What brand is everyone using to run their gear as my halide keeps breaking about 3 different types i have tried!

cheers

HPM digital ($14 from bunnings) works well for me on my 250Ws.

same, but I've had 1 stuff up. You really need to relay them as eventually the timers pack up. i tried the extra heavy duty jobs, rated for spa pool usage and they packed up within a week or 2 as well.

The digital/analogue ones sold around are not designed to run metal halide lights, as when the lights first turn on the inrush current can be huge causing the switch contacts in the timers to stick together, or to burn apart.

I have tried the cheap ones, as well as the ones designed for spa pool motors etc. I have even tried solid state relays rated at 40 amps and they also fail.

This was happening on my 150 watt as well as my 250 watt ballasts.

As puttputt has said, the only other way I can see it working is to wire a normal relay with a timer, and make sure the contacts are rated for a high current.

Just did a web search and found ...

3500 watt timer, sold by store that sells equipment for hydroponics etc.

https://secure.sog.co.nz/store.htm Goto electrical and scroll down to timers.

my hpm digital is 4 years ols and has ran 150/250 and now my 400w halide i must just be lucky?

Yeah, some ballasts will have a snubbing circuit I suppose to suppress this inrush current to some degree.

And I can imagine the timer probably has a decent switch inside of it too.

I posted the same question a while back as i had the same problem with the cheap timers. Anyway i ended up buying one of trade me for around fifty dollars. The timer has been working for three months now without a problem.

Powertech is the brand i think. It says mains timer with LCD display. It says it has a switching contact current of 30amp but the max normal working load is 10amps. It also has a battery backup in case the power goes off so no need to reset the time

silly me but i brought mine from foodtown... using them on 2x400w light going for a year now

I have had verious results with timers, mostly bad. The pudney digitals one seem to work well (but cost about $40), I have also had some success with DSE's own branded ditial timers for some strange reason, most of their gear seems to be pretty cheap low quality.

Mine's a cheapo from Bunnings, if I remember right. Something like $5-10. Been running for about a year now.

Mines one with those pin things that slide in or out, <$20.00 at foodtown. Had it a couple of years runing 450 watts of halide, but about 6 months ago went to 650 watts of halide.

I think that may be correct about the gradual start, cos I've noticed when mine turn on, just when I think they are on properly they make a click & suddenly get brighter.