Please help setting this timer

[Trickee]

I just can't figure out this timer... I will post a picture of it and hope that someone else has experience with it. I bought it off eBay, and it has a Growlush sticker on it just like in the picture.

 

If you haven't seen one of these before maybe I can explain the basic parts:

- There is a 24 hour dial surrounded by little blue plastic things... apparently you push these things in or out of position depending on whether you want power on during that 30 minute period.

- There is a switch between Auto and Perm.

- There is a switch that controls on and off for manual control.

 

I've tried everything I can think of and it just doesn't seem to pay any attention to the settings. I've only been able to get power through it by using the permanent/manual setting.

 

Any help?

[El Gato]

maybe it wallaby teds cousin. Well the timer part. It should work, u have the basic concept of it.

[Frank Reynolds]

I dont know what you guys are using but im using a $4 timer from bunnings a lim one its tiny, work a treat for my 400w and pc grow box. i think lift little plugs up if you dont want power if i can remember correctly.

[RecklessRecluse]

Hi Trickee.

 

I am sorry to say but it sounds like what happens to most of the pin timers, they cant handle the surges in electricity required to run HPS lighting and eventually

fuse up and dont work.

 

The model you have shown probably should be rated for 30Amps but is more likely rated for 10Amps just like the cheap pin ones from BigW.

 

I have learnt from wasting over 20 of the buggers to purchase something like this.

 

http://justhydroponics.com.au/products/4_LMU_2400w-186-19.html

 

They are a bit pricey but work perfectly every time and in the long run save money and hassles. (No I dont work for these guys)

 

I hope I am wrong, but in case I am not, thats my tip.

 

Recless

[STONEDAJ69]

Hey man, i had the same problem with one of my timers - the bloody switch thing that touches the wheel and "senses" whether it's supposed to be on or off was missing from factory... check that there is one.

[allhailthebud]

hey Trickee,

 

i purchased one of thease timers back in the day of ebay's old negative feedback system - My timer was just absolutly farked. Exact same growlush model as yours, when id set the on/off times and turn the timer on. It'd start working but the time wouldnt start ticking over for 40mins. And the time was just outta wack. After 10hrs on it'd only show up as being on for 4hrs.

 

I sent emails to the seller with no prevail, in the end i left negative feedback - and had a responce quite quickly to resolve the negative feedback. Item was returned as was payment.

 

I could never get mine working properly, nor never had any responce from the seller on ebay due to the cause of the problem with the timer...

 

Cant really help ya out there, my diagnosis is 'faulty timers'...

 

If you sort the bugs out be sure to post the problem that was occuring..

 

peace out

[merl1n]

I dont know what you guys are using but im using a $4 timer from bunnings a lim one its tiny, work a treat for my 400w and pc grow box. i think lift little plugs up if you dont want power if i can remember correctly.

I'm with you buegeman, I'm running 4x600 thru a $10 timer and sure I've had them shit themselves but at $10, replace it, just keep an eye on them and renew them regularly. Paying $$$ for a timer with the same electrical rating is waste, only because its rated 'hydro'

 

Merl1n

[Trickee]

Alright well thanks for all the replies first of all. It seems like timers are a big hassle... and I'm new to indoor so I'm just learning still. But I had already heard before I bought this timer that I should avoid any timers I could find in supermarkets/Bunnings/etc., because they just stopped working all the time. So I got this one off ebay for $60, and it is now selling for $100. Not a huge amount of money... but more than the Bunnings timers cost, and apparently they work at least for a few days.

 

But since I have this one now I'd like to see if I can get it working. It looks well-built, the actual quartz timer mechanism is running just fine (I left it plugged in for 2-3 days to charge before using it as the instructions said) and it is keeping time, but like I said I just can't get it to follow directions...

 

Reckless: This timer is new as far as I know, so even if it couldn't handle the power it should've at least worked once I thought. And I am not using this timer to run HPS at the moment, so it shouldn't have any worries at all.

 

STONEDAJ69: Where would that switch be? Connected to the auto/perm switch or the on/off switch for manual mode? That seems like it could be the problem I have... so if all else fails I will just do what "allhail" said and talk with the ebay seller.

[STONEDAJ69]

When you flick the permanent on/off switch, there should be a small plastic contactor that makes contact with the wheel on the timer.

[Trickee]

Well there seems to be something there that's making contact with the wheel, but it still won't do what I want it to do...

 

Could someone take a picture of their timer so that I can see the settings? Or just tell me which position each of the switches is in when yours is working? Only if your timer is similar to this one of course. It would really help a lot.