Pneumatic Timer Light Switch - How are they adjusted?

[Mr Fizzion]

refer to the above timer. Can they be adjusted with a screwdriver or is some other tool necessary?

Thanks

[Mike Tomlinson]

In article , Mr Fizzion writes

Yes. A screw on the back of the timer.

[Appin]

The message from Mike Tomlinson contains these words:

It's a lengthy process and the limit (with the screw screwed in as far as possible and the timer still operating reliably) is about ten minutes.

It's a slow process getting the adjustment right -- give yourself a few hours :-)

However, speaking from decades of experience with them, they tend to be a lot more reliable than their electronic equivalents.

[Dave Liquorice]

And can be a right PITA to adjust as well. A very small tweak of the screw can make a huge difference to the time delay.

[ARWadsworth]

Just like outdoor PIR lights:-) Customer asked me to set the time for 2 minutes. He called be back the next day to complain that it stayed on for 2 minutes and 12 seconds.

I never went back

Adam

[Harry Bloomfield]

Mr Fizzion pretended :

Usually a small brass screw hidden on the rear when fitted. A slight turn of the screw makes a huge difference to the time delay - they are tricky to set and vary once set with temperature.

[Dave Liquorice]

I'd have rung him back and explain that I could set it to 2 mins but it might take a while to achieve, waiting 2 mins after each adjustment etc. At the minimum it would at the minimum involve a call out fee and possibly a whole day, was he prepared to pay?

[Kevin]

ah but he asked for a setting that was not achieved :-)

[The Medway Handyman]

Instead of Rogue Traders there should be a Rogue Punters show.

[Dave Liquorice]

Aye, insuffcient detail in orginal specification, lack of required tolerance in ON time setting. If the punter wanted 2 mins +/- 1 second he should have specfied that and the job could have been priced accordingly.

[andrew]

It doesn't help that they're adjusted from the live side.

Hmm, mine sticks on all the time, and needs a spray of silicone 3in1 to get it working again. Got it cheaper than Screwfix on ebay though, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. How much electricity does it need to save to pay back =A317.99?

Andrew

[slais-www]

Mine varies just by screwing it tighter against the wall. Probably distorts the shape of the plastic or something. Having wasted hours getting it right only to get a different result when the thing is back on the wall I now just adjust it by slackening or tightening the mounting screws.

[Appin]

The message

from [e-mail] contains these words:

What part of the range have you got it set on, though? When you stretch it towards the 10 minute end of the range it gets a lot less reliable.

£17.99 worth. Soon use that in a caravan site toilet block :-(

[Dave Liquorice]

That's probably just making it worse. Silicone is sticky stuff when it dries. Strip it down, clean all the gunk off and either give any moving mating surfaces the mearest light wipe with a light grease or use a proper dry film lubricant, say a PTFE based one.

[meow2222]

100w load at 10p per unit is 1p per hour, so 1800 hours. Thats about twice the life of a filament bulb.

NT

[Appin]

The message from [e-mail] contains these words:

So .......... we have them switching around four x 100 watt bulbs each. And if we didn't have them, the lights would be on 24/7. First of them went in more than 25 years ago. We've experimented with electronic switches which average around £30 and have proved to be very short-lived.