Can there possibly be a harder to operate lamp timer than the Intermatic
DT500CL?

I'm so sorry I bought it!

D. Ohl wrote:
Can there possibly be a harder to operate lamp timer than the Intermatic
DT500CL?

I'm so sorry I bought it!

There are a few that look like the same thing with different names on
them. I have an Ingraham TE 109 that someone gave me because it's so
difficult to program. There is a chance this link may help.

http://www.fixya.com/support/t187875...am_model_te109

On May 19, 1:45*am, Tony wrote:
D. Ohl wrote:
Can there possibly be a harder to operate lamp timer than the Intermatic
DT500CL?

I'm so sorry I bought it!

There are a few that look like the same thing with different names on
them. *I have an Ingraham TE 109 that someone gave me because it's so
difficult to program. *There is a chance this link may help.

http://www.fixya.com/support/t187875..._ingraham_mode...

Yup my neighbour gave me two (electronic); cos very difficult to
program! Not only that if the power went off they had to be reset!
With an electromechanical timer at least it starts again after the
power interruption (usually, here, very brief!). In fact it's possible
to check how long the power was off by noting later how 'delayed' the
setting is!

D. Ohl wrote:
Can there possibly be a harder to operate lamp timer than the Intermatic
DT500CL?

I'm so sorry I bought it!
Hmm,
Nothing is hard or difficult unless you don't understand what you are
doing. All my timers indoor/outdoor is digital.

On Tue, 18 May 2010 22:16:55 -0700 (PDT), terry wrote:

I have an Ingraham TE 109 that someone gave me because it's so
difficult to program.

Yup my neighbour gave me two (electronic); cos very difficult to
program!

I'm actually glad both of you have had "problem" electrical timers given to
you; I'm about to mail you mine!

I mean, how hard can they make these things to program?
Nothing (absolutely nothing) on it is intuitive!

For example, here are the instructions for mine:
http://www.intermatic.com/products/t...s/dt500cl.aspx

And, here is how to program the darn thing:
3 ¡V Clear Any Existing Programming
3a. Locate the Reset button. It is the small, round hole adjacent to the
keypad. You will need a pen or paper clip to press this button.
3b. Press and release the Reset button. The display will light up all the
segments and then go blank.
3c. The timer has erased all programming, displays the default settings
(MO, ¡§12:00 PM¡¨) and is ready for setup.

4 ¡V Set the Time, Day and Operating Mode
NOTE: The time, day AND operating mode must be set before any ON Events can
be programmed. Settings for time and ON Events will not be activated until
setup and programming are complete.
Setting Time and Day
4a. Ensure that the time is displayed. A timer that is just reset will
display MO, ¡§12:00 PM¡¨.
4b.The first two digits (hours) of the Time of Day (TOD) display will begin
to flash (Fig. 3).
4c.Turn the selector wheel until the correct hour shows in the TOD hours
display, along with the PM indicator, if desired. Note that PM indicator
will alternate on and off as the time passes through noon and midnight.
4d. Press the ON button to set the new hour. Or, if no change to the hour
is needed, press the TIME button to keep the original hour setting. The
last two digits of the TOD display (minutes) will begin to flash (Fig. 4).
4e. Turn the selector wheel until the correct time in minutes shows.
4f. Press the ON button to set the minutes. Or, press the TIME button to
keep the original minute setting. The Day Of Week (DOW) will begin to flash
(Fig. 5).
4g. Turn the selector wheel until the current day is displayed and press
the ON button for the new DOW or the TIME button for the original DOW. This
completes the time and day setup.

Setting the Operating Mode
4h. ¡§SEL¡¨ will show in the TOD display and the DOW icons displayed above
¡§SEL¡¨ reflect the timer¡¦s operating mode setting (Fig. 6, 7 or 8). The
three possible modes a
a. The Daily Mode will allow three events per individual day for a total of
21 events all week. Only the current day (MO, TU, etc.) will be displayed
above ¡§SEL¡¨.
b. The Weekend/Weekday Mode will allow up to 24 weekend events, Either SA
SU or MO TU WE TH FR will be displayed above ¡§SEL¡¨, depending on the
current day of the week.
c. The Weekly Mode will allow up to 48 events, repeated every day of the
week. MO TU WE TH FR SA SU will be displayed above ¡§SEL¡¨.
4i. Turn the selector wheel to sequence through these modes.
4j. Press the ON button to set the new operating mode or the TIME button to
keep the original operating mode. .
NOTE: Changing the Operating Mode will clear all the events currently
programmed in the timer.

5 ¡V Set an Initial ON Event
Once the time, day and operating mode are set, events can be viewed and
programmed.
Viewing a DOW¡¦s Events
1. Ensure that the time is displayed.
2. Press and release the EVENT button to view the first DOW choice.Each
press of the EVENT button will display the next DOW choice. The DOW choices
will vary, depending on what you chose for the operating mode.
a. The Daily Mode will scroll through
seven choices ¡X each day of the week (MO, TU, etc.) (Fig. 9).
b. The Weekend/Weekday Mode will scroll through two choices ¡X either SA SU
or MO TU WE TH FR.
c. The Weekly Mode will not scroll
¡X MO TU WE TH FR SA SU will be displayed.

Programming an ON Event
4. From the current day¡¦s time display, press and hold the EVENT button.
The TOD display is replaced after 2 seconds by ¡§-:--¡§ (Fig. 10).
5. Pressing the button down cycles through the DOW choices for the
operating mode.
a. The Daily Mode will scroll through seven choices ¡X each
day of the week (MO, TU, etc.)
b. The Weekend/Weekday Mode will scroll through two choices
¡X either SA SU or MO TU WE TH FR.
c. The Weekly Mode will not scroll ¡X MO TU WE TH FR SA SU will be
displayed.
6. When the desired DOW choice appears, release the EVENT button to enter
the programming mode.
NOTE: You may also enter programming directly from viewing the desired
DOW¡¦s events. Press and hold the EVENT button for 2 seconds until the TOD
display is replaced by ¡§-:--¡§.
7. A flashing cursor will appear at 12 midnight (Fig. 11).
8. With no button pressed, turn the selectdor wheel until the cursor
reaches the time you'd like to turn the device on, for example, 4am (Fig
12).
9. Press and hold the ON button while you turn the selector wheel, moving
the cursor to the time you¡¦d like toturn the device off, for example, 7:30
AM (Fig. 13).
10. Release the ON button.
11. You may now follow steps 7 through
10 to program another ON Event for the same DOW choice.
12. After all events for that DOW choice are entered, press the EVENT
button.
Depending on the operating mode you chose:
a. In the Daily Mode, each press of the EVENT button will move you to the
programming mode of the next DOW choice. You may enter ON Events for those
days or simply press EVENT to pass to the next day. After programming has
sequenced through all seven days, pressing EVENT will light up the RANDOM
feature.
b. In the Weekend/Weekday Mode, one press ofthe EVENT button will move you
to the programming mode of the other DOW choice. You may enter ON Events
for that group of days or simply press EVENT. The RANDOM feature will then
light up.
c. In the Weekly Mode, there are no other DOW choices, so pressing EVENT
will immediately light up the RANDOM feature.
NOTE: If the allowed number of ON Events for your chosen operating mode has
been reached, any attempt to program additional events will cause the TOD
display to read ¡§FUL¡¨. To remove events, follow ¡§Changing Program Times¡¨ to
turn them off.

And, believe it or not, it goes on and on and on and on like this!

On Wed, 19 May 2010 00:21:00 -0600, Tony Hwang wrote:

Nothing is hard or difficult unless you don't understand what you are
doing. All my timers indoor/outdoor is digital.

The question is, can you program them w/o having to resort to the
instructions?

If you can, you're a genius (did you see the instructions I posted? Theyr'e
not intuitive in the least!)

On May 18, 9:28*pm, "D. Ohl" d...@Use-Author-Supplied-
Address.invalid wrote:
Can there possibly be a harder to operate lamp timer than the Intermatic
DT500CL?

I'm so sorry I bought it!

I got one of those maybe 10 years ago, im glad I lost it 10 years ago.

On May 19, 7:08�am, ransley wrote:
On May 18, 9:28�pm, "D. Ohl" d...@Use-Author-Supplied-

Address.invalid wrote:
Can there possibly be a harder to operate lamp timer than the Intermatic
DT500CL?

I'm so sorry I bought it!

I got one of those maybe 10 years ago, im glad I lost it 10 years ago.

I tossed the electronic timers they are a PIA.

My mechanical ones are very reliable. and dont depend on filament
current to operate.

On 5/19/2010 7:35 AM, wrote:
On May 19, 7:08�am, wrote:
On May 18, 9:28�pm, "D. Ohl"d...@Use-Author-Supplied-

Address.invalid wrote:
Can there possibly be a harder to operate lamp timer than the Intermatic
DT500CL?

I'm so sorry I bought it!

I got one of those maybe 10 years ago, im glad I lost it 10 years ago.

I tossed the electronic timers they are a PIA.

My mechanical ones are very reliable. and dont depend on filament
current to operate.

I don't know what filament current is,
but mechanical timers, of course, do
need motor current. BTW, I gave up on
mechanical timers years ago. Even the
expensive, wall mounted, wired in units
would break down. It was usually the
motor/clock gears. I am now using an
X10 widget (1132CU) that you program
with your computer. It handles power
failures well and compensates for
sunrise/sunset changes. It does,
however, come with its own set of
problems, but for the most part, it works.

On May 19, 8:21*am, Art Todesco wrote:
On 5/19/2010 7:35 AM, wrote:



On May 19, 7:08 am, *wrote:
On May 18, 9:28 pm, "D. Ohl"d...@Use-Author-Supplied-

Address.invalid *wrote:
Can there possibly be a harder to operate lamp timer than the Intermatic
DT500CL?

I'm so sorry I bought it!

I got one of those maybe 10 years ago, im glad I lost it 10 years ago.

I tossed the electronic timers they are a PIA.

My mechanical ones are very reliable. and dont depend on filament
current to operate.

I don't know what filament current is,
but mechanical timers, of course, do
need motor current. *BTW, I gave up on
mechanical timers years ago. *Even the
expensive, wall mounted, wired in units
would break down. *It was usually the
motor/clock gears. *I am now using an
X10 widget (1132CU) that you program
with your computer. *It handles power
failures well and compensates for
sunrise/sunset changes. *It does,
however, come with its own set of
problems, but for the most part, it works.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I was recently looking at swimming pool controlers. One company has
one that is supposed to run a pool, spa, waterfalls, lights,
conventional heaters, and solar heaters. It has a small LCD display
and about 8 buttons, only two of them are marked and those are for
temp. No specific button for even turning on the pump. All those
functions are done through the LCD display and cryptic buttons like
Aux1, Aux2, Menu, etc.

If I was in marketing or product planning and anyone brought me one of
those, I'd throw them out of my office. At least with the mechanical
wheel type it's obvious how to turn on the pool pump, which is the
most basic thing you want to do.

wrote:
On May 19, 8:21 am, Art wrote:
On 5/19/2010 7:35 AM, wrote:



On May 19, 7:08 am, wrote:
On May 18, 9:28 pm, "D. Ohl"d...@Use-Author-Supplied-

Address.invalid wrote:
Can there possibly be a harder to operate lamp timer than the Intermatic
DT500CL?

I'm so sorry I bought it!

I got one of those maybe 10 years ago, im glad I lost it 10 years ago.

I tossed the electronic timers they are a PIA.

My mechanical ones are very reliable. and dont depend on filament
current to operate.

I don't know what filament current is,
but mechanical timers, of course, do
need motor current. BTW, I gave up on
mechanical timers years ago. Even the
expensive, wall mounted, wired in units
would break down. It was usually the
motor/clock gears. I am now using an
X10 widget (1132CU) that you program
with your computer. It handles power
failures well and compensates for
sunrise/sunset changes. It does,
however, come with its own set of
problems, but for the most part, it works.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I was recently looking at swimming pool controlers. One company has
one that is supposed to run a pool, spa, waterfalls, lights,
conventional heaters, and solar heaters. It has a small LCD display
and about 8 buttons, only two of them are marked and those are for
temp. No specific button for even turning on the pump. All those
functions are done through the LCD display and cryptic buttons like
Aux1, Aux2, Menu, etc.

If I was in marketing or product planning and anyone brought me one of
those, I'd throw them out of my office. At least with the mechanical
wheel type it's obvious how to turn on the pool pump, which is the
most basic thing you want to do.
Hmm,
Young generation don't have any problem with today's electronic gadgets.
I often have to admit I belong to passing generation. Ever watched kids
texting plaing with fancy cell phone? When they get new toys, just open
the box and they just start using it.

In article
,
wrote:



I was recently looking at swimming pool controlers. One company has
one that is supposed to run a pool, spa, waterfalls, lights,
conventional heaters, and solar heaters. It has a small LCD display
and about 8 buttons, only two of them are marked and those are for
temp. No specific button for even turning on the pump. All those
functions are done through the LCD display and cryptic buttons like
Aux1, Aux2, Menu, etc.

If I was in marketing or product planning and anyone brought me one of
those, I'd throw them out of my office. At least with the mechanical
wheel type it's obvious how to turn on the pool pump, which is the
most basic thing you want to do.

Electronic logic is so cheap it's basically free. You can program a
million functions into two buttons. Hardware, OTOH, has become
prohibitively expensive in the U.S., where the masses expect Wally World
prices on everything.

I spent over two hours in Home Depot perusing irrigation controllers,
and didn't find one, among several dozen, that was intuitive to program.
I did manage to program the one that I bought without reading the
instructions, but that was only through stubborn determination, a large
helping of patience, and the willingness to make 200 wrong button push
sequences in order to learn the correct ones. I would have gladly paid
five times the price for something with real dials and switches, but
those animals are virtually extinct.

terry wrote:
On May 19, 1:45 am, Tony wrote:
D. Ohl wrote:
Can there possibly be a harder to operate lamp timer than the Intermatic
DT500CL?
I'm so sorry I bought it!
There are a few that look like the same thing with different names on
them. I have an Ingraham TE 109 that someone gave me because it's so
difficult to program. There is a chance this link may help.

http://www.fixya.com/support/t187875..._ingraham_mode...

Yup my neighbour gave me two (electronic); cos very difficult to
program! Not only that if the power went off they had to be reset!

Mine has a Ni-Cad battery backup! Set it, and forget it!

wrote:
On May 19, 7:08�am, ransley wrote:
On May 18, 9:28�pm, "D. Ohl" d...@Use-Author-Supplied-

Address.invalid wrote:
Can there possibly be a harder to operate lamp timer than the Intermatic
DT500CL?
I'm so sorry I bought it!
I got one of those maybe 10 years ago, im glad I lost it 10 years ago.

I tossed the electronic timers they are a PIA.

My mechanical ones are very reliable. and dont depend on filament
current to operate.


What are you running? A vacuum tube model? Filament?