Inexpensive Lighting / Equipment Timers 

Overview 

If you've ever put your lights on a timer, it's likely that you've used one of these simple switching timers.  They're common, they're inexpensive, and they're everywhere.  Hydrofarm has distributed them for years.  Most of the timers in my arsenal came from Hydrofarm at one point or another.

These timers are built so that you can break they day into "15 minute" intervals, which can independently be assigned as "on" or "off".  They are very straightforward to use, and are found in gardens and greenhouses everywhere.

These units are typically found in both single and double outlet configurations.  In this article, we look exclusively at the single-outlet unit.

These timers also feature a "force on" switch, will force the outlet to receive power regardless of the timer's configuration.  This is quite helpful. 

Acquisition

We purchased this timer at market rate, though a normal hydroponics retailer.  Nothing was provided as an incentive to review this product. We paid about $13 for our unit.

Observations

We have this type of timer in our gardens for years.  They have always been reliable, and have functioned without any substantial problems.  We use several of these, often chained (when running an ebb & flow).  In our ebb & flow system, we have a "primary" timer which powers a strip.  This strip powers the lighting, and additionally, a second timer.  The second timer is configured to have six "15 minute" cycles per rotation (once every six hours).  This causes our system to only "flood" when the lights are shining.  This simple configuration has worked very well, and has been quite reliable.

Recommendations

These timers are cheap, easy, and reliable.  We like them a lot.  Although they don't offer a lot of "advanced" features, they're the best timer you can get for $13.

Final recommendation:  This is the cheapest way to put your lighting and pumps on a schedule.  If you don't need a lot of fancy features, it's your best bet.

Bonus:  Under The Hood 

Recently, I was tempted to explore these timers in more detail.  I was attempting to make some modifications and "upgrades" of my own.  Sadly, my hypothesis turned out to be incorrect.  I didn't make any modifications.  However, my experiment resulted in an interesting look inside the unit.

Our first photo shows a timer with the cover still in place.  We'll take it off in a moment. 

Our second photo shows the internals of the timer.  As you can see, the timer is controlled by a rather precise mechanism of gears.  The "tan colored" box contains a small screw-drive motor, which turns the gear mechanism.  The gears are all specially fit (and quite tricky to fit back into place, should you disturb them).  The timer itself is both simple, and difficult to modify at the same time.  I wouldn't recommend opening your timer, as there isn't much to gain, but there are plenty of small parts to lose.