As always, you can contact us by phone at 614-851-1100, and we’ll be happy to tell you how LED Timers are used and how ours operate.

timer_animation

What is an LED Timer?

LED The beginning term “LED” (as in Light Emitting Diode) is simply the method of conveying the message upon the electronic display. LEDs are commonly used in the industrial environment due to its proven long-term lifespan, low cost, low power consumption, and high-intensity capabilities.
Timer The second term “Timer” is a generic term used to describe a numeric display device that changes the displayed value due to a change in time. This can be done every second (i.e. in the MM:SS format 08:00, 08:01, 08:02 and so on changing with each passing second), every minute (i.e. in the HH:MM format, the field updates with each passing minute), and so forth in a multitude of different variations.
LED Timer Therefore, an “LED Timer” is a device that changes its LED numeric state with each passing designated time period. With most American LED-gible Timer products, this time period is adjustable in field.

How is an LED Timer used?

There is an innumerable amount of uses for an LED Timer in a variety of environments. The most frequented environment being a manufacturing/industrial setting, examples would include: operation times (such as the time required to fill a tank or drill a hole), changeover times (the time it takes for staff to retool equipment), accumulated down time (the designated period for production maintenance), or other necessary time information and variations thereof.

Common alternate names for Production Timers

Timers in general have a wide variety of names that may be useful as terms to search by. Timer devices are commonly referred to as up/down timers, operation timers, led timers, electronic timers, takt timers, digital timers, production timers, cycle timers, and an array of other names. Regardless of what they are called, they are a valuable source of information to assembly personnel and plant managers.

How are LED Timers Controlled?

LED Timers display an elapsed time whenever the “time up” input is applied. This input can come from various devices, such as a PLC outputs, photo eyes, palm switches, etc. All American LED-gible 2600 series and Trimline series come standard with 120VAC inputs but can easily be set to take 24VDC from a PLC output (source or sink) with a simple customer jumper change. 24VDC supply not provided with units.

Most often, the customer uses the simple 120VAC inputs. Simply connect the AC Neutral wire to a screw terminal in the display, and run the 120VAC Hot wire through the normally open contact of a sensor or a switch. Every time the sensor or the limit/palm switch activates, the display time runs (some models time up by seconds and minutes, others by minutes and hours, and yet others by hours, minutes, and seconds).

Control Inputs

AF/TL
series
Time Up As described above, the “Time Up” input is simply the contact which is necessary to actuate in order for the timer value to increment.
AF/TL
series
Reset When the “Reset” input is actuated, the timer display value resets to the value of zero.
AF
only
Preset The “Preset” input changes the displayed state to a pre-programmed numeric value. This value is chosen via an internal dip switch setting.