So I have two digital timers plugged into one wall socket to power my LEDs. I had to set it up this way as the outlet in the room was installed right next to the door trim board and there isn’t room to plug in anything on that side because of the trim on the wall. Well I had a problem with my timer turning off in the middle of the night. I figured it’s an old timer( had it 3 years never had a problem) so I bought 2 new timers .Then this morning I get up and now the other one turned off sometime in the middle of the night. I’m running 3 led lights . Pretty low powered . Combined amps are only 4.1 . Anyway I noticed the little green light was off so I just turned it back on and the light came back on. Could I have a faulty wall outlet? I’m really not too keen on burning my house down . Any advice? The only other thing I can think of is maybe the cat bumped it and turned it off but that seems somewhat unlikely. Is there a way to test the switch? I think I’m going shopping for a timer that has 3 outlet design this weekend so everything will be plugged into one timer, plugged straight into the wall. But if the actual outlet is bad then it won’t matter. I’ve never had a problem before used to run a timer with two lights plugged into an extension cord down in my basement and never tripped anything. Anyone on here had similar problems?
Problem with timers or maybe the outlet ?
- Thread starter Jburner8011
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I never heard of an outlet acting like that, but to be sure, I would test the timer in another outlet in a different room that uses a different breaker. I would assume your outlet is not controlled by a wall switch.
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Good head's up on the wall switch, definitely check that. Also, the advice to check on another outlet that uses a separate breaker is a good idea. However, four amps total on a household circuit (in US or CA at 110-120 volts) is bugger all, and will not stretch either the circuit or the breaker unless there is a significant fault of some sort.
Is the plug for your led lights able to seat in the plug without being stuffed with stress next to trim? If the plug is under any kind of pressure from being forced into the holes while being pressed on sideways by trim, you could have a connectivity issue caused by the prongs of the plug losing contact after warmup and then the timer stays turned off. If the tight fit has resulted in distortion of the internal contacts of the outlet during past use for other purposes, the loosened fit could cause intermittent contact with the same result. If all else fails, replacing the outlet plug is not difficult or expensive, but if you do this, make sure that the outlet is not being buggered up by trim in the way. Anything you plug into it needs to seat all the way in without being pressed on by other stuff like trim. If you need to, cut the trim.
Also, if you are using an extension cord between the wall plug and the led setup, try a different extension. Sometimes connectivity through an extension cord can change as the plug/socket warms up under load. If this causes an intermittent disconnect, that could cause the timer to turn off and stay off. As a general procedure, always feel the plugs that you use, extension or otherwise, for heating up after they have been under load for a while. Anything other than moderately warm to touch means that you have some sort of resistance in the setup that is dissipating power in the plug assembly rather than delivering all the power to the intended load. If plugs get hot, you are being warned.
Good luck with it, I hope you get it sorted.
Is the plug for your led lights able to seat in the plug without being stuffed with stress next to trim? If the plug is under any kind of pressure from being forced into the holes while being pressed on sideways by trim, you could have a connectivity issue caused by the prongs of the plug losing contact after warmup and then the timer stays turned off. If the tight fit has resulted in distortion of the internal contacts of the outlet during past use for other purposes, the loosened fit could cause intermittent contact with the same result. If all else fails, replacing the outlet plug is not difficult or expensive, but if you do this, make sure that the outlet is not being buggered up by trim in the way. Anything you plug into it needs to seat all the way in without being pressed on by other stuff like trim. If you need to, cut the trim.
Also, if you are using an extension cord between the wall plug and the led setup, try a different extension. Sometimes connectivity through an extension cord can change as the plug/socket warms up under load. If this causes an intermittent disconnect, that could cause the timer to turn off and stay off. As a general procedure, always feel the plugs that you use, extension or otherwise, for heating up after they have been under load for a while. Anything other than moderately warm to touch means that you have some sort of resistance in the setup that is dissipating power in the plug assembly rather than delivering all the power to the intended load. If plugs get hot, you are being warned.
Good luck with it, I hope you get it sorted.
Thank you for the reply. . I reset the timer. I had a day or two programmed incorrectly . So one of the lights was turning off in the middle of the night. Total operator error! LOL! I have two different brand timers and each one the setup is a little bit different. Thank you for all the advice . The LAST thing any of us wants to do is create an unsafe situation in the home. I’m finishing up this last run and then I’m taking a couple of months off so that me a the wife can take a little road trip /vacation. Our house is very small and there are only one or two electric outlets in each room. Before I get going again next year I’m gonna get a licensed electrician over here and wire up a couple more outlets .
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I know what you mean with the programming. The timer on my current grow is like that. I forget how many sequences it will record, but you need to toggle through every bloody one of them to make sure that they are all blank so that the main one you are using is the only one active. Pain in the butt initially, but so far it has worked flawlessly once programmed. 
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