[savage_06]

Has anyone ever had trouble with the battery pack melting at the contact points. I bought a new analog On Time Feeder and as I installed the last battery the battery pack starting getting extremely hot, crackling and then...smoking. I disconnected the battery pack but...too late...it's fried.

What went wrong???

Could the main wires be crossed???

The batteries were installed correctly, i verified that as I removed them one by one.

I sent an e-mail to OnTime in Ruston La. and will call them tommorrow but currently...I am at a loss.:banghead:

Thanks for any help.

 

[born2hunt]

I've had a lot of trouble with On-Time feeder timers, but I've never had that happen. The good news is they're pretty good to replace things. I've often wondered how they stay in business with all the problems they have with their timers. If it weren't for their life-time warranty, I'd have ditched them a long time ago. The kinds of problems I have include:

• The ears on the spinner plate break off and get caught thus stopping the spinner from working.
• The small screws holding the motor to the top plate tend to come out. When this happens, the motor turns instead of the spinner.
• The motor itself wears out and binds up.
• And God forbid the feeder should fall over. The timer assembly is quite heavy and causes the stem it's mounted on to bend. When you try to straighten it, it will break off.
• On the analog versions the timer wheel tends to get loose and thus not advance.
• On the digital versions, you have to watch them closely. Sometimes they go bad and the time will reset every time the spinner activates. Sometimes this is due to weak batteries, but not all the time.

The sad part is that the On-Time timers are probably one of the better units out there unless you spend big money and buy a Sweeney.

 

[squirrelhunter9]

I don't use on time feeders!

We use mossy oak.

 

[octoberbuck]

On Time

My Game Country was so bad I chunked that thing. I've had several Moultries and they were kind of iffy. Two didn't work right out of the box.
One of the Moultries survived two pig attacks and died on the third one.
My On time never had a problem on factory defect. Had one sent back when something or someone cut my rope and jammed 100Lbs plus on the funnel into the housing causeing a malfunction with the spinner plate. Sent back with $15 and they returned it repaired. This was about 5-6 years ago.
As soon as you get an On Time. Take it to the hardware store and swap out the allen screws with thumb screws.

 

[savage_06]

thanks

called ontime and they are shipping new one.

that was easy.

 

[born2hunt]

Over the years, I've accumulated quite a collection of On-Time feeder parts. These days I have enough spare parts to keep things going when (not if) a failure occurs. I save my failed parts and send them in once a year. That way I'm only out the $15 once a year. Me and a buddy started taking turns sending the parts in. That way we're only out the $15 every other year.

 

[D33RHUNT3R]

I had nothing but problems with my on-time feeder I scrapped it and got 1 from wild game innovations and I've never had a problem I have gone digital.. Anologs are history..

 

[arkansasbowhunter]

I too have had many of these problems. I have several spares that I use and also send them in once a year to be fixed.

on the spinner plate screw, I went to the local hardware store and purchased phillips screws to put in it instead of the small hex head that is a mother to get out but does back off. when this happens the stem will spin leaving the plate motionless.

the other problem with the ears bending is also true. I simply take tin snips now and snip them off a little bit so when the coons pry them out it doesn't hang on the funnel stem.

No other problems for me though. mainly the spinner ears and the spinner plate screw backing out. other than those I have had great luck with them.

as stated, get the lifetime b/c they have been great about replacing parts. the lady I always deal with is Lavern. She is very pleasant to deal with and has been there for at least 5 years b/c that is how long I have been running them.


ABH

 

[Manybeards]

I have 2 On Time Tomahalk digital feeders that I really like

 

[justin1a2]

I have 2 On Time Tomahalk digital feeders that I really like

We just got 2 of those from Ft. Thompsons. So far so good. They won't hold 225 lbs of feed but you get about 200 in them.

 

[SIMPLEARKANSAN]

I have two On Time feeders that have been running perfectly for over 10 years. Had one of the clocks go out and they sent me a new clock and I installed it and no problem since.

 

[Hallboy17]

I've had a Moultrie Pro for about 10 years now and I haven't had the first problem with it. It works great year after year. I have the 55 gallon barrell unit.