This is more for the beginner folk like myself but if you are looking for a good digital, two outlet timer with battery backup, multiple program settings up to the minute/hour, and set on certain days or whole week periods then I suggest you check out your local Harbor Freight if you have one in your area. I got a 20% off coupon from their site too but idk if it's still available. It's the exact same as the hydrofarm timer only it's less cost! I was there getting some tools and noticed them just sitting there at $9.99 a piece! This wasn't a pricing error , that was the price . They are really easy to setup and come with good instructions. You can set up to 8 different on and 8 different off times. You can setup short intervals throughout the day which is perfect for all you running hydro and want to run your pumps at certain times. Like i said it also has a battery backup too in case of temporary power failure. With 20% off coupon I bought 3 for the price of the hydrofarm timer I saw on amazon ($25.67 not to mention shipping charges) I don't notice any difference between the two and the timer is working out great soo far after having it for two weeks. If anyone can distinguish what makes hydrofarms better other than the brand name, let me know. I think the brand is Chicago Insturments or something like that (I threw away the package) any how it's Harbor's own brand I remember seeing that on the package and I can always take it back in to them as they are cool peeps and I've returned a router that I broke by dropping from a few stories, no questions asked . Anyways hope this helps newbies save a little extra cash. Every dollar counts for a beginner on a budget
how many watts can it handle? aren't those little timers kind of limited? be worth checking out though...
It's more about amperage rather than watts. I have a four foot, six-tube t5 on it right now that draws about 3 amps. I could theoretically daisy chain up to 4 of these fixtures to this timer because it holds a max of 15 amps. If you can find the amperage of your light then you can find out if your timer will be stable enough for your light, at least that is what the sight I ordered my light from and my best friend who is an electrician told me. Right now I've only got a T5HO in there with 6 tubes. Each tube runs at 54watts . So 54x6= 324 watts total. If I were to daisy chain 4 then 324x4= 1,296 watts per timer . But as I stated earlier all you need to do is find the amperage of both the light and timer to see if they are compatible.
I don't have an HPS yet so check your ballast and see if it qualifies WARNING: if you ever go over your amperage it could make your timer catch fire, I've seen a couple reviews on amazon about their timers catching on fire but I would like to see what they had hooked up to the timer and if they went over the alotted amount
'Good info.. Also want to reiterate another member's post on this.. A relay with a 120v coil and contacts rated for the current that you will be running is a very good way to use a cheap mechanical timer reliably.. another benefit for this is if you get relays with normally open and normally closed contacts, you can use the NC contacts to disable things like CO2 enrichment during your exhaust cycle..
To add to what Basssnob said, just in case you aren't "electrically savvy" (or just worried about lighting yourself up!) I have 6 circuits ran to my grow room, one is dedicated to power my air conditioner, and I plug the device below into that. Then my AC plugs into the device, and the pigtail from the device plugs into my timer/controller, which receives the 110v "signal" to switch on the AC which is isolated on it's own circuit. This may not be the most "technically correct" explanation, but I tried to put it into lament's terms, because I'm a lament. =) I use one of these on my 110v air conditioner. It will also work for high powered lights, etc. There are other brands, other variations, this one was inexpensive and available when I needed it, so it went home with me. My only complaint about it is that the little screw hole in it, used to fix it to the pug socket, won't work in my setup, because I put GFI outlets in when I built the room. This probably won't be an issue for most people. Because of this, I just have it plugged in, not screwed into the outlet. It's been working flawlessly for about 6 months now. C.A.P. Universal Power Module UPM-1 - Discount Hydroponics
Just wanted to thank everyone for the great information . Haven't been on the forum in a while. My timer is still going strong and I have my intake hooked up to it now too with no problems at all Going to get a CO2 regulator soon and another timer with one outlet . Thanks JollyRancher for the site
Excellent piece of equipment.. 'Takes all the "electrician" stuff out of it. Original Past, I would have added rep but I got the "You need to spread it around message"... I'm fortunate enough to have an electrical background and access to "throw away" equipment at work when we do machine upgrades and such.. This unit serves two purposes. It gives you the ability to power more stuff with a cheap timer and it takes the technical difficulty out of the equation.. I had seen these things while I was browsing but never actually read the details until you made this post.. Thanks!
Does this plug directly into your timer or is it the other way around? I was thinking of getting a Tower of Power by hydrofarm and a couple more cheap timers .