Automatic timer

[AudraL]

Hi everyone – wanted to find out if anyone's auto timer has malfunctioned and how it affects tortoises… We went away for the weekend and a friend came by yesterday and this morning to give our Mowgli fresh water and food. We came back today around five and it was completely dark in his enclosure. She said the lights were on yesterday as she took him out to soak him but she assumed they hadn't switched on yet when she came by this morning. So basically he was in the dark the entire day… Thankfully the ambient heat was still working and the humidity was fine but our poor little guy literally was in darkness all day – has that happened to anyone else and I am assuming since it's only one day he'll be OK? I'm not sure what happened – why did it not turn on? But I'm going have to uninstall it and reinstall it I guess... i'm just afraid of it happening again on a longer trip or if we go out of the country on a trip.

 

[wellington]

I have timers stop working all the time. There should be no affect on him for one day.
How long have you used the timer?
Are you sure you don't have it over loaded?
Did the power flicker off while you were gone?
I use the kind in pic. Sometimes I thing the peg that turns gets warm down and then does connect to turn on and off.
If you used the timer for a long time, it might just be warn and need replacing.

 

[AudraL]

I have timers stop working all the time. There should be no affect on him for one day.
How long have you used the timer?
Are you sure you don't have it over loaded?
Did the power flicker off while you were gone?
I use the kind in pic. Sometimes I thing the peg that turns gets warm down and then does connect to turn on and off.
If you used the timer for a long time, it might just be warn and need replacing.
View attachment 371420

I actually use a smart timer called Smart Life and it has the basking, UV lamp and ambient light connected to it. Our power did not go off while we were gone so not sure what caused it to stop working since it was still fine when I auto-turned it back on...

 

[AudraL]

I actually use a smart timer called Smart Life and it has the basking, UV lamp and ambient light connected to it. Our power did not go off while we were gone so not sure what caused it to stop working since it was still fine when I auto-turned it back on...

Thanks for the reassurance about him being OK! I was so concerned

 

[wellington]

Well it's not too smart lol. Sorry, I had to do it lol.
I can't help you with that kind of timer. Hopefully you can figure out what went wrong and that it won't happen again.
But, for security, let your tortoise sitter know next time, the time it should come on and then go off so they will know when it's not working right.

 

[jaizei]

Hi everyone – wanted to find out if anyone's auto timer has malfunctioned and how it affects tortoises… We went away for the weekend and a friend came by yesterday and this morning to give our Mowgli fresh water and food. We came back today around five and it was completely dark in his enclosure. She said the lights were on yesterday as she took him out to soak him but she assumed they hadn't switched on yet when she came by this morning. So basically he was in the dark the entire day… Thankfully the ambient heat was still working and the humidity was fine but our poor little guy literally was in darkness all day – has that happened to anyone else and I am assuming since it's only one day he'll be OK? I'm not sure what happened – why did it not turn on? But I'm going have to uninstall it and reinstall it I guess... i'm just afraid of it happening again on a longer trip or if we go out of the country on a trip.

Are they wifi controlled? I'd think that the plug just didn't catch the 'on' trigger signal when they were supposed to be switched on.

I favor local control (timer is part of/directly connected to outlets) or control wiring ran when 1 timer is controlling multiple lights