Healer

JG linked to this old thread in a new one though.

Yeah, all my timers are rated for 15 amps and I thought 1000W was 10 amps or a little less, but still they melt and turn brown. I have one with three 400W lights plugged into it through a 3-way connector which should still be 12 amps or less and that one goes bad even more often.

buzzmobile

The Gray Intermatic Timer is really the better choice over the heavy duty plastic timers. They're more durable and dependable. They are easy to hook up and they come with detailed instructions. It's a simple matter of mounting the box and connecting the LINE, which is the power coming to your timer, to the same screws marked Line in the box. The LOAD is the wire running from the timer to the light. There are two screws marked for Load as well. Run a green wire ground to the ground screw on the timer box, and all that's left is setting the time.

Healer

Thanks. OK the line or power to my timer would be coming from an electrical outlet. How do I attach that to screws? I'd have to splice into electrical wiring, and again into the wires on my lights? How many amps can this type of timer handle?

buzzmobile

There are many models available. The ones I use are wired directly from the breaker panel and then to my lights. Check out their website. It has lots of good information. (It's slow right now.) Intermatic timers

Healer

If all the lights are on the same circuit, could I use a timer like this to turn them all off and on at once safely? If they're not on the same circuit would I need more than one timer regardless of wattage? Is this the type you'd recommend? Would I have to cut into electrical wires to install one like that? Is there any option that doesn't involve cutting wires besides the "heavy duty" 15 amp timers I've been using?

swordfish

Sanclem? I remember him from the marihemp message boards back in the 90s. Didnt know he was still around. Those message boards are closed now. Sanclem ran that show back then. Hated HPS as I recall and believed the only good thing about a HPS system is that the ballast could be used as a doorstop. He loved his Metal Halides for flowering if im not mistaken.

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Healer

He hasn't been around here for several years, at least with that name. I remember his love of MH too, at one point posting something like when you die and follow the light you will find that even God uses MH. He was often difficult to understand but had some good info and was hilariously out there.

Healer

And if that is the right type of timer to use, is 30 amp only good with a 30 amp breaker, or does it depend on the amps going through the timer?

bobbooty

i think you can safely run 2 x 2000w lights off that 30 amp timer. maybe 3 x 2000w. but that only leaves you about 3amps overhead, roughly, on that circuit.

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buzzmobile

The 30A timer can take the load of your lights. That's not the issue. The circuit you connect the timer should also be able to handle the amperage of your lights. There should be at least a 20A breaker for the lights. You could cut up a #12 AWG (heavy duty) extension cord to wire your timer from a wall socket that is on a 20A breaker.

Cut a piece 3' length (or however long you need to mount the timer) from the male end of the extension cord and strip a few inches of insulation to expose the black, white, and green wires inside the cord. These wires are your LINE. The LOAD wires would be the cords running from the lights back to the timer.