intermatic timer 240volt wireing help

can someone help me wire an intermatic t104r time clock? 240 volt
im want to just put a break in my line near my panel before my lamp box.
the timer has A, line1, load2, line3, load 4, one ground nut im confused. i have red, black, white and bare copper from the box.

i dont want to plug my lamp box into the timer i want to break the line in the middle if that makes sence.

Your line is your power coming in.So your two hot lines go on line 1 other hot line goes on line2.ground goes on green screw.and should be a white for nutreal.(you should see 1 nutreal line and 1 hot line going to clock)load is power going to outlet or lamp.

Red wire to line 1
black wire to line 2
white wire to nuteral (should be screw that clock hooks to thats not hot)
bare to green screw.

should look something like this. this is 120v though

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=93799

its ok to just tap into the middle of the line correct?

As fumancu stated, "line" is your input power (i.e., from the panel) and "load" is your output (i.e., feeding into the lights).

Neutral (in this case, white) isn't going to be used for lights. Cap it off, and install the black and red to the "line" screws, green to the "ground". Black to (1; line), red to (3; line), green to ground; then, another set of wires (two hot & ground) to your lights.

swordfish said:

i dont want to plug my lamp box into the timer i want to break the line in the middle if that makes sence.

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What do you mean by "lamp box"? Some light controller? If so, can't that light controller handle everything including acting as a timer?

You need white for the clock.

clowntown said:

As fumancu stated, "line" is your input power (i.e., from the panel) and "load" is your output (i.e., feeding into the lights).

Neutral (in this case, white) isn't going to be used for lights. Cap it off, and install the black and red to the "line" screws, green to the "ground". Black to (1; line), red to (3; line), green to ground; then, another set of wires (two hot & ground) to your lights.


What do you mean by "lamp box"? Some light controller? If so, can't that light controller handle everything including acting as a timer?

Click to expand...

problem is that i have a solatel 6lamp timer that has 10 diffrent settings that you can click on. 12/12 20/4 etc the problem is that its not digital so when the power goes out guess what?? if your on 12/12 half way in then you lost your setting. This lamp timer is useless. SO i want to put a mechanical timer near the sub box and set this lamp timer on and forget about it. not to mention how can you turn the lights off if you need to to foliar

So again im not wireing the lamp box into the timer i just want to break the power line and wire up inbetween in. thats ok right?

fumancu said:

You need white for the clock.

Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but I think you're seriously mistaken. On a T104, the clock runs at 208-277v and does not use/require a neutral; there is a pair of wires, installed by the manufacturer (looks like 18awg?) that runs to the clock motor. Installing the neutral wire on one of the hot screws could cause some very serious hazards, such as touching your main panel where the neutral runs back to.

clowntown said:

I could be wrong, but I think you're seriously mistaken. On a T104, the clock runs at 208-277v and does not use/require a neutral; there is a pair of wires, installed by the manufacturer (looks like 18awg?) that runs to the clock motor. Installing the neutral wire on one of the hot screws could cause some very serious hazards, such as touching your main panel where the neutral runs back to.

Click to expand...

clown i think your right, this clock is for two hots in and two hots out. has an optional A for a diffrent neutral

swordfish said:

problem is that i have a solatel 6lamp timer that has 10 diffrent settings that you can click on. 12/12 20/4 etc the problem is that its not digital so when the power goes out guess what?? if your on 12/12 half way in then you lost your setting. This lamp timer is useless. SO i want to put a mechanical timer near the sub box and set this lamp timer on and forget about it. not to mention how can you turn the lights off if you need to to foliar

So again im not wireing the lamp box into the timer i just want to break the power line and wire up inbetween in. thats ok right?

Click to expand...

I'm still unsure what purpose this (T104) timer will serve, or how it will come into play. If you set the T104 to 12/12, for instance, then what would be the purpose of the lighting controller? I'm assuming this is what you meant... that you'd set the T104 to 12/12, and the lamp controller to "24/0". If that's the case, why not completely remove the lamp controller?

The mechanical timer will also not run when you have a power outage; a 2-hour power outage, for instance, will shift your lighting schedule back 2 hours. In other words, you're basically putting two mechanical devices that do the same thing on the same line, with one (effectively) disabled (in terms of function) and one enabled @ 12/12.

Sounds like what you want is a digital timer & contactor-based timer/light controller. You can buy them for a couple of bills (depending on capacity), or build your own for under $100.

Come to think of it... installing a neutral to one of the hot (line) screws is far, far more dangerous than just the main panel, I've realized. I believe it will have that hazard along with turning every neutral & ground into a hot line (if the neutral & ground bars are bonded? unsure, I'm a complete electrical noob as well)... Just about every metal surface will be electrified. Good at keeping burglars away, but not good for your health or any 120v devices plugged in.

Before you do any of this, though, make sure to go through cocktail frank's electrical safety thread.

hey clown, the lamp timer i have does not have any time setting on the unit so lets say a storm comes flicks the power for one second. My lights are not off by just one second they are off by hours now because the lamp box i have now does not read time just counts down from when i set it 12/12 you get it? so if i put a mechancial timer on if the power goes off for a second or even an hour im ok i can turn my timer back an hour to adjust. other wise i would not even know if the power went on or off with my old lamp timer it would just be off by hours and i might not know until it way too late.

swordfish said:

hey clown, the lamp timer i have does not have any time setting on the unit so lets say a storm comes flicks the power for one second. My lights are not off by just one second they are off by hours now because the lamp box i have now does not read time just counts down from when i set it 12/12 you get it? so if i put a mechancial timer on if the power goes off for a second or even an hour im ok i can turn my timer back an hour to adjust. other wise i would not even know if the power went on or off with my old lamp timer it would just be off by hours and i might not know until it way too late.

Click to expand...

Completely understood, now. In that case, you have a couple of viable options that I see immediately:

• Use both the T104 and the lighting controller as you plan; the lighting controller would more or less serve as a convenient near-by on/off switch, as well as also serve as a "power strip" for multiple plug-in receptacles
• Buy or build your own contactor-based lighting controller that uses a standard 120v digital timer (most/all come with a battery backup feature to remember the time and settings)

I'm pretty sure there's a thread on this site on how to build one, but I can't seem to find it right now so here's the off-site link with a picture-guided tutorial: How to Build a Four Light Grow Light Controller for Less Than $80. Of course this could be modified for more lights by replacing the relay / contactor and wire for the correct ratings for a higher amperage.

I believe a 4-light (30A) controller of this style will run you roughly $200, and about double that for an 8-light (50A) controller at retail shops.

An alternate option, although impractical and expensive if the controller itself runs at 240v (and not 120v device controlling a 240v relay/contactor) or has only one 240v plug (instead of a 240v + 120v plugs) is to purchase a UPS (battery backup system). If the controller & timer on that lighting controller runs at 120v, you could get a UPS that will be more than enough to hold the settings on that controller for many hours (if not days). If 240v (or 120v controller/timer internally, but no 120v cord and only a 4-prong 240v), I'm not sure if this is feasible as it's most likely one plug that powers both the lights & the timer/controller, meaning that you'd need a very large, very expensive 240v based UPS in order to keep things going for more than a few minutes (or seconds).

got it working! now i can leave the lamp box on and the timer will do the resrt and the lamp box will turn them on 2 at a time

Sorry mine is a differnt model mine is 120v/240v.