# Light timers?



## nismo tetra (Oct 11, 2009)

Where do you guys get your light timers from? I need 3 individual timers. 2 for my light fixture and 1 for co2. Any good brands? Or will any old timer from walmart work? I don't need anything super heavy duty that costs a ton. Just some decent timers.


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## RianS (May 12, 2009)

if your times are all going to be set to the same on/off time's why not consider the coralife timer. I'm using the digital one with comes with 4 standard outlets, 2 day, and 2 nighttime except i added a splitter to the day so i could run two lights and my co2. It works really well and it comes with a backup battery so incase your power goes out all the settings are there. of course there's also the standard ones too.


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## nismo tetra (Oct 11, 2009)

Good idea, but I will have 3 different times. I currently use the coralife unit on my other setup as it doesn't need as much customization.

I have an individual cord for each bulb(2) and one for the solenoid on the co2. So I am going to have a 2 bulb burst period when I get the higher light plants I want. I want the co2 to turn on one hour before the lights and a turn off a half hour before the lights.


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## pKaz (Mar 27, 2009)

I do not recommend the coralife timer, search the web for reviews and you will see what I mean. 

This is my favorite timer hands down! Plus it is waterproof and automatically adjusts for daylight savings time. I got mine from Lowe's for $20 bucks. Buy two and call it a day.


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

pKaz said:


> I do not recommend the coralife timer, search the web for reviews and you will see what I mean.
> 
> This is my favorite timer hands down! Plus it is waterproof and automatically adjusts for daylight savings time. I got mine from Lowe's for $20 bucks. Buy two and call it a day.


That looks pretty cool... but what the heck are _ASTRONOMIC FEATURES?_

I just get the cheap Intermec analog timers from Home Depot. Never had one fail in over 10 years. No batteries to change either.


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

nismo tetra said:


> Where do you guys get your light timers from? I need 3 individual timers. 2 for my light fixture and 1 for co2. Any good brands? Or will any old timer from walmart work? I don't need anything super heavy duty that costs a ton. Just some decent timers.


I just bought two timers at Walmart for about $6.00 each. I found them where they had the Christmas lights. They work really well. Just make sure you get the version with a third wire ground (three prong outlet). I would like to find a digital with battery backup but haven't found one that can be set for 3 different times. Until I find a digital with this feature, I will still be using the cheapo mechanicals too.


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

Cheepo mechanical timers are long tested tech. Purchase the appliance timers with a ground. Three of the right shape will fit a standard size outlet power strip. 

After December 25th they are usually 50% - 75% off, too. ;-)


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## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

Mechanical timers are about $5 each, I use them on all my tanks. I've gotten a few at target.


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## nismo tetra (Oct 11, 2009)

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I will just go with the cheap ones from wal-mart with 3 prong. I have been using the coralife one on a different setup and have had no problems. Has a been about 2 years. It's just a single model though.


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## pKaz (Mar 27, 2009)

EdTheEdge said:


> That looks pretty cool... but what the heck are _ASTRONOMIC FEATURES?_


I believe that refers to the timers ability to automatically adjust to the slight change in daylight photoperiod we receive each day throughout the year in case you wanted to turn something off and on based on that cycle. 

The cheapo timers work too, they are accurate within a few minuets and get the job done. That is what I use on my tank at work after all.


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## AquaTX01 (Nov 4, 2009)

I'm using 2 type...

1) from Homedepot $10 (green heavy duty outdoor one, w/ dual outlet & timer). this works great, but think you can only set dual timer for both outlet, not individually.

2) Cheap $5 one's from walmart. works good, but NO GROUND on the outlet, so some light fixture may not work on these...


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

pKaz said:


> I believe that refers to the timers ability to automatically adjust to the slight change in daylight photoperiod we receive each day throughout the year in case you wanted to turn something off and on based on that cycle.
> 
> The cheapo timers work too, they are accurate within a few minuets and get the job done. That is what I use on my tank at work after all.


That make sense for an outdoor timer. Thanks for the info!


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## NJAquaBarren (Sep 16, 2009)

Get an electronic timer with battery backup if you have frequent power failures. resetting multiple timers is a pain.

I have the Coralife digital and it works fine. It does NOT let you stagger times, such as CO2 ON before Lights ON. Other than that though, it works fine.

Whatever you do, make sure everything is plugged into a GFCI extenstion/adapter.


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## fish dork (Jan 13, 2008)

Walmart in Canada sells digital Woods brand timers. They have 2 outlets that are independantly programmable and have 3 prong plugs.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I will personally not buy any more of the cheapo mechanical timers, and here is why:

Where I live we lose power frequently. Every time the power goes, it throws off the 24-hr cycle, which means after I catch on to it, I have to go through the process of adjusting them back to where they need, and my timers are not the most accessible things in the world usually.

Also, I have two timers on one of my tanks. This is so that I can have a sunrise/noon burst/sunset kind of thing happening. Well guess what? Not all timers are made equal, and even when I don't lose any power, after a little while goes by, the timers drift, and are no longer on the same 24 hr cycle!

On my 10g aquarium I have a single digital timer. It has a little battery backup thingy on it. I've never had to reset it or adjust it yet. The only time I ever have to do anything to it is when daylight savings time begins or ends. I've had it for over 2 years now, and still it is going strong, accurately keeping time, and even during hurricanes and big storms where we LOSE POWER bigtime, the battery has kept its time.

So, I've decided to can all the mechanical timers and use them for christmas lights. And now I will exclusively use digital timers. The convenience alone is worth millions to me, yet these timers cost about $11 at Target.

*For those non-observant ones of you out there: make sure you get the 3-prong timers!!! IME, most light fixtures (except for the 27w Hampton Bay desklamp) have grounded 3-prong cords.


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## NJAquaBarren (Sep 16, 2009)

What Church said. I've had a few short power outages and the Coralife Digital didn't miss a beat.

I also picked up some low-profile digital timers at Target for turning house lights on and off. They are the height of an outlet and you can fit two easily on a recepticle, or one per outlet on a power strip. They have a battery for backup and have also proven reliable BUT it has only been a few months.

AB


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## elihanover (May 15, 2008)

I use the digital version of this one.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11379


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## robxc80 (Aug 4, 2009)

what happens if it doesnt have the third prong and you use an adapter. is this asking for trouble?


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

Church said:


> I will personally not buy any more of the cheapo mechanical timers, and here is why:
> 
> Where I live we lose power frequently. Every time the power goes, it throws off the 24-hr cycle, which means after I catch on to it, I have to go through the process of adjusting them back to where they need, and my timers are not the most accessible things in the world usually.
> 
> ...


Do you remember the brand name?


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

robxc80 said:


> what happens if it doesnt have the third prong and you use an adapter. is this asking for trouble?


Well, it would be near water so, for safety sake use a properly grounded GFCI outlet.


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

RianS said:


> if your times are all going to be set to the same on/off time's why not consider the coralife timer. I'm using the digital one with comes with 4 standard outlets, 2 day, and 2 nighttime except i added a splitter to the day so i could run two lights and my co2. It works really well and it comes with a backup battery so incase your power goes out all the settings are there. of course there's also the standard ones too.


I've seen TOO many recalls on Coralife timers that supposedly caused fires. I just use good old Intermatic electronic HD appliance timers. They're about $12.00 as opposed to around $25 for the Coralife, & you can program much more with individual timers than you can with the 2 "day", 2 "nite" Coralife deal.

Tommy


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

robxc80 said:


> what happens if it doesnt have the third prong and you use an adapter. is this asking for trouble?


In a sense, yes. It's not technically an adapter. It's a ground lift. It just removes the ground from the electrical connection. It's there for a reason though.



hbosman said:


> Do you remember the brand name?


Westek. I'm pretty sure I got it from Target, but it was a long time ago. Maybe was Walmart, or Home Depot or something.


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

Church said:


> In a sense, yes. It's not technically an adapter. It's a ground lift. It just removes the ground from the electrical connection. It's there for a reason though.
> 
> 
> 
> Westek. I'm pretty sure I got it from Target, but it was a long time ago. Maybe was Walmart, or Home Depot or something.


Thanks Church. I was wanting a smallish timer with battery backup. I want to use three and fit them on a single power strip. I just don't get why coralife or somebody doesn't make a digital with three timed outlets. Well, if they did, they would probably want $50.00 for it.


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## nismo tetra (Oct 11, 2009)

Nice info. I will probably go shopping for these tomorrow since I got my lights in the mail. I will have to browse around and see what I can come up with. Thanks for the post church. I never even thought of the offsetting times, over time, issue with three separate mechanical timers.:thumbsup: I to am going for the High noon burst.


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## Kittysnax (Dec 8, 2009)

ok i skimmed the thread and couldnt see that my question had been asked so ima ask it lol.

I want a timer that can turn the "nightlight" on when the "daylight" turns off. (2 seperate strips/plugs)

Id want it to operate both, but on different cycles. Can a digital one do this? If it was already asked, I apologize, long day LOL.


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## nismo tetra (Oct 11, 2009)

Well I managed to get some digital timers on clearance at target for 7 dollars a piece. They are westinghouse brand and have button battery backup. So far they seem pretty good and not extremely cheap. I managed to fit 3 of them on a typical 6 outlet extension chord thanks to the extended transformer section.

Looks like I got them half price compared to this online store. Maybe I should go buy some more.
https://www.chooserenewables.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16191&cat=273&page=1

Thanks again.


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## tuonor (Nov 26, 2009)

Here's a compact one that doesn't block the second outlet on a wall socket (assuming same would be true for most power strips):

http://www.improvementscatalog.com/home/improvements/792928169-digital-light-timers.html

Note I don't have one so can't vouch for them, but was mulling over getting a couple.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

^ Too bad those are only 2-pronged. Good for desk lamps though...


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## nismo tetra (Oct 11, 2009)

Yea I got some 3 prong ones....even though my individual light cords are 2 prong, but my co2 solenoid is 3 prong.


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## taekwondodo (Apr 16, 2006)

For those with no budget limitations, this looks like it should cover any application we can think of:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-APC-Switche...QcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_UPS?hash=item5d2734be16


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## nismo tetra (Oct 11, 2009)

Lol nice. I would have to invest an extra 30 dollars in advil to deal with the headache that comes with that thing. Jeez, id be lost for hours setting that up.


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## taekwondodo (Apr 16, 2006)

You could have every light ballast on a timer and really confuse the #### out of the algae...
Multiple powerheads changing flow several times a day,
Different heating for day/night,
Dosing pump for (each) N, P, K, Fe and Excel...
Moon lights,
<drools>


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