Cheap DIY controller?

[wkjames]

Has anyone ever tried these? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95205

I was in the store today, and looked at one. It can do up to 9 on/off cycles per day (or week), and has 2 outlets on each, and there is no reason I can tell a person couldn't plug a power strip into it. The cycles can be as short as 1 min, and as long as 6 days, 23hours, 59min. as far as I could tell playing with it for 2 min. in the store. I know it doesn't have the monitoring capabilities, but for regulation of devices like dosing pumps, powerheads, feeders, lights, etc... Regular price, these are $9.99 each, and I see them go on sale for $5.99 every so often. I'm thinking that if I get several, and set the clocks to match, I should be able to sequence lights and powerheads. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts...

[Zibba]

did you ever get one of these?

[David Grigor]

Yep, I've use electronic timers in the past ( not the specific one ) that can go down to 1 minute intervals to run Kalk reactors, dosing pumps, lights, powerheads etc. Price is pretty good for that kind of function as long as you don't mind it being a bit bulky for your outlets.

[wkjames]

Thanks David for the advice... That's what I want them for. I'm going to wait until they go on sale and buy several. I plan to use extensions to take them off the power strip so I can avoid the bulk. I'll post when they go on sale in case anyone else wants to know.

[Zibba]

Did you find them locally or just from that site? I'm sure there are other models, but for that price it's hard to say no.

[djyox]

I've had hit or miss luck with harborfreight. I bought a cheap heat gun from them that I only needed for one project, it made it almost all the way to the end, but far enough I could finish the job. But it did just die mid use, and hasn't came back to life yet. I was going to open it up and see if I could figure out whats going on, but haven't yet.

I wouldn't fully rely on their products if you have it dealing with something important in your tank.

Just IMHO...


You WILL find me back in the store and online buying their stuff, but again, I don't fully trust anything that comes from them. But if you look at it as 50/50 and are ok dealing with it pooping on you shortly after, then go for it! They have SWEET prices, and some things that you don't need to be top quality.