intermatic dt17c 7-day heavy-duty grounded programmable digital timer

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-18
Mine Worked For A While
The digital timer model I had was the DT 17, not the DT 17C. It sounds as if they got worse with "progress." I really liked the DT 17 initially, so much so that I bought two more. They had three appealing features to me over the old-style (and less expensive)manual model: One, you could set a precise time, digitally, rather than guess "Oh, is that 6:54 P.M.?" Two, the battery backup worked great. Power goes out and one thing you didn't have to worry about when resetting the thousand clocks in your home was the light timers. They kept the memory with no problem. Third, when daylight saving time came, you simply pressed a button on the timer and, viola, the hour was changed easily and appropriately.

BUT, that said, after a couple of years I had the same problem identified below. The timer kept time, but it no longer switched the lights on and off and couldn't be set. So it was no longer useful! For the money, the quality needs to be such that they keep working for a decade, in my view Very frustrating. So far only one of my three has gone bad. But reading below I can see it is only a matter of time.

Curious if anyone has found a more reliable alternative that does all three of the things I mentioned above?

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-03
DOA - I'm Returning It!
I ordered this in hopes it would be more reliable than units available in hardware stores. When I got it, I tried to program it. I followed directions, but could not get the unit to work AT ALL. Don't waste your money.

Rating:
Date: 2008-05-20
Unfortunatly Unreliable Timer
No longer a "Made in USA" product.
My DT-17 timer worked great for about 4 months controlling night lights (small resistive load)and apparently the internal contacts failed. Timer keeps going - but no longer controls the internal switching relay. I've now scratched Intermatics OFF my buy list, as their production has moved to China and their Quality Control appears to have left the country as well. These guys use to make quality products/timers - - but those days are unfortunately gone

Rating:
Date: 2008-05-06
Hard to use in kitchen wall socket
I like the convenience, but when the power goes out it shuts down all Programmed times. Therefore, you have to reprogram the unit, but is very difficult to do because it has a small screen on top of the unit. I use the unit in the kitchen and leaning over the kitchen counter is difficult to see the screen. It would have been much better with the screen on the front of the unit. I have used an extension cord to alleviate the leaning over the counter.

Rating:
Date: 2008-04-28
Digital Timers
Good little timer as far as functionality and programming flexibility is concerned. But, impossible to find locally in most stores on the East Coast of the US without paying an extra premium to "special order" (very annoying), so Amazon is a good bet. But mine failed--through no fault of mine or anything I could have done, according to Intermatic Customer Tech Support--after 6 1/2 months. Very frustrating because it's used with multiple daily programs. Much energy resources and money (mine) winds up being wasted with it not working. Let's hope the replacement Intermatic is supposed to send me under warranty is more reliable and lasts longer and that Intermatic gets it to me quickly!!

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