My impression was that it was mostly used for situations that involved quitting or stopping something or leaving (which is not necessarily a negative thing), but searching on 用例.jp, I was somewhat surprised to find many instances where that is not the case.

yourei.jp/%E6%BD%AE%E6%99%82

「ぼくも仲直りするならいまが潮時だと感じたので」「もうそろそろ頭を冷やしてもよい潮時が来たとは思いませんか？」「小さな魂が新しい肉体に宿って現われて来るには、またとない潮時である。」「ヘスターの目を醒ましてやる潮時だと思ったのです」「いい潮時さえあらば講和をなしたい」「彼女はいい潮時を見て、自分の考えをのこさず老婆に打ち明けました。」 etc...

Maybe in「頭を冷やしてもよい潮時」, "頭を冷やす" may imply (cooling one's head and) quitting something, like a bad habit.

Ah yeah, that’s what I was trying to refer to by “negative”, but much more precise, thanks.

Honestly when I read the 「ぼくも仲直りするならいまが潮時だと感じたので」 sentence I do feel a sense of reluctance to make up by the speaker, though I’m not sure it’s intended...

It feels like it puts the focus on the fact that you didn’t want to or couldn’t do the thing up until now, and finally the time to do it has come.

@DariusJahandarie I realized that's probably what you meant as I was writing, and thought of mentioning it, but said well, whatever. Hehe.

@DariusJahandarie I feel like I can read it that way, but also I feel like I can read it as the speaker eagerly wanting to make up.

@DariusJahandarie With that I fully agree.

My provisional conclusion is that 潮時 generally expresses or implies a change from a state that has continued for some time to another (opposite?) state, whether or not the person wants it.

hnnnnng I don't like this usage example format: i.imgur.com/zAdP4ns.png

spent like a minute thinking where is といい in the last sentence >_<

never got used to it

You mean how they replace the actual word with a line? Yeah, I hate it too.