Lifespan of Analog Timers

[loonz]

Hi, I have a few of The Ben timers that I have used for the past several years. Recently the lighting sequence seemed to be going haywire after changing the lighting. The lamps come on even when the timer is in "off" position. Anyone ever encountered this??

Is it a sign that I need new timers??

[barnacle]

life span?? hv been using it for more than 6 years..

[qazwer]

Bro,

Never heard of life span for timer ...

But mine have the same problem before. Wat I did was to turn the timer 1 complete round and once the ring comes back to the "on" keys, the "tick" sound will come and the timer is back to normal again.

I dunno how the others do it, anyway ....

Qazwer

[loonz]

Have been using them for the past 6-7 years too....guess must take them out and clean them abit....they sure collect loads of dust

[IanJ]

Loonz

I had the same problem when changing to new and different bulbs. I had problems with the Phoenix bulbs and Hamilton. Whe i put the BLV's back the problem went away.

I think that with these bulbs the start up amperage is higher than the BLV bulbs. The Ben timers i think are maxed at 3 amps, so if a higher amperage is drawn as the bulb fires it burns the contacts in the timer and the contacts stick together.

[LIM CHYE HUAT]

where can i get ben timer ?

care to post a pic ?

[loonz]

I'm using Venture Lighting and Osram's bulbs. Previously was just using PL lights.

Have seen the lowest priced "The Ben" timers at Best Denki outlets.