Hello brothers I am currently running a 400w mh for veg through a heavy duty Defiant timer which is great for time being. But heres my problem I want to switch to a 1000w hps for flower and I know that the timer won't last long for this. I plan to switch to 12/12 in less than a week or two and my budget is $80 tops whether its wiring something together or buying a premade . Please help bros.
Help with 1000w lighting from 110v/120v outlet
- Thread starter wunhung23
- Start date
Thanks for the quick response..Ok so do I have to cut the 3 pronged plug off of my ballast and wire that to the timer and from the timer use the cut 12/3 ext cord and wire that to the timer for the main power coming from my outlet? And the wiring aspect of this I see is on the door of the timer do I just go off of that?
The easiest way to do it is to cut the donor extension cord at a point that will allow the portion with the male end to reach from the timer to the receptacle after you mount the timer where you want it. Give yourself enough extra cord to allow it to be stripped back and reach the connections inside the timer. The black wire in this cord will attach to the "line" terminal, the white wire to the "neutral" terminal, and the green to the ground screw.
The female portion of the cord can then be cut to a length that allows your ballast cord to plug into it. The black wire on this cord will attach to the "load" terminal, the white wire will go with the other white wire under the "neutral" terminal, and the green wire will attach with the other ground wire under the ground screw.
It would be best to use crimp-on terminals on the green wires to keep them from squirting out when you attach them with the screw, and you will need some type of strain-relief connectors to feed the cords through into the timer enclosure and retain them. These are available with the wiring supplies at Home Depot or wherever - just make sure that you get the ones that fit your cord correctly. If you have a hard time finding strain-relief connectors, romex clamps can be used if you don't get carried away tightening them down.
The female portion of the cord can then be cut to a length that allows your ballast cord to plug into it. The black wire on this cord will attach to the "load" terminal, the white wire will go with the other white wire under the "neutral" terminal, and the green wire will attach with the other ground wire under the ground screw.
It would be best to use crimp-on terminals on the green wires to keep them from squirting out when you attach them with the screw, and you will need some type of strain-relief connectors to feed the cords through into the timer enclosure and retain them. These are available with the wiring supplies at Home Depot or wherever - just make sure that you get the ones that fit your cord correctly. If you have a hard time finding strain-relief connectors, romex clamps can be used if you don't get carried away tightening them down.
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I'm so very confused...
You need a timer for a 1000w ballast right, 110/120v connection. Standard 9.16 amp max draw kind of situation?
Why not a Titan Apollo 8 for $7.95?
You need a timer for a 1000w ballast right, 110/120v connection. Standard 9.16 amp max draw kind of situation?
Why not a Titan Apollo 8 for $7.95?
I can guarantee you that you will not find a timer for that price that will handle a 1k ballast and live out a happy, long life. If they have even been tested with the various types of loads, the nominal advertised loading is always based on a resistive load. Resistive loads, like heaters, are the easiest type of loads to switch, while ballasts are among the hardest. If you look at the specifications for quality equipment, you will find that the resistive load rating is almost invariably several times higher than the ballast, or capacitive, loading. The makers of cheap gear don't even bother to test the various types of loads to find out what the results would be.
From their website - "Important: Not recommended for use with digital/electronic ballasts"
http://www.titancontrols.net/products/timing/apollo-8.aspx
Dude, you just blew my mind. I did not know about their incompatibility! (Told you I was confused) I called Titan to get some information from the horses mouth.
At startup the inrush current is 10x-40x as great as the operating current for about 3 milliseconds. This jolt can fuse the relay contacts, putting the timer in a perpetually "on" state. The timers they recommend are the Apollo 4 ($50.52) for 110/120v and the Apollo 5 ($47.50) for 220/240v. These are fine for use with 1000w digital ballasts.
Now, I can say for certain that there are thousands of people using the incorrect timers on 1000w ballasts. I've used an Apollo 9 to run a 1000w Magnetic and 400w digital on the dual plugs for several months without trouble. I've probably sold 100 of these timers and never had one returned. Not one. So, while I do understand the mechanics here I have to say that if this fusing issue was a frequent problem I'm sure I'd hear a lot more about it. I'm not going to suggest the Apollo 6's-11's or the 14's over the 4's and 5's now, but I also don't worry about the ballast I have at home on a 9. I've been using that same timer for probably 4 years now, so I hope that if it were going to fuse that it would have happened already.
I have sold a few of those so called "heavy duty" intermatic timers. Those do get returned on the regular and that's why I am still a Titan fan.
have yet to ruin an intermatic 101 timer...I have however melted/ruin so many digital cheapos I lost count.....I wont use em anymore for hid lighting no matter what manufacturer says
I doubt that we are referring to the same Intermatic product - take a look at the picture above that Wunhung used in his post to see what I'm talking about. I've seen them used for everything from water heater timers, to swimming pool filter timers, to controls in industrial boiler plants over the last 40 years, and I've never seen one fail that was installed properly.
The 101 and the 104 are usually the trouble makers. I think "regularly" was a little too liberal of a word. I've seen them returned, that's all. And it could have been as much user error as mechanical error when they are all tallied up. I don't process the returns but I could ask my dude what he sees more of.
http://www.ehydroponics.com/intermatic-t101-timer.html
http://www.ehydroponics.com/intermatic-t104-timer-with-metal-case-208-277-volt.html
The only "problems" that I've seen with these are that in a digital world, we have come to expect pinpoint accuracy and these can't deliver it. Similarly, they can't be battery-backed and lose their time setting during a power outage. Other than that, they are about as tough as a rock.
Off topic, but a question - do you work for ehydro? I think that you guys do a hell of a job, and I recommend you on here regularly.
a few 2-3 years ago I bought that timer and used it on a
1000w E-ballast,
the $12 timer worked fine
BUT
after blowing 2 $75 bulbs back to back when they
were 1st fired up
I realizing after re-reading the
"do not use with E-ballasts" on the instructions I got the
*why* you don't use that timer with E-ballasts and read instructions more thoroughly from then on.
