Timers

[Keke713]

Just curious as to what kind of timers everyone on here uses. Analog or digital? Is there a certain brand that’s better than others? Any ones to stay away from? Any one that you would highly recommend? Please let me know. Thanks in advance!

 

[cold blood]

Timers for what?

 

[checkmate]

Do you mean a timer to turn lamps on/off?

 

[Keke713]

Timers for what?

Timers for vivariums. NOT FOR T’s! Haha

 

[Keke713]

Do you mean a timer to turn lamps on/off?

Yes

 

[The Snark]

If the timer is used in a critical application go by the warranty offered. If the timers are suspect, cheap or possibly knock off copies, - fakes, pirated, quite possible these days, buy several. Honestly, I wouldn't trust any name brands. Point of purchase warranty replacements offered is the safest bet.

 

[Marvinxox]

I just use the cheapest mechianical timers I can find at my local hardware-store.
They work and I only have them for led-lights, so there´s no harm to be done if they fail

 

[Polenth]

I use digital. I had an analogue one long ago and it clicked constantly as it counted the time. I tossed that out pretty quickly.

I just buy whatever brand the supermarket has, as it's for lights, so it's not the end of the world if they fail to turn on. That said, my old timer worked for over four years and was still working when I replaced it. I only did that because it was a bit bulky compared to the new ones.

 

[The Snark]

Digital is the way to go. It has a microchip, usually a sealed glop on a circuit board that can last an ice age, and a relay or transistorized output. Mechanical/analogue timers have a clock and a switch, both far more susceptible to wearing out.

The better digital timers will have some form of notifying you when the power goes out and it needs resetting, better than those are the ones that run on a battery which is constantly being charged when plugged it, the best are the ones that have a dual power setup like quality cameras* that has a keep-alive lithium ion time base or memory and sources power from being plugged in.

* Camera style dual power. You can remove the batteries for charging and the keep alive power source remembers all your settings.

 

[Keke713]

Awesome lots of great advice guys! Digital does sound like the way to go so I’ll be headed out to the stores in a few. Thanks a lot everyone!

 

[viper69]

Just curious as to what kind of timers everyone on here uses. Analog or digital? Is there a certain brand that’s better than others? Any ones to stay away from? Any one that you would highly recommend? Please let me know. Thanks in advance!

Get whatever you can afford. I've used both types, neither was better at keeping time.

 

[The Snark]

I've used both types, neither was better at keeping time.

So get any affordable timer and attach an atomic clock time base. While you are at it, set all your clocks and timepieces to GMT, just to standardize things.