Intermatic DT17C 7-Day Heavy-Duty Grounded Programmable Digital Timer
by Intermatic
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Intermatic DT17C 7-Day Heavy-Duty Grounded Programmable Digital Timer
Customer Review: NOT Suggested for AIR CONDITIONER Use!
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this timer a couple of years ago for my air conditioner and I too noticed the unit would heat up. After a while, the female socket for the appliance plug appeared "burnt" from the heat. I originally thought it was just normal heat and wear. However, I just purcased a higher BTU air conditioner (from 10,000 to 17,500 BTU)that rates 115V which meets this timer's rating. After one day of use, the timer malfunctioned and set off my circuit breaker. I immediately removed the AC from the timer and plugged the AC directly into the wall (since it has its own timer). The circuit breaker has not tripped since.
I don't know how a unit like this can meet UL standards if the unit overheats and burns. I think many are lucky that this hasn't caused a fire.
Customer Review: Mine died before it was born
Summary: 1 Stars
I was a little leary about buying this after seeing the other negative reviews but...
After I learned about the functions (which are really nice) I went live with the unit to power a flourescent light. The light never got power from the timer. I tried a very small device with very little power draw and it worked fine. I noticed the unit was heating up quite a bit with no load so the fire risk others mentioned is a concern of mine.
I was looking for a digital countdown timer but guess I'll go back to the mechanical ones. They seem to work forever.
Back to Home Depot for a refund.
Customer Review: Great while it lasts
Summary: 3 Stars
After about 18 months of service, I noticed that one prong on the cord I was pugging into the DT17 was overheating and beginning to melt the molded plastic of the plug. This is caused by oxidation of the connection and can fail catastrophically, sometimes causing a fire, though more often the connection fails before the heat gets that high. The timer was connected to a coffee machine that takes 12-13A, below the 15A rating of the timer, so it should not have failed. For this reason, I should rate it 1 star, but since this is the only available 3-prong 7-day plug-in timer that I have found, I'll just order another one and keep an eye on it. I should also add that programming is nonintuitive, requiring the instruction sheet every time I need to change it. If you know of a better product, please post here.Customer Review: Same as some other reviewers here: It Just Doesn't Last
Summary: 1 Stars
I also owned two of this model - and both failed with the same condition described by other reviewers: clock worked, but one day electricity simply stopped passing through to the small appliance or lamp plugged into the timer. (For one of the two failed units, hitting "reset" briefly brought it back to life till it died again, while the other unit could not be revived at all.)
I won't be buying this model again. It's a shame, too. Intermatic used to make hardy, reliable electronic display timers (I have two older Intermatics with built-in clock, a discontinued model, that have each lasted a decade). This cheaply made successor model is a joke. Sorry.
- UPDATE, June 2008 -
I wrote the above review in April 2006. My experience since, is that if you want an inexpensive timer that retains its clock setting despite power outages, this model is available/affordable - and if you can accept the fact you may see a high incidence of failure that requires replacing these things (30%, 40%?), and can keep trying till you get a reliable unit: then you'll have an exceptional product on your hands.
Having purchased (and ultimately discarded) the buggy units, I now have one of the "good" units servicing my porch lights reliably for a couple years now - a seasonal porch that sees wild extremes of temperatures, at that. (Again - that's after having burned through a couple failed units.)
So would I buy again? Sure... because as you see, I had to keep buying them, to find one that worked! Hah. But I'm glad I persisted.
Customer Review: an easy to use digital timer with a short life span
Summary: 2 Stars
I had two of them and was happy for a year until both of them broken. The digital timer was functional but the realy was not. I believe it has almost a year of life span then you have to buy another one to support the manufacturer. Is it an intentional design feature, who knows?