 lb (21.3 kg)
195 cm × 90 cm	76.8 × 35.4 in	TP-195G / TP-195GF	49 lb (22.2 kg)
240 cm × 90 cm	94.5 × 35.4 in	TP-240G / TP-240GF	66 lb (30 kg)
60 in × 22 in	152.4 × 55.9 cm	TP-60G	28 lb (12.7 kg)
60 in × 24 in	152.4 × 61.0 cm	TP-60GF	33 lb (15 kg)
78 in × 22 in	198.1 × 55.9 cm	TP-78G	35 lb (15.9 kg)
78 in × 24 in	198.1 × 61.0 cm	TP-78GF	40 lb (18.1 kg)
96 in × 22 in	243.8 × 55.9 cm	TP-96G	45 lb (20.4 kg)

CTS recommends the 60-inch pad for lanes 66 to 84 inches wide and the 78-inch pad for lanes 84 to 96 inches wide.² The 22-inch-high pads are gutter-hung and the 24-inch-high pads are the flat-wall version.²

Mounting¶

Gutter-mounted pads hang over the pool’s gutter and are held by a mounting system that needs no holes in the deck. With Velcro link brackets the pads install without tools: a bracket is laid on the gutter between each pair of lanes, and each pad is eased into place and pressed down to bond, with end brackets between the two outside pads and the pool corners to stop the pads shifting sideways during a meet.³ Pads with a mounting hole in the top edge instead hang from separate brackets.³

Flat-wall pads bolt to the deck. Two stainless-steel brackets are fixed to each pad, the pad is set flush against the wall and centred in the lane, and holes are drilled in the deck for stainless expansion anchors that the brackets bolt down to.³ CTS notes that flat-wall pads sit against a vertical wall rather than hanging from a gutter, so a facility chooses the version that matches its pool. Touchpads can be left in the water for the duration of a meet, but the manual advises removing them from the water when the pool will be used for general swimming by people unfamiliar with them.³

Connection to the timer¶

Each pad has a 10-foot cable ending in a dual banana plug.² The plug connects to a cable-harness pod or to an in-deck plate, which routes the lane’s signals back to the timing console; the pads run on under 5 VDC of deck power that is electronically isolated at the timer.² The timer arms every lane at the start, and each armed pad stops its own lane’s clock at the finish, with a pushbutton provided as the backup input required for fully automatic officiating.³⁶

CTS supplies a touchpad test meter that shows a pad’s open or closed state on a bar graph and also tests pushbuttons, the cable harness, deck plates, and the scoreboard; harness and deck-plate connections should read in the 4.5 to 5 V range.³ The two-pronged banana plug has to be kept free of corrosion and can be cleaned or, if badly corroded, replaced (CTS part R-025-045).³

Care and maintenance¶

CTS treats the touchpad as electronic equipment whose life depends on regular cleaning. The manual’s guidance includes: never lift or handle a pad by its cable; keep gutter-mounted pads clear of the lane-line hardware; do not puncture the front of the pad, since even a pinhole lets water in and destroys it, and use the venting needle only in the orange plug; and keep pads out of direct sunlight when out of the water, which can warp the pad or lift the AquaGrip surface.³

Connectors are cleaned with isopropyl alcohol, cotton pipe cleaners, and a light coat of dielectric grease, flushed with fresh (not pool) water; lime or calcium build-up is removed with a diluted calcium-lime-rust cleaner, which the manual warns must not be used as a routine cleaner or on wall plates and multi-pin connectors.³ Pads should be stored between about 50 and 110 °F, away from traffic and hard objects, and a pad that has become cold should soak in warm pool water for 15 to 30 minutes before use; CTS sells caddies that each hold up to ten pads for storage and transport.³²

Compared with the Standard touchpad¶

The AquaGrip and Standard touchpads are the same panel with different surfaces. Both use the all-plastic body, quarter-inch backbone, internally sealed full-face and top-edge switches, 10-foot cable and dual banana plug, and the same pneumatic operation and F147 manual.³⁵ AquaGrip adds the patented non-slip surface texture; the Standard pad uses the plain textured non-skid surface and is now discontinued.¹⁵ A facility replacing worn Standard pads, or equipping a new pool, buys the AquaGrip version in the same sizes and part-number scheme.

Specifications¶

Construction	All-plastic; solid quarter-inch backbone; molded one-piece connectors; non-corrosive finish
Switches	Internally sealed, full active face; top-edge switch on gutter models
Surface	Patented AquaGrip non-slip texture (US 5,702,799); Standard uses plain non-skid
Sizes	60–96 in / 188.5–240 cm wide; 22 in (gutter) or 24 in / 90 cm high
Weight	28 lb (12.7 kg) to 66 lb (30 kg), by model
Activation	Air-filled pad; typical competition activation about 25 psi (172 kPa) internal
Cable	10 ft, dual banana plug (replacement plug R-025-045)
Deck power	Under 5 VDC, electronically isolated at the timer; harness/plate 4.5–5 V
Mounting	Gutter-hung (Velcro link brackets, no tools) or flat-wall (stainless brackets, deck anchors)
Storage	50–110 °F; out of direct sunlight; caddy holds up to 10 pads

Part numbers and accessories¶

• TP-…G, gutter-hung AquaGrip pads (for example TP-60G, TP-78G, TP-96G, TP-188.5G, TP-195G, TP-240G).
• TP-…GF, flat-wall AquaGrip pads (for example TP-60GF, TP-78GF).
• TPM-D, touchpad test meter (also tests pushbuttons, cable harness, deck plates, and scoreboard).
• VP-2, vacuum pump for adjusting pad air.
• CAD-TP-P, touchpad caddy (holds up to ten pads).
• R-025-045, replacement dual banana plug.

See also¶

• Touchpads: the touchpad overview and the AquaGrip/Standard comparison
• T-7000 series touchpad and Seiko AQUA Touch Plate: the conductive-plate and Seiko panels from other manufacturers
• Gen7 Serial Timer: the timing console the pads report to
• Start systems: the starter equipment on the other side of the timing system
• Colorado Time Systems: the manufacturer
• Equipment: the equipment reference

References¶

Footnotes¶

1. Colorado Time Systems, AquaGrip Touchpads. ↩ ↩²

2. Colorado Time Systems, AquaGrip Touchpads datasheet. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

3. Colorado Time Systems, Standard and AquaGrip Touchpads User Guide (F147). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸

4. US Patent 5,702,799, Slip resistant texture for wet skin contact surfaces (inventors David Brown, Paul von der Lippe, Susan von der Lippe; assignee Colorado Time Systems, now Everlast Climbing Industries; filed 1995, granted 1997). ↩ ↩²

5. Colorado Time Systems, Standard Touchpads. ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. World Aquatics, Facilities Rules 2021–2025, FR 2.3 Automatic Officiating Equipment for Swimming (touch panels: FR 2.3.4). ↩ ↩² ↩³