SMASH the timer!!

[THC4SIM]

I am fuming, just got home 3 hours after the lights should have gone off (12/12) and my timer has let me down, so i have duly smashed it to FUCK!!!!!!!,
i need a few tokes to calm myself.................

can anyone recommend a good timer that i can get hold of in the UK??
or from any growshop at a good price??

 

[karl420]

get to hardware store and get timer asap:O

 

[THC4SIM]

Sorted it!, found a HeavyDuty timer at maplins this afternoon
ill see how it go's

niceOne

 

[karl420]

get t101 120v timer it wont fail in your hand man.

 

[MTF-Sandman]

He's in the UK tho...they use 230v/50Hz, so a T101 wouldn't do him any good - if they're even available over there.

 

[Guest]

Hey bro I also learned the hard way. You need to replace your timers at least once a year.

GCG

 

[THC4SIM]

The one i got today, did not go off @ 6pm as i had set it!!!!,
timers really get on my fuckin nerves!!! they should just be straight forward to set!!
i was pretty stoned while setting it up tho', ill check it out again in the mornin'

 

[Guest]

Every timer will fail eventually, even if they say "for heavy duty lighting". I switched to a relay with a cheapo timer. No failures in 2 years. Green Air relay. Wally World timer. IF I woulda bought a relay in the first place I woulda saved more than 3 relays in cost that I wasted on "heavy duty timers". Shit.

 

[Mackawber]

Ive used a intematic outdoor mechanical timer (the one that's a black box) for 3 years.

I guess it's time to replace it.

 

[Gangabiss]

How many watts is the timer having to deal with?

If you're running over 250w you need to buy a timer contacter otherwise any timer you use will end up failing. I learned this the hard way also.

You can find them at most hydro shops...it looks like a little box with 2 plugs running off it and a few plug sockets on a strip for your lights and fans to plug into.

http://www.growell.co.uk/p/0850/Eco-Technics-Light-Switching-Timer-Contactors.html

 

[THC4SIM]

Yea i got a contacter im only running a 600w, so i plug my contacter into the timer then? n not the timer into the contacter with a 4way coming off it (i see where the problem is now!!... niceOne!!

 

[James Morrison]

lol at he thread

been there friend

just yesterday some cords got in the way and my dial couldnt turn so my ladies got an extra half day of sun before I noticed...

 

[Gangabiss]

Yea i got a contacter im only running a 600w, so i plug my contacter into the timer then? n not the timer into the contacter with a 4way coming off it (i see where the problem is now!!... niceOne!!

lol

There should be 2 plugs coming off the contactor. They both need to be plugged into an outlet for it to work properly. One goes through your timer and the other straight into the wall.
They should be labelled with little stickers. One should say 'mains' and the other 'timer'.

Hope this fixes your problems man.

peace

 

[Rosy Cheeks]

IF it was the timer...

Once upon a time, I was running low price HPS bulbs (I figured it was better to buy them cheap and change them often) and had constant problems with failing timers. In the EU, standard approved timer units generally guarantee a 3500w load (220v-240v). Since the High Intensity Discharge that fires an HPS bulb initially boost the amperage to the equivalent of two times the bulb wattage, a timer must guarantee at least the triple load of the bulb wattage. But even when I was running less, they would burn one after another, sometimes only weeks after I bought them. Growshop pimps just shrugged their shoulders and said "That's what timers do. Burn out." I started buying more sophisticated timers, made for heavy duty, to no avail. They kept on burning.
Then I changed my set-up, and philosophy. I now buy only high quality HPS bulbs, and behold, the timer problem went away like if someone tapped my growroom with a magic wand. I realized that the relation between the ballast, timer and the bulb was more complex than I thought, and that soft start technologies in high quality bulbs help regulate the initial discharge, which keeps your timers from burning. New electronical ballasts also applicate soft start technologies that helps saving timers.

Now I run the cheapest (standard approved) timers you can find, and they just last and last...

 

[EZlistener]

been there myself but as i was always high i went through 6 timers 'till i asked at grow shop 'what the fuck', bought a contacter for i think £40 :jawdrop: and no probs 18 moon now, all hail the contacter

 

[THC4SIM]

I musta been stoned not to notice the 'mains' and the other 'timer' stickers on my contacter!!!!, niceOne for that Gangabiss..
i usually have my inlet & outlet just ticking over at night but i can find another plug for that no probs...

Looks like its problem solved for me... Cheers Guys!

 

[Sauce]

Interesting info Rosy.

I use a more heavy duty timer that has 2 outlets and has a little LED screen that programs up to 6 on/off settings. It has worked well for over a year now. My veg timer is just a cheap mechanical one and isn't very accurate but I only use CFLs for veg so nothing over 150w goes through it.

I'd recommend buying the digital timers over the mechanical ones.

 

[marley1]

i use a free timer from a friend that was into fish. its a wavemaker timer, but its got a surge protector, yellow and blue sockets, can program ever 15 minutes.

hasn't failed yet =)

 

[Blunt_69]

LOL!!! SMashing it makes you feel sooo much better!!!

Been there done that. I have gone through 2 timers. One was a cheapo piece of Shit. The other was a outdoor Noma. I now am on my 3rd timer, this one is an outdoor timer. Was expensive. Hopefully it lasts... What the hell is a contacter??

I run about 1.1kW including all the pumps lights, fans

 

[Guest]

What`s the U.S. equivalent of these contactors from growell in the UK?.....Is there such an animal with our voltage plugs and receptacles?...Thanx......DHF......