[tpl*co]

I have an Aqualight Digital Power Center for my big aquarium. Didn't have time to figure out how to program it when I put on my Aqualight and had no real reason to, so I plugged it in to an always "hot" outlet. (when I tried to program it briefly it didn't seem to light in the right outlets).

Well, now I have the Nova Extreme with the moonlights, and the fan that needs to be put on a timer. I'm also going to put the canopy on so I gave it more of an effort and it seemed to not be going well. The lights would not turn on when I programmed them following the directions. Thinking I had a defective unit :angryfire . I went out and purchased another. Gave it another go. This is what I found out...

Well these units have 2 yellow (daytime) and 2 blue (nightime) outlets. The yellow and blue outlets alternate power, the yellow and blue outlets cannot be on at the same time. When one switches off the other switches on automatically, and you can program when they switch. The instructions makes it sound like you're programming the yellow plugs (day) going on and off, it's the opposite, It seems you're timing the blues. So I had to plug my lights in the blue plugs and my moonlights in the yellows (yes, I double checked the a.m. and p.m. settings too!) Both Power Centers are doing the same thing! I even tried it with regular lights and changed the programming to go on and off within a few minutes to check which plugs where going on when. I even had my husband read the instructions to see what he got out of them (for what patience he had to follow, he agreed it sounded like you're timing the yellows from the instructions :icon_conf )

So, has anybody else have the same experience with these things? What does everybody else use besides these?

Tina

 

[tpl*co]

OK, seems like the yellow/blue outlets are on sequence or something and there is no way to override until it does it itself for a while? Seems like it has to go through 1 time before it rights itself? I had to switch the lights to the yellow outlets last night since it seems to be working like it should now.(the lights didn't switch off like they should last night so I swapped plugs, and they turned back on at the right time this morning). This timer is soooo lame. :angryfire

Does anybody know how long the battery will last in it either?

Tina

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I have NEVER heard anything but bad news about those things...

Tommy

 

[Raul-7]

They caused a fire on a member's tank here and there's more horror stories on www.reefcentral.com . Stay away!

 

[tpl*co]

What should I use instead? Wish I kept the box on the other one .

Tina

 

[2wheelsx2]

Just use separate timers. Mechanical or digital with battery backup, that's what I use. I have 2 banks of lights, LED moonlights, and pressurized CO2 on my 125 gallon and I use 4 timers. Never a problem except having to reset the mechanical timers after power outages.

 

[RandyB]

You could use 3 regular powerbars with 2 mechanical timers. 1 powerbar always on, 1 powerbar connected through a timer for the daytime, the other powerbar connected through another timer for the nighttime. As was stated, the only minor problem is resetting the timers after power outtages.

This setup should allow for more than enough flexibility and connections.

 

[Sympley]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. I have 3 of these timers. 2 on my planted and 1 on my nano reef and they work perfectly fine.
If you read the instructions it will tell you that the first cycle is not correct. Once you go through one cycle they will be OK. Your yellow will be day lights and blue will be your moonlights. I can't comment on the battery life but I had mine for 6 months and it is still remembering the settings.
Fire wise I had no problems as well....so far at least. Maybe some of the lights pull too much power and it fries the unit..I just don't know. On my nano reef I am using all the plugs, and have no problem.

 

[tropicalfish]

I use surge protected power strips and Intermatic Digital Timers...
More expensive though...

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I use surge protected power strips and Intermatic Digital Timers...
More expensive though...

X2 + my recep is GFI protected.

Tommy

 

[attack11]

the dual timer unit is what you're after; it's designed for aquatic use and has 2 timers + "night" + 1 always on outlet.