Timer/Signaller Assemblies don't seem to do anything

[Readster]

Originally I thought they were supposed to send a signal when the timer countdown reached zero, but that never seemed to work so I tested it. As I discovered, the assembly does nothing when the timer hits zero. Then I thought that maybe the timer started when the signaller received a signal, so I tested that. Again, nothing happened when I sent the signal.

Currently these things seem to act like regular singallers that you can count down on, even if the countdown ultimately does nothing.

[Convair880]

Yes, I can confirm this. The only thing that works is using the assembly to send a signal manually, which is pointless.