Titan controls Apollo 8 timer issues.

[Bodego]

• I just got a new timer from my local shop and it seems to be having the same problems that my last one had. Not turning on/off when it should be. Can anyone give me some tips or recommend the type of timers you use​
  
  

 

[waterdawg]

I actually had major issues with timers so I built a controller and have had no issues since. You need a contactor that is used for AC units $20 that has a 110v coil. Use the timer to open and close the contactor that turns on the lights. I will post a diagram of how its built if interested? It is quite simple BTW and you can then use a cheap digital timer with no issues.

 

[Bodego]

I am thinking of just going out and getting a digital timer with a battery back up so it wont lose its time.

 

[spandy]

I am thinking of just going out and getting a digital timer with a battery back up so it wont lose its time.

Yeah, mechanical timers are a fail in a grow room if you ask me, actually I would never use a mechanical for anything lol. Power goes out and you gotta fuck with it every time. For the extra 5-10 bucks its worth not fucking with pins and having the battery backup is great.

Get either the Apollo 7 or the Apollo 9. The 7 has one plug in and the 9 as two, but if you get the 9 check your amps cause I think these are rated at 15 amps total so you wouldn't want to run say 2 1000 watt lamps from the same apollo 9 timer.

 

[waterdawg]

How much do Apollo timers cost?

 

[Bodego]

They're like 12 bucks for mechanical and 20 for digital.

 

[waterdawg]

And they handle HID lights? Jeez I've been buying heavy duty analog ones for outdoor lighting and they still die. I went through 2 before building the switch.

 

[spandy]

I have a couple year old apollo 7 that's never had anything plugged into but a 1000 watt hid. They can handle it .

 

[waterdawg]

Hmmm well I already built the switch so I'll stick with it for now as it handles the load and not the timer and no issues. But I will keep that in mind if new timers needed. I built this to handle lights, as well as extraction on call for cool, heat, and Co2. It looks complicated but the light controller part was quite simple actually. The display is a heat cool furnace stat.