On/off timer (clock)
Starts or stops the unit automatically after a delay or at a clock time you set.
What pressing it does
Midea counts in hours from now: each press adds 30 minutes up to 10 hours, then 1 hour up to 24. Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic set a clock time instead (the clock must be set first), and Panasonic repeats the timer daily. Setting both gives an on-then-off or off-then-on programme.
What it does not do
It does not survive every power cut: Mitsubishi Electric says a power failure cancels the ON/OFF timer, and Fujitsu’s TIMER lamp flashes to ask you to set it again.
Makes differ, check your unit’s manual: the same drawing can mean different things on different brands, and only your model’s manual says exactly what a button does and which modes it works in.
- What it looks like
- A clock face, often with the word ON or OFF beside or under it; a lit clock lamp on the indoor unit while a timer is set.
- Names makers use
- TIMER ON / TIMER OFF (Midea); ON TIMER / OFF TIMER (Mitsubishi Electric, Fujitsu); Timed on / Timed off (Samsung)
Where makers differ
Countdown (Midea, Samsung) versus clock time (Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic, Fujitsu). The oven timer on this site is a different symbol: it times cooking, not the air conditioner.
Other symbols with the same shapes
Sources
No single published standard defines air-conditioner remote icons, so this meaning is taken from 4 makers’ own manuals, each fetched and read on the date shown:
- Midea: Midea — Remote controller owner’s manual, RG51A(2)/E and RG51B(2)/E (PDF) — TIMER ON / TIMER OFF: “the time will increase by 30 minutes increments with each press, up to 10 hours. After 10 hours and up to 24, it will increase in 1 hour increments … the time periods you set … refer to hours after the current time.” Checked 2026-09-26.
- Mitsubishi Electric: Mitsubishi Electric — MSZ-LN indoor unit service manual OBH766 revised edition B (PDF, UK library) — 9-7 TIMER: “Timer operation will not work without setting the current time … If the main power is turned OFF or a power failure occurs while ON/OFF timer is active, the timer setting is cancelled.” Checked 2026-09-26.
- Panasonic: Panasonic — Operating instructions, CS-Z*AKUAW air conditioner (North America, PDF) — “You can set the timer to turn on and off the unit at 2 different preset time … will repeat daily when timer has been set.” Checked 2026-09-26.
- Fujitsu General: Fujitsu General — Operating manual, wall-mounted 18/24RLB and 30/36RLXB (US, PDF) — TIMER MODE selects OFF timer, ON timer or PROGRAM timer; after a power interruption “the TIMER indicator on the indoor unit blinks, and you need to readjust the setting.” Checked 2026-09-26.
Written in our own words; quotations are the makers’ wording.