Light accessories and such

[Brad104]

What do you think about timers for lights or automatic feeders with timing and etc.Me personally the times I’ve tried either you have to go to your grow room anyway to make sure everything is working so I figured if I have to be there I may as well plug in and feed myself instead of trusting the mechanical devices and losing my crop. What is your thoughts about it?

[Somatek]

It’s never been a question for me to use timers as humans aren’t reliable/consistent enough to rely on for growing. Automation only really makes sense at a certain scale or for certain lifestyles but it’s never been a question to me that done properly it’s a huge improvement. Changing a res that’s feeding 100sq ft garden once a week and checking it daily to make sure it’s working is a fraction of the work of doing it yourself, especially in any kind of high growth system like NFT

[Brad104]

This is one time I have to disagree with you,I believe I am way more reliable than any timer on the market as a matter of fact I have to get up out of bed now for the lights go on down stairs at midnight so it’s time to get to work I will be back by 1 in the am sir thank you for your response we all don’t have to always agree with one another right 🤣

[Somatek]

How reliable would you be at turning the irrigation on for 15 seconds every 5 mins all day?  Flipping lights once a day is manageable but a lot of automation wouldn’t be practical to do yourself.

Personally I wouldn’t want to be tied to my grow and have to be there every 12 hours to turn lights on/off when an intermatic timer will carry up to a 40amp, 240v load safely for decade after decade without fail.  It’s no question to me that a $50 quality timer is worth the convenience of not being tied to my grow, being able to go to a concert or crash at a friends if I had too much to drink instead of having to get home for x time to flip the lights on/off.

[Brad104]

I do see your point there I’ve only growed for self and family I have always just done it,but if I had an irrigation system and all of that sort of stuff I would have a new good timer,we tried the timers years ago and none were ever able to handle the 9+ amps theese old 🦖 hid lights we use still.They would always burn up nowadays I’m quite sure that they have so much better quality than they used too.We just always make sure someone is home here always if at all possible.For as you know anything can happen at anytime and I like to keep everyone else honest if you catch my drift.So I should have definitely worded it better than I did ok

[Somatek]

Intermatic timers have been around forever, they’re commonly used in industrial settings, their standard in greenhouses and the base model sold in hydro shops are rated for 40amps at 240v, so you can run up to 7-8 1000w lights on a single timer.  I think I still have the first one I bought and wired up 20 years ago, I know I have an older one from a neighbour.  I’m surprised you’ve never heard of them as I thought they were standard grow gear for HID growers since you can’t trust the cheap plasting timers with them.

[Brad104]

Those we’re the only timers that were available to us back then I tried one of the plastic ones that had a clock dial on it I think 💬 you will know what I mean and I tried a little tan one may have been 3 inches wide and it was digital I believe it came from the Dept store Walmart that’s about the biggest store around me @somatek I live out in a desolate place but I love it although it is 3 hours away to the nearest city and back then the closet hydro store was close to your way but on our side of the great lakes so maybe you can understand my thoughts on timers for those 2 are all we ever tried but I would love to try one out on whatever new light I purchase

[Author]

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