AC Timers

djgra79

djgra79

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Hi All.


Looking for some recommendations of a decent, reliable AC timer. I have used the old fashions Arlec dial ones where you push in the pins for the times you want the power/lights to come on over the years, but after 10 years are not operating as well any more.
I bought 2x of these: http://www.bunnings.com.au/hpm-7-day-digital-timer_p7034563
I must have had too much turning on at once as they both seem to have blown and now will not turn off.


Anyone else have recommendations of brand/model to use?
 
David_AVD

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The high inrush current (surge) of switchmode power supplies at turn-on can certainly cause timer relays to arc and stick on. The remote controlled switches can also have issues with loads like that. They often have a switching limit much lower than 10A.

The mechanical timer is possibly better than a digital one in some cases. The switching contacts are simpler and may be more tolerant to the surge. I don't have anything to back this up though.
 
djgra79

djgra79

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David_AVD said:
The mechanical timer is possibly better than a digital one in some cases. The switching contacts are simpler and may be more tolerant to the surge. I don't have anything to back this up though.
Click to expand...


I'd back this up with personal experience, does that count?!


They all appear to be 10amp 2400w regardless of digital or not.
 
David_AVD

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Some of the older remote controlled outlets I had were 4A / 1000W max, so I wasn't sure if some of the digital timers might be the same.
 
djgra79

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Bumping an old thread for more recent advice.
I now have my show across 2 different house circuits and the only surviving arlec timer is still going strong, but unsure for how long.
So looking for alternatives or do I just grab a couple of decent priced ones from bunnings again, and put this down to a 'consumable" type item for the show every couple of years?
 
Robbo

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djgra79 said:
Bumping an old thread for more recent advice.
I now have my show across 2 different house circuits and the only surviving arlec timer is still going strong, but unsure for how long.
So looking for alternatives or do I just grab a couple of decent priced ones from bunnings again, and put this down to a 'consumable" type item for the show every couple of years?
Click to expand...
I'm running off 2 circuits even though it's small, but....our house only has 2 circuits, then the garage, how much to add a new circuit...is it worth it?
 
djgra79

djgra79

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By 2 circuits, I mean our house is basically split down the middle and in years gone by it all ran from the garage (same side as lounge, so TV would flicker when it came on!)
Last year I got a double GPO installed outside of bedroom which is different side to garage.
 
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I have a 15amp circuit in my carport for my welder, no welding gets done during December and I have a 10amp double plug for my spa bath on the other side of the house, both of these are individual circuits separate from the 3 other circuits in the house, I run digital timers on the 2 outdoor circuits for all of my props and they work great, I have my master raspberry pi shut down all of the remote raspberry pi's before the timers turn all the power off.

Pretty sure I purchased this from bunnings.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/hpm-24-7-slimline-digital-timer-2-pack_p4420557 previously I had the mechanical ones but my son kept turning them so I switched to digital now he pushes the buttons instead.
 
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Kitman said:
Pretty sure I purchased this from bunnings.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/hpm-24-7-slimline-digital-timer-2-pack_p4420557 previously I had the mechanical ones but my son kept turning them so I switched to digital now he pushes the buttons instead.
Click to expand...
Well, I have had my first digital timer failure. I went outside in the morning to find half my display still had power, checked the timer and it was set to off however it did not switch anything off at all. I played around with the timer choosing different settings and even resetting the timer but no go it seems like it is permanently on, even setting the timer to off it still stays on.

I went ahead and got another 2 pack of the same timer since these seem to be the only digital timers so I now have a spare if the other one fails.
 
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Kitman said:
Well, I have had my first digital timer failure. I went outside in the morning to find half my display still had power, checked the timer and it was set to off however it did not switch anything off at all. I played around with the timer choosing different settings and even resetting the timer but no go it seems like it is permanently on, even setting the timer to off it still stays on.

I went ahead and got another 2 pack of the same timer since these seem to be the only digital timers so I now have a spare if the other one fails.
Click to expand...

Give it a bit of a whack, either with ur hand or on the wall. I’ve got a couple that do it every now and then, the relay gets stuck on and giving them a whack fixes it for a few weeks.
 
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Nuzzy said:
Give it a bit of a whack, either with ur hand or on the wall. I’ve got a couple that do it every now and then, the relay gets stuck on and giving them a whack fixes it for a few weeks.
Click to expand...

Same.
 
David_AVD

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The relay (electronic type) / contact (mechanical type) in the timer is probably sticking on due to the high inrush current of the power supplies as they turn on. I've had the same thing happen years ago. Not much you can do about it. For my DMX power relays I use a much higher rated relay to avoid that.
 
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