electric timer with multiple on/off per day

[myco]

Hey guys I have been trying to find a timer that can go on and off multiple times a day
I really didn't think this would be all that difficult but its proving to be not such an easy thing to find

I have managed to find one however its American so obviously not suitable for here in oz
if anybody can help me out on this one it would be greatly appreciated

P.S. I didn't know where to put this so I just put it here

Edited December 12, 2015 by myco

[BedOSpines]

Got mine at coles

[myco]

do you know the brand and model number or anything

[spooge]

The b shop has ok analogue timers with 15min intervals for $5 as well

They are in the electrical section

[BedOSpines]

do you know the brand and model number or anything

I find the digital ones fail more often, this was a 2 pack maybe $8, spent 25 bucks on a fancy one that couldn't keep time right and just failed after a few weeks.

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

I asked a similar question a while back man, I was pretty much told there are the 15min interval ones like above, or you need to build your own if your savvy with that. I literally put hours into it and just went with the plain and simple timer

Edit: From what the young fellas are telling me you gotta learn to arduino...

Edited December 12, 2015 by theuserformallyknownasd00d

[wert]

surely theres a way you can just buy muliple timers, daisy chain them to a sigle out put.

if I was thinking coherantly im sure I could work out away to do it with a powerboard, acouple of adaptors and multiple timers but im all meded out now.

[Slocombe]

You'll need to buy a very specialized timer if you're trying to simulate a slightly shorter day to speed up the time to harvest.

[Sallubrious]

The only problem when you daisy chain them is the slaves only work during the on cycle of the master.

What timing intervals do you need myco ?

An arduino switching a 5v/240v relay will do almost anything you need and be more reliable and accurate than most off the shelf stuff. It's best not to drive the relay directly from the arduino 5v output, it's normally switched through a transistor with a diode to prevent any back emf from the relay from frying the arduino.

edit: for a low current application an SSR relay could probably be wired directly to the arduino safely.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Sally

[myco]

hahah ok thanks guys well I've never even heard of the word arduino just had to check google

I'm definitely not one to be messin around with electronics I wouldn't even know where to start haha

its surprising there isnt more timers that can achieve this

it would seem my best bet would be to try one of those analogue ones
maybe give wert's idea go see what kinda sketchy shit I can rig up with a few different timers hopefully that will do what I need

thanks for the help guys I'll give that a go

[wert]

master-master-master-slave

master-master-slave-slave

master-slave-slave-slave

im ko'd

goodnight all.

[Sallubrious]

You can get an arduino knockoff for about 5 bucks these days, it's about the same for a relay to switch the 240v and another 5 bucks for a power supply.

With a bit of creative coding you could run it through a web browser to adjust the settings.

If you don't get the results you want via the analogue route drag this thread up again and I'll see what I can do. We have several members here that could set up something like this, it's not rocket surgery.

[myco]

I have always dreamed of having a greenhouse with full control via computer haha

I might just drag this up again once I finally can build my big greenhouse

been paying off our land for just over a year now its been one shitty fuken hell of a year but we'll be stickin a shed on there in jan
and start building house not long after that once that sheds up though the greenhouses will begin ahhh finally

[zelly]

[Darklight]

Hey guys I have been trying to find a timer that can go on and off multiple times a day

I really didn't think this would be all that difficult but its proving to be not such an easy thing to find

One I have and still use that fits the bill is a Provalue TS-EA1 I bought from an IRL storefront. Not sure if they're still around, it was years ago but the unit is solid and has 8 on/off settings

I find the digital ones fail more often, this was a 2 pack maybe $8, spent 25 bucks on a fancy one that couldn't keep time right and just failed after a few weeks.

Bedofspines is right, digital ones do fail more often.

Maybe ask on a dedicated myco forum? They'd need more frequent timing for misting.

I have always dreamed of having a greenhouse with full control via computer haha

Mmm yeah, all that sexy shiny. You still need to check it daily tho. Have analogue backups ready and at hand, shit fails all the time, you need to re-set some things for daylight saving and others will automatically re-adjust. And remember you may also have to set some things differently for seasonality. Misting at 0930 in winter in shade is one thing, in summer you risk frying stuff.

Personally I'd set up for analogue/ manual first and add automated digital piece by piece *after* you have read and understood all the manuals and added each update one at a time.

I ran a few semi-automated quarantine greenhouses years back with quite a few add-ons and timers stuck in powerpoints and they went well with daily checks. You can't ever set and forget and expect to have plants for long. Ensure your power points are weatherproof too if you're ever going to use misting systems

The analogue ones with the timer face and the pointy things sometimes have a web address where you can purchase extra pointy bits if you want more cycles

[Darklight]

Ah, and if you're using automatically opening planthouse side and roof vents, don't digitise them. Grab some of the temp sensitive pneumatic ones instead. One less thing to program, and they last years

[ace1928]

I have always dreamed of having a greenhouse with full control via computer haha

I might just drag this up again once I finally can build my big greenhouse

been paying off our land for just over a year now its been one shitty fuken hell of a year but we'll be stickin a shed on there in jan

and start building house not long after that once that sheds up though the greenhouses will begin ahhh finally

I could probably help you out in the future with using arduino to automate your computer and have it run to a computer controlled terminal

Arduino automation is my kind of thing

If you send me a PM with the kind of things you'd like automated in your greenhouse I can start to have a look at what's required for each individual component.

The joy with arduino is that the sensors are easy to replace, the arduino itself is easy to replace and any one component costs very very little. It's kind of like a multi-component plug and play system and the sketch (code) for the arduino ties it all together into a nice little package.

[Sallubrious]

Have you played around with a nodeMCU yet ace ?

There's a sexy little relay board you can get for $40 that wouldn't be worth building yourself and the nodeMCU has wifi on board.

https://www.tindie.com/products/Armtronix/node-mcu-esp8266-wifi-board-with-4-relay-for-iot/

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

I told ya myco, young ppl and this fkn arduino ;) offering to build shit easy like it's all an easy to follow recipe!

Hey ace next time we catch up I want you to arduino me a remote entry thing for my front gate, I hate opening it haha

[Sallubrious]

You could operate that with your phone these days dood.

[manic]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ET12S-Digital-Timer-Heavy-Duty10A-/231735072842?

Best timer ive ever seen, can even do a setting for seconds. Ive seen a number of these last 10+ years now.

[myco]

I told ya myco, young ppl and this fkn arduino ;) offering to build shit easy like it's all an easy to follow recipe!

Hey ace next time we catch up I want you to arduino me a remote entry thing for my front gate, I hate opening it haha

hahaha I know electronics for me is like trying to read some kind of alien language

I recently tried to see if I could figure out how to wire up a standalone crossfader for my turntables

shit I felt pretty stupid once I started reading stuff and watching videos even with that help I had no clue hahaha

thanks for all the help and ideas guys your certainly giving me alot to think about for my future greenhouse builds

I might have to hit you up Ace

the functions needed to be controlled would probably be fairly simple really (for someone who knows what they're doing)

all I'd really be looking at controlling is humidity and temperature

as darklight suggested the heat sensitive pneumatic roof vents was what I'd planned on using

so really just something to help control humidity would be great

[IndianDreaming]

I use this one - Its easy to set up and works well: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-Temperature-Humidity-Controller-with-Relay-Output-72x72-Celcius-/381383334023?hash=item58cc37d887:g:WH4AAOSwTapV5cIo

If you search for 'humiture controller' you'll find dozens of them.

[miss-meander88]

I know this may seem like a stupid suggestion, something youve probably already thought of and may not be suitable but...

What about setting multiple alarms on your phone?

One at say 12pm,2pm,4pm etc.... (or whatever intervals)...

Im probably stating the obvious that may not be suitable

[miss-meander88]

(That is if you were considering simple supermarket ones ...obviously not if youre attempting some sort of control panel timer switch thingy )