24H timers constantly failing!

[jonro]

Every one of these timers that I've bought have failed, doesn't matter where or what i plug into them(even just your standard book lamp which their meant for correct, they fail.) after about 3-10 days they just stop working. Sometimes after playing with them for a bit(adjusting pins, twisting the dial a few time, etc.) they will work again but not for long.

This is really starting to shit me, even the expensive digital one that i paid $84 for and was supposed to be "heavy duty" and "this will handle just about anything" lasted all but half a day.

I have to be fucking home now at those certain times of the day we all know about just in case a timer fails, what a shitty problem to have.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[MeJuana]

Yeah use a power relay and remove the load from the timer. It's not hard at all there's DIY on the forum. I can help maybe point you into the right direction but I am not an electrician. Basically a Power Relay uses very low amperage from your timer to close a circuit to power your light. Normally the circuit is open until you apply power to the trigger wires referred to in my experiences as the coil line. That takes 110v @ (low amps) from your timer so you can put as many relays as you want within reason. You can Google how to connect a power relay to get a better description. The important thing is to make sure you are using a relay that can handle the load. Make sure you do enclose it in a junction box to prevent forest fires. Trigger or Coil is the voltage of your timer and the other voltage and amp rating is the load. Google can quickly answer how many amps you need then you just find a relay that can handle twice that amperage at the desired voltage, if you're an over killer like me lol I guess a contactor could also be used and would likely last beyond forever but I never have researched those

 

[loftygoals]

What are you using the timer for?

HID lights require a large load (upto 10x their continuous load) to spark up. So your 600w light might use 6000w for a fraction of a second to light up. This will weld the contacts together if your timer cannot handle the load and it just stops working.

To get round this you probably need a contactor.

 

[HydroRed]

There has to be an issue with what you are plugging into it that is creating this issue. I just cant see having that many timers analog and digital going out like that unless something was arching or shorting and creating intermittent amperage fluxuations or exceeding the max amperage that the timer is rated for. What are you using the timers for?

 

[panhead]

If your using the timers for HID lighting I'm nearly sure the inrush of amperage when your ballasts kick on exceeds the duty cycle of the timers , digital , analog , timer costs are all irrelevant , the timers rated duty cycle is what's important .

 

[GVMV]

I agree with the others, you need to check the load you are using on the timer compared to it's amperage rating. using a heavier duty relay or buy better timers and wire in your own plugs.

I have never had a failure of a Intermatic timers but you still need to stay under rating.

http://www.intermatic.com/en/products/timers/plugintimers/indoor_timers/tn311

 

[jonro]

What are you using the timer for?

HID lights require a large load (upto 10x their continuous load) to spark up. So your 600w light might use 6000w for a fraction of a second to light up. This will weld the contacts together if your timer cannot handle the load and it just stops working.

To get round this you probably need a contactor.

I live in Australia(should have mentioned that before) and according to the various labels I've read on all these timers I've bought(not the 400 ballast but other things, fans, pumps) im not coming close to the max load or amp's.

Ive never had any probs with my electricity supply in my home, no appliances or else have ever skipped a beat. The really weird thing is, there is one timer(the same as the others I've bought) that has been working perfectly turning on and off an exhaust fan in a dif tent every 75 mins for the past 4 months, wtf?

Should have mentioned this before, the particular load i want to put on a timer is a 400w mag ballast, but this is only just recently when i setup my flower tent and 400w mag ballast with it. They have also been failing just turning on low wattage CFL's, fans, air pumps in another tent, now i just put the veg tent on 25/7 and use the one miticle timer for that exust fan i mentioned.

I did a search about this problem over google and other forums and there are not many results, if these timers couldn't handle HID lights, i cant find many other accounts of people having this problem. Hell these mechanical timers are sold in HID lighting kits all over ebay/amazon.

lucly my flower tent dosent need anything else switched on and off but the 400w ballast, fans and such stay on all the time.

But this is a major pain in the ass none the less.

 

[panhead]

I live in Australia(should have mentioned that before) and according to the various labels I've read on all these timers I've bought(not the 400 ballast but other things, fans, pumps) im not coming close to the max load or amp's.

Ive never had any probs with my electricity supply in my home, no appliances or else have ever skipped a beat. The really weird thing is, there is one timer(the same as the others I've bought) that has been working perfectly turning on and off an exhaust fan in a dif tent every 75 mins for the past 4 months, wtf?

Should have mentioned this before, the particular load i want to put on a timer is a 400w mag ballast, but this is only just recently when i setup my flower tent and 400w mag ballast with it. They have also been failing just turning on low wattage CFL's, fans, air pumps in another tent, now i just put the veg tent on 25/7 and use the one miticle timer for that exust fan i mentioned.

I did a search about this problem over google and other forums and there are not many results, if these timers couldn't handle HID lights, i cant find many other accounts of people having this problem. Hell these mechanical timers are sold in HID lighting kits all over ebay/amazon.

lucly my flower tent dosent need anything else switched on and off but the 400w ballast, fans and such stay on all the time.

But this is a major pain in the ass none the less.

The best place for info around here for people in the EU , UK , AUS etc is a thread titled " UK Growers Thread " , mainly because your guys entire electrical systems are extremely different than US residential wiring .

 

[HydroRed]

Did you use it for your ballast, then start using it on other smaller appliances after you began experiencing issues? If so, I would think your mag ballast may be suspect. What is the rating on the timer? It should be listed on it. I use (2) dual outlet 15A digital timers and run a 1000W HPS on each timer for yrs with no issue. My lights pull approx 11A and 1080W @ 120V each. You can basically cut those #'s in 1/2 if wired for 240V.

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

i'd get an electrician in to check my wiring if i was you, i've got good digital timers, and shit mechanical ones, been using 5 of them for ever a year and never had even a cheap one fail, sounds like you may have a ground fault short somewhere

 

[bottletoke]

It might not be the load it could be that your running timers that are rated/designed for resistive loads(incandescent lamp) and hid ballasts are inductive.
Take a look then get a timer that is rated for inductive/hp loads and your golden.

 

[NewtoMJ]

Gremlins, check for gremlins!

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

and gnomes

 

[BobCajun]

The pin type are shit, the ones with the little things you stick in holes to set the on/off times. Digital ones work perfectly as long as you plug them into a power bar with surge protection and circuit breaker. You shouldn't plug them straight into the wall outlet.

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

do they use hamster wheels to produce electricity where you all live? i've got digital and mechanical timers, plugged into the wall and plugged into power strips, and they've all worked perfectly for over a year. i still think you have something wrong with the wiring in your house.
one timer controls a 250 watt mh, and a 4 inch 190 cfm fan. one controls a 400 watt hps and 2 240 cfm booster fans, no problems of any kind

 

[Lucky Luke]

Glad its not just me..I just had one fail to. Was fortunate to have another handy but these used to last for years. The one that just failed is only a week old.

 

[BobCajun]

When lamps first start up, there's usually a spike in power usage many times the normal level. That's why I recommended the power bars with breaker and surge protection. It's the surge that causes the problems. It can weld the timer relay contacts together. It usually happens when somebody wires a bunch of LEDs to one timer (inrush current), but maybe it can also happen with mag ballasts. I don't know for sure if the power bar would prevent it, but it's good to use them anyway, just to keep the main breakers in the house from tripping if something goes wrong.

 

[Lucky Luke]

When lamps first start up, there's usually a spike in power usage many times the normal level. That's why I recommended the power bars with breaker and surge protection. It's the surge that causes the problems. It can weld the timer relay contacts together. It usually happens when somebody wires a bunch of LEDs to one timer (inrush current), but maybe it can also happen with mag ballasts. I don't know for sure if the power bar would prevent it, but it's good to use them anyway, just to keep the main breakers in the house from tripping if something goes wrong.

I agree with you but I was running from timer to power board with surge protection. The power board was only running a 130w CFL, very small fan and a small exhaust fan. Timer was rated to 10A.

I am now running two timers. One for the light and small fan and another for the exhaust fan which i have coming on/off at a staggered time to help prevent start up draw. The timers are now plugged into the board to.

The timer that failed i "played around with" and its working fine again...

On a close related topic, does anyone use the digital timers with the battery back up? Any recommendations there if you do?

 

[BobCajun]

I agree with you but I was running from timer to power board with surge protection. The power board was only running a 130w CFL, very small fan and a small exhaust fan. Timer was rated to 10A.

I am now running two timers. One for the light and small fan and another for the exhaust fan which i have coming on/off at a staggered time to help prevent start up draw. The timers are now plugged into the board to.

The timer that failed i "played around with" and its working fine again...

On a close related topic, does anyone use the digital timers with the battery back up? Any recommendations there if you do?

I think they all have a battery in them that it automatically keeps charged up when plugged in, even the cheapest digitals have that.

 

[SPLFreak808]

Had my titan 4105 stable for 3 years pulling 8-10a every 12 out of 24hrs no problems ever. I've had shit luck with wal-mart mechanical timers getting stuck on or off when using 1kw HID or 500+ watts of cfl, seems less stable with cfl's maybe because all the individual ballast igniting at the same time idk. If even good timers fail at half its rated load, it is possible you have issues with your ballast or whatever your powering.