Contactors & Timers HELP!?

Okay, so about 1 week or so ago I went to my local hydro store to buy some things, one of the things was a contactor and a timer as I have upgraded from CFLs to a 400 Watt HPS/MH setup recently.

Anyway, the timer + contactor ran me about £45 which I thought was pretty steep for what they are. Not only that but the contactor requires 2 wall sockets just for the light, which is a pain for me as I only have 2 wall sockets in the room meaning I now have to run an extension lead around the house for my fans ect from the adjacent room.

So I was googling away searching for some bits and bobs and I came accross this( Click the link and scroll to the bottom where i says "Accessories" and you will see "13amp UK Grow Lamp Timer with 22amp Contactor - IP44 (Splash Proof) Rated")

http://www.enviro-gro-lites.co.uk/Products.asp

At only £14.95 it is far cheaper than what I bought and is has a built in timer and is splash proof (Good for me as I am using a hydro setup). Granted it can only take a 600 Watt ballasr but that is fine for me as I only use a 400 Watt one.

I emailed them and they said, given I have limited availabe wall sockets, that it would be totally fine to plug one of those multi-plug extension leads into the wall socket, the timer/contactor into one of the extenion plugs and the ballast into the timer. Leaving me with plenty of spare plugs for all the other things that need power.

Now, I am not going to be getting anything over 600 Watts anytime soon (infact ever probably), so do you think I should return my current contactor and timer to my local store where they are offering me a refund and buy this other product?

bump......

bump......

With the amount of light you have, which is low. You could go with just any simple timer. Most mechanical timers can handle a 1500-1700w resistive load. So you having only 600-800 total watts of inductive load will work just fine. The timer I am using is rated at 1725w, I currently have 1 1000w MH and 1 400w HPS on it, should be a total of around 1600w average, so far no problems. So to answer your question, yes that timer on the webpage, will suit your needs just fine, and you shouldn'nt have any problems

A nice little timer would would great for 1 - 400W Like the last poster said you can use them up to 1800watts, but they don't really like it and they'll run hot and burn out faster. Return that thing you bought because at this level you don't need it. Also don't start using extension cords all over your house please. That's how a lot of people burn shit up. What happens is the cord/plug gets lose and start arching and will melt if not catch a little fire, but if you must use a cord make sure it's 12awg wire inside it. It'll be bigger and cost more then all the other cords, but worth it if you don't want to have problems. I hate when people buy the cheapest ext. cord and cry that they have problems.

mochadog70 said:

A nice little timer would would great for 1 - 400W Like the last poster said you can use them up to 1800watts, but they don't really like it and they'll run hot and burn out faster. Return that thing you bought because at this level you don't need it. Also don't start using extension cords all over your house please. That's how a lot of people burn shit up. What happens is the cord/plug gets lose and start arching and will melt if not catch a little fire, but if you must use a cord make sure it's 12awg wire inside it. It'll be bigger and cost more then all the other cords, but worth it if you don't want to have problems. I hate when people buy the cheapest ext. cord and cry that they have problems.

Click to expand...

Thanks, It is indeed usgin 12awg wiring.

So are you all saying that a 400 Watt ballast won't need a contactor, and can just be plugged into the extenstion.

If that is the case, I will still get that timer just for peace of mind.

joshrose54 said:

Thanks, It is indeed usgin 12awg wiring.

So are you all saying that a 400 Watt ballast won't need a contactor, and can just be plugged into the extenstion.

If that is the case, I will still get that timer just for peace of mind.

Click to expand...

Yes for sure you don't need a contact for that. You could run 3 - 400W on a plug in style timer with no problems. When you buy one look at the box and see that it's rated at 15+amps or 1500w+ and you'll be fine. Make sure that it has a tight fit into the plug in and the cord coming out of it is not going to make it fall out of the wall socket. Really try to keep your ext. cords to a limited length. They always seem to fuck up at the ends where you plug into at. When using them attach them to the wall so you don't trip over them and the ends can't come into water.

Yes, I've been doing light timing control research as well. I am running my lights on 240 volts, running 1 400 mh and 1 600 hps. Do I need a contactor? Finding timers rated for 240v is a pain. I would prefer digital but am not resistant to suggestions. Most I see are water heater timers for ~$70. I see inline intermatics for 20. I came across the contactor way and thought it may be the answer. I currently have a couple spa water heater timers I thought I might use but they have odd connections. They are rated 15amp resistive and are single pole double throw. Would they work? Should I just use a simple 120v timer? From the way the posts read I can't tell if the OP is running 120 or 240. Thanks, 240 timers have been perplexing me.

Well, I use a contactor for piece of mind, people say that a timer will easily take a 400 Watt Light which is what I use, but as I said, I had a contactor already so I used it as a precaution, better safe than sorry. I think, becuase you are effectively running 1000 Watts, you are going too need a contactor. You should only need one for the 600 Watt providing you use a seperate timer for it.