400 Watt HPS and Timer for Controlled Flowering

zovoel

zovoel

Active Member
Just ordered a 400 watt HPS setup complete with reflector hood, ballast, and bulb. I'm beginning the flowering stage soon, and need to use a timer to regulate light and dark while I'm away. Will a basic timer work with my HPS? How can I be sure? Any advice or help is greatly appreciated!

Here's my grow!

https://www.rollitup.org/blogs/296347-zovoel.html
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
a "basic" timer should work fine. never seen a timer rated below 2 amps which is the 400's power. usually they would be 10-20 amps + however some cheapo timers just aren't accurate in timing
 
DaBong

DaBong

Well-Known Member
I bought a brinks 2 outlet digital timer w/ battery back-up at walmart to use with my 400 watt setup. Has worked perfectly so far. I think I paid around $20 for it.
 
Kerovan

Kerovan

Well-Known Member
you need a heavy duty timer. They can be purchased at any hardware store. Just get one that says about 15A and approx 1800W to be safe. Should be from $10-$20 depending the the brand and options.
 
Total Head

Total Head

Well-Known Member
this is merely a personal opinion, but i would avoid digital timers. they are more expensive and there's more parts to malfunction, and of the 2 i've used one of them was not quite on point. a good heavy duty mechanical timer should do just fine. ballpark around 20 bucks.
 
Kerovan

Kerovan

Well-Known Member
I would recommend using nothing but digital timers myself. They work better and are more reliable in my experience. I've been using lots of timers for a couple decades since I keep numerous aquariums. The digital ones that I've bought in the last 10 years have been the most reliable I have ever had by a long long measure. The only timers that I have had fail on me were mechanical...
 
zovoel

zovoel

Active Member
Thank you all for the great help. My question's have been answered to say the least. I found the original packaging and a slip of paper inside said 15A Resistive on it. I'm gonna just go ahead and use it, but I'm pretty confident it'll be fine.
 
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