Short cycle timers... burning them out in a day

baggednismo

baggednismo

Well-Known Member
Its 1 problem after another with this damn cloner... As per advisement on this forum I ordered a couple short cycle by-the-minute timers for the cloner pump and ran it 1min-on 5min-off. None of the timers I found were grounded, in fact they were advertised as ezclone timers but said they were ungrounded and not safe around water... huh gee thanks... anyhow it worked for a couple days and then the power went out, it died that day. I put the other timer in its place and the power never went out but that died in just about the same time.

I now have 4 dead timers and have come to the conclusion that they are garbage.
I purchased an Apollo 9 digital timer *only by-the-minute timer the hydro store carried* to find out that it can only be preset to 8 schedules not giving me near enough to set it for 1:5

Does anyone have a clue how to rig this timer to work or have a suggestion on a solid grounded timer that wont burn out in 2 days?
 
D

disposition84

Well-Known Member
4 dead timers just doesn't happen without poor electrical or an issue outside of the
timers themselves. With those kinds of odds, you should be playing the lotto not
growing weed. Check out your electrical and make sure that you're not running too
much juice through them and that all your equipment is properly rated and performing
on par.

The timers I had linked before are in fact grounded versions if you look closely at the picture.
I have several of these myself having lasted well over a year now without a single hiccup, which
also makes me believe it could be something else.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item33678848e8&item=220780316904&nma=true&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&rt=nc&si=s1V25cb%2FcdQXDbkVnw%2BM1WS8Iog%3D

So maybe do some checking out before you go plugging another 100 dollars into the wall :)
 
Clown Baby

Clown Baby

Well-Known Member
The CAP cycle timers fail a lot... they're warrantied but that wont bring your plants back to life.
 
baggednismo

baggednismo

Well-Known Member
Electric is all good here, I have the pump pluged into a 24hr cycle timer 15:15 for the last week and no problem. Its also at the other end of the house *where I tested the last 2 that died* on a different circuit than the heavy flower lights. Knock on wood, there is no other piece of electronics that have ever been damaged here due to electrical outages or spikes. I spoke with my buddy here in town and he as well refuses to use those timers claiming the exact same thing happens to him. He elaborated and showed me 1 that literally caught fire plugged into a 30gph pump he is still using and in perfect condition.vJust like him, I have other heavier duty timers that are under rated for lights and still rocking away in the veg room.

I found some nice ones but they are $100+ but at this point I have already spent that much in crappy timers I could have bought a heavier 1. I'm hoping to find a better timer than the one u have posted, they just went to shit quickly.

I should also mention this house was just built and electric is above and beyond what they require to meet code.
 
IAm5toned

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
there is such a thing as inductive, and resistive ratings..... a motor, such as a pump, is an inductive load... too bad most off the shelf timers are rated for resistive loads, huh... ;)

learn something new everyday....

like this:
an inductive load such as a motor, transformer, or other 'electronic' devices have a different load characteristics than resistive loads such as incandescent lamps and heating elements, which is exactly what 95% of off the shelf timers are built to run...

when sizing a timer or relay for an inductive device, u must allow 120% of the devices ampacity when sizing the timer/relay

example:
10 amp load
you need a timer...
10 amps x 120% = 12 amps

the smallest size timer/relay you can use without worrying about component failure, is 12 amps.....
...12 amps, inductive that is... theres a MAJOR difference... and ALL timers/relays have there inductive ratings on them, or they say 'for resistive loads only'
if your timer says 'for resistive loads only' its junk, toss it, it will fail, its a matter of time.

funny thing is, ALL of your equipment is an inductive type load....
they dont tell u that @ the hydro store tho, they like it when u keep buying timers ;)
 
baggednismo

baggednismo

Well-Known Member
Let the truth be told! Thanks IAm5toned
I double checked the couple timers still sitting in the trash they are indeed recessive load only as the larger timers that the lights and even the pump now is of adequite rating inductive timers.

Guess I'm stuck buying a more expensive timer. This means I'm gunna run more clones to make up the cost difference
 
A

Atomizer

Well-Known Member
If its just the relay contacts that have welded together you could replace the relay. A resisitive timer can switch a large inductive load if you use it to control an external relay. The same way a contactor is used to switch large hps loads. Generally a relay rated 10A resistive is derated to 4A for an inductive load..
 
DrtyBngWtr

DrtyBngWtr

Active Member
Ok, this cat on ebay is calling these bad boys "panda timers" they are 24 hour grounded timers that have been modded with a different gear in them. actually runs in 50 sec. intervals. Mine was 35 with shipping. has 2 grounded 120v outlets. had mine over a year. I run 3x eco 396 and 2x eco 185 off of 1 timer. never failed knock on wood.
 
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Michel Chiasson

New Member
My brother and I both purchased panda timers on ebay and they really sucked. (We opened the timers after they failed) they where very poorly modified.One lasted exactly 5 months and another after 7 1/2 months . The timers failed during flowering period, I lost my whole crop because of it. The seller never replied to numerous emails and ended up being refunded by paypal. 2 years ago we purchased a Tiger timer, another so called ''aeroponic timers'' made by canaponics laboratories a canadian company. We ordered 2 from eBay and later 1 from Bonanza made from the same company. They were a few bucks more than any other but since we had no other 1 minute timers to choose from, we ordered 3 (contacted seller and asked them a discount if I would buy 3 and got a 15$ rebate) I sent about 9 emails to the seller to see what kind of service they offer and they replied in a few minutes each time (in the middle of the night) I was more than a little ''frosted'' I told them that if I purchase their timers and they send me crap timers like those panda timers, I would complain to paypal, ebay and bonanza. Well 2 years 4 months later, the Tiger timers are still working perfectly. True 60 seconds timers with 3 grounded outlets. Before I wrote this review, I checked if they still exist and yes they are still on ebay and bonanza. I think they are pretty much everywhere now except amazon. They have a web site now canaponics.ca but they don't accept paypal on their main site (not cool:sad:) but at least they sell on abay and bonanza witch accepts paypal. I don't know if you can imagine what I felt like when I lost my crop during the flowering stage. Man I cried and I was fuc..g mad:fire: I smashed most of my setup that day and yes I admit I cried. All I was thinking was those fuc..g crap panda timers and what I went through. Anyway it's all water under the bridge. I'm in smoke heaven now.....bongsmilie
 
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Michel Chiasson

New Member
baggednismo said:
Let the truth be told! Thanks IAm5toned
I double checked the couple timers still sitting in the trash they are indeed recessive load only as the larger timers that the lights and even the pump now is of adequate rating inductive timers.

Guess I'm stuck buying a more expensive timer. This means I'm gunna run more clones to make up the cost difference
Click to expand...
Hi, just to let you know that I paid 30$ + 8$ shipping for my timer. I checked on ebay and they still sell them http://www.ebay.ca/itm/141626218279?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 I know that if you ask them for a rebate on 3 they will do it, they did for me anyway 15$ rebate. I have Tiger timers for over 2 years now and still very happy
 
jijiandfarmgang

jijiandfarmgang

Well-Known Member
I used a cap cycle timer and it never did work right. Then again most CAP things never worked right.

I ended up buying an omron dual digital timer on ebay. Probably retail for around 200 or so, but I think I bought it used for around 20. Then wired it up in a custom enclosure.

Theres no need to run a cycle timer in a cloner, unless you oversized your pump and it heats up the water too much I suppose.

None of the commercial cloner units use it, or recommend it to my knowledge.

- Jiji
 
70's natureboy

70's natureboy

Well-Known Member
I use a cycle timer for an ebb and flow but not on the cloner. My cloner directions said leave it on 24/7. It would probably work on a on and off cycle but I never bothered to experiment with it. If timers are a hassle you can get by without them.
 
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Atomizer

Well-Known Member
Most timer electronics are ultra reliable, its the bean counters cutting costs and using cheap relays that make them unreliable. Led monitors and tv`s are the same, they have cheap low quality capacitors in the power supplies (saves a few pennies per unit) instead of the higher quality caps specified by the designer.
If your timer breaks, replace the relay with a good quality one. If your monitor/tv stops working (typically just after the warranty expires), check the capacitors in the power stage before you throw it out. If they are blown or leaking, replace them with quality panasonics and you may get another 10 years out of it ;)
 
WeedFreak78

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
Atomizer said:
Most timer electronics are ultra reliable, its the bean counters cutting costs and using cheap relays that make them unreliable. Led monitors and tv`s are the same, they have cheap low quality capacitors in the power supplies (saves a few pennies per unit) instead of the higher quality caps specified by the designer.
If your timer breaks, replace the relay with a good quality one. If your monitor/tv stops working (typically just after the warranty expires), check the capacitors in the power stage before you throw it out. If they are blown or leaking, replace them with quality panasonics and you may get another 10 years out of it ;)
Click to expand...
I got my first light setup, old mag ballast, for free because the cap. wasn't any good. I think it cost me under $10 for a new cap. and i was in business. No one wants to fix anything anymore, throw away society, too many people don't have the basic skills anymore to even figure out how to take the case off a ballast and many are afraid of anything to do with electricity. I recently did the caps. in my 7 yr old 50" Samsung plasma after it died..i expect at least another 5yrs out of it..was under $100..new tv..at least $500-$700.

I'm fine with people not being able to fix their own things..that's where i get most of my deals.
 
Alaric

Alaric

Well-Known Member
After 7 years -----no problems with "Encore" cyclestat that I use to run pumps. Can be set as low as 5 sec on time.

A~~~
 
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Atomizer

Well-Known Member
I use cycle timers designed for control freaks :) On time can be set from 0.05 sec to 50 sec in 0.05 sec increments. Off time can be set from 1 sec to 2 hrs 45 mins in 1 sec increments. Life expectancy 50 million cycles, about 4 years at 1 sec on, 1 sec off.
 
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