Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Texas Hunter Feeder not working

I put out my texas hunter feeder tonight. It was working fine last year when I put it away. It powered up fine and was able to set the clock and program it. When I tried to run the test feed it counted down correctly but then all I heard was a click and nothing happens. Any ideas what might be wrong? I plan on calling texas hunter in the morning. was just trying to get a jump start on it.

Mark:

Is the battery fully charged? The solar charger won't charge a battery that is run down, you have to charge it on a real plug-in-the-wall battery charger.

Sure sounds like a battery problem-it'd be almost impossible for both motors to go out at the same time, and they're basically wired separately to the timer assembly, so it's not likely there's a corroded contact between the timer andthe motor. Check the contacts from the timer to the battery, however.
If you can't fix it, call Cody at TH. He's super helpful and will do whatever it takes to get you up and running.

That would be my guess too. The control heads don't take much power, and will still display for a while even if the spinners won't throw.

Had a TH feeder where the timer just showed dashes on the display. Changed the battery for a known good one. No change. Sent the timer to Cody for replacement, he looked at it and said it was good. He sent the timer back, it was installed in the feeder and everything worked perfectly. I guess that timer was homesick and just wanted a free trip home for a visit.

In reality, it may just have been slightly corroded contacts, and removing/reinstalling it made contact.

To overwinter the feeder, some clients have them pretty permanently mounted. I've had good success by cleaning the feeder out, turning it to "off" for all feeding cycles, and leaving the battery hooked up to the solar charger. Next Spring, fill with food, program feeding schedule, test and walk away.

My bad, I put a fully charged battery in and it works fine. Have to file this away to remember for next time.

Glad to hear it works now! FWIW, I believe there is a battery indicator on the timer.

yes there is and it stated the battery was fair. I now have that battery charged up but it might be put on backup electronic caller detail.

I had a problem with mine too. After put a couple bags of feed in, I started up. Acts great except spinning plate not spinning. Battery said good, Allen wrench screw was tight (holding spin plate to motor shaft), motor spun shaft well when plate didnt have weight of fish food (aquamax 600) on it (note to self: in future, always just dump small amount in before testing). Called Texas hunter. Rep was very nice; but lost my cell phone signal during call. Will try to trouble shoot this weekend. Suggestions?

Ps: this is not meant to bash Texas Hunter. it has been a great feeder and I am we'll pleased. If they were cheaper or I had more money, I'd have several.

How old is the battery?

Replaced battery with known good one. No change. Connected battery to motor which spins plate (bypassing timer). Plate spun. Fish food flowed. Was able to feed fish by running blower motor via timer and that battery while holding connecting wires to plate motor and other battery.

Call TH in the A.M. If the timer is younger than 5 years old it's under warranty. Send them the timer, they'll test it and if found defective, they'll replace it.

Had sort of the same problem on a friends TH feeder in Texas. He sent the timer in to them, they said it was good, but when he re-installed it everything worked fine.

One last test before sending it out, unplug it and plug it back in again. Maybe connections got a wee bit of corrosion on them?

I'll try that. Thanks!

Are you sure about the timer being under warranty if it's less than 5 years old? That's not what they told me.
I was having trouble with the upper motor last fall. I just replaced it and now it runs all the time. I called TH and they told me I need a new timer. I believe it's only two years old having had to replace it already when the original got wet. The bottom line is $139. I'm kind of fed up with TH, having had to replace several motors already.

BH:

Positive. From their website: •DFT12 Digital Timer with 5-year Limited Warranty

If you need help, send me a PM and we'll get something worked out.