Hahaha....Hey Wreched! I have to say I am extremely happy with my Gen 1's, they are producing some of my best looking nugs yet to date
I think you will be pleased with your Gen 1's as well
So to answer your questions...
Yes the program controller's light is always on when it is plugged into the lights, even during the dark period. I typically will tuck my controller into one of the vent ports on my grow tent to eliminate any light leaks, but you probably could just put some tape and a piece of cardboard over the display to also eliminate the light during dark periods. ( I think that is what you probably were getting at)
As far as I know, there is not a way to turn the controller backlit display off, so I would suggest just covering it up with some paper or tape or felt or something if light leaks are a concern.
The program controller can not be removed from the light if you are using the custom light schedule, however, if you are just using the lights on a digital timer (no intensity dimming or spectrum changes) then you can use the lights without the controller. Without the controller you would have the 3 switches on top of the panels in which turn on or off the 3 spectrums, so you would just leave all switches in the on position and use a digital timer to control your dark/light periods. The controller is what tells the lights when to dim and what channels to dim, but is not necessary if you are not using those features.
The lights do come on slightly ahead of the schedule you set, I noticed about 1/2 hour or so before the scheduled time for daylight on...(they slowly fade from 0 intensity and up). But yea this is normal. If you were concerned with going over the 18 hours slightly, then you could remove 1 hour from the recommended schedule and then you would be getting 17.5/6.5 lighting. I don't think the slight 1/2 ON time though will effect much as I haven't seen any negative effects in my grow.
I am using the 18/6 schedule that is recommended by the company with no ill effects, and also currently using the 12/12 schedule in my Gen 1 tent with no ill effects. I believe that this may be due to the intensity being not enough to power photosynthesis (light compensation point). Plants also don't respond directly to light in the morning, but rather anticipate the day by their circadian rhythm so the plant actually wakes itself up, just like when you get used to your alarmclock in the morning and wake up at that time, even without the alarm going off. So I think overall you should be fine
Hope this answers your questions. If you have anymore, feel free to ask
