hey thnx for the input i'll try things and will get back to u 
(edit)
@ mem:
I put in your code suggestion and am wondering at what point does the LEDs switch on? im guessing at the 3 hour mark? or is it supposed to be on as soon as the prog starts?if its the latter than nothing is happening, no lights. if its the 3 hour thing then i'll leave it running and watch.
I have also burned mikalhart's code to one of the other chips to see if it runs better than the one i had b4.