What do you use to turn on your lights

[carco88]

What do you use to turn on your lights.
the reason i ask is the timers i use are crap!!
they turn off when they want and loses time
any ideas
:o

[JAGR]

i only use cheap timers digital ones werent that good so i changed them for some old ones i had on my freshwater tank still work no problems Gordon

[alanwsg]

you have to use a contactor if you want to switch MH lighting with a normal time switch: the startup load they place on the switch is too high for them to handle.

something like this : http://www.fastlight.co.uk/shop/en-gb/dept_23.html

If you know what you're doing, you can make one much cheaper.

[Tony B]

I used tesco's mechanical (not digital) timers on my old halides, worked fine switching on my arcadia they have their own built in timers

[CraigT]

Aquatronica :D

[james141]

Aquatronica too :)

[urban_hippie]

Homebase mechanical ones, seem to be doing fine at the mo for me. £8.99 for a pack of 3 (or is that Condoms!)

[cajen]

Wilkinson mechanical timers: £2-3 IIRC and work just fine on t5s.

[Shultz]

I used to use the argos digital timers & found they worked just fine, now use the Aquatronica :)

Cheers Shelton.

[maestro]

I used to use the mechanical timers but I found them to be useless, allways got jammed or stopped working, lights came on at all hours, now have the digital version and they are soo much better, no problems at all and very precise.

[MrFish]

I use cheap digital timers but 99% of them on the market will only switch 2amps of inductive load such as MH lighting safely, anything over that and you need a contactor.

[carco88]

Aquatronica :D

Am i right in thinking this is the new name for iks?:confused:
if so in my instructions for mine it tells you not to use on very high output m/h,
i want to run 400watt halides 7 in all:)
dean

[craigg]

different system altogether

[isekiman]

Hi Dean Aquatronica is a company like IKS that that do all the things for these lazy reefers LOL. I suppose if the IKS wont take the load will Aquatronica take it i dont know but im sure someone will tell you that has one. Hows the tank doing are you winning with it take care. Eric

[Shultz]

http://www.aquatronica.com/eng/home.htm

Cheers Shelton.

[james141]

7 x 400W!! you should really be using contactors for that.

I dont envy your leccy bill ;)

Edit: If I had to switch that much I would have a seperate spur with proper timers.

[AntsReef]

What do you use to turn on your lights.
:o

A little feather duster and a picture of me in stockings and suspenders:rolleyes:

rgds,
Anthony

[instantsquid]

Aquatronica plus contactors. I believe the Aquatronica plugbars will handle metal halides, but for the few quid the contactors cost, why take the risk?

- Ian

[Dave_P]

Aquatronica without contractors, 3 x 250W MH.

Dave

[CraigT]

Aquatronica without contractors, 3 x 250W MH.

Dave

Contractors :eek: , You pay people to turn your lights on and off, Lazy Git :D

[muzzy]

cheap arse timers from b&q, 3 for a tenner or less, work fine for me and if one ever fails it aint as if its gonna break the bank to buy another!
it amazes me how many people rely on this aquatronica stuff to do such basic jobs

[instantsquid]

cheap arse timers from b&q, 3 for a tenner or less, work fine for me and if one ever fails it aint as if its gonna break the bank to buy another!
it amazes me how many people rely on this aquatronica stuff to do such basic jobs
Admittedly I could have bought a barrow-load of cheapo timers for the cost of an Aquatronica. But firstly it does a lot more than just turn lights on and off. The trouble with cheapo timers (IME) is that they tend to stick on when they do break - not so great if you happen to be away for the weekend...
Additionally, by using a computer to control the lights, you can do things like turning the lights off one by one if the temperature rises too much - or prevent the lights from trying to turn on again after a short power-cut (which metal halides really don't like).
It's horses for courses really - I'm just outlining some (but not all) of the reasons why I opted for a computer over lots of disconnected odds and sods.

- Ian.

[ickypimp]

I use a device called a switch... it came free with my halide.. it is on the side of the unit, apply pressure with yer finger and bugeer me the light comes on...

[~Tony~]

Aquatronica

[Will]

Neptune and i dont have to run cabels all over to the lights, i just plug the x10 in and tell it what to do it can do the lights in the fish room from within the house bingo !!!!

also imo has the most versatility of all computers on the market for programming capabilities

you can piggy back the x10's to make it do say only run the ozone from 10-12 if the redox level is to low
not sure if aquatronica can do that ?

[~Tony~]

only run the ozone from 10-12 if the redox level is to low
not sure if aquatronica can do that ?

Yes, it can.