DIG 5006-IP propagation/misting timer
March 15th, 2010 by Dwayne
I absolutely love the DIG 5006-IP timer! Here are my top 6 reasons the DIG misting timer is better than Intermatic type mechanical timers when used to control your misting system:
- Digital timers include the 24 hour timer, interval timer, and transformer in one small unit. You need to purchase a 24 hour timer, interval timer, and transformer for the mechanical system and when connected together, use up much more space.
- Digital timers can control 6 individual beds/zones, all with different durations and frequencies. Mechanical timers can control 1 zone and regardless of how large it is, the bed all gets the exact same amount of mist regardless of the plant’s requirements unless different misting nozzles are used throughout the entire zone.
- Digital timers immediately convert 110 volt household current to a much safer 24 volts. Every part of the digital misting system including the timer is low voltage, and extremely safe to work on. The 110 voltage that a mechanical misting system that uses Intermatic type timers is carried through both timers to the transformer where it is then converted to a lower and safer 24 volts.
- A digital misting timer has a battery backup that retains the timers program in the event of a power failure. When the power is restored, the timer is intelligent enough to know whether it needs to begin misting immediately or wait until the next day, resulting in little human intervention. A misting system that is controlled by mechanical timers has no feature that can determine whether it should begin to mist. Mechanical timers MUST have electricity at all times to be able to keep track of the time. When the power is interrupted , the timers clock stops working and will only resume when the power is restored. For lengthy power outages, this can be a disaster. When the power is restored, the timer will continue to run as if the power was never interrupted . Your cuttings may receive mist during the evening or other times when they should not. Using mechanical timers to control your misting system requires the human operator to frequently check to be sure the system is running correctly.
- Digital misting timers are MUCH less expensive than just ONE of the mechanical misting timers. The DIG 5006-IP timer can be purchased for roughly half of what the two mechanical timers cost.
- The DIG 5006-IP can be used to control more than just your misting system. I currently use mine to turn my lights on and off automatically. I did this by simply adding a relay.
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