andyman
Well-Known Member
just added some outdoor pix from this last fall. Let me know what ya think
https://www.rollitup.org/members/andyman-albums-outdoor.html
https://www.rollitup.org/members/andyman-albums-outdoor.html
Harvest a Pound Every Three Weeks!
- Thread starter StinkBud
- Start date
multisonic
Well-Known Member
It's probably been covered, but how many pumps can you run off of this fancy lil timer?
I have the Aero 36 site and there are many things I would love to change. THIS was just the thread I needed to motivate me to build a better mousetrap so to speak.
I have the Aero 36 site and there are many things I would love to change. THIS was just the thread I needed to motivate me to build a better mousetrap so to speak.
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bubblerking
Well-Known Member
3 from what I understand
StinkBud
Well-Known Member
Anywhere close to the edge so you can see the water.
To check the PPM put a cup under the drain spout and turn on the pump. Open the valve to fill the cup. Now test the sample. After you're done drink the water! (just kidding, I'm fucking with you)
I know this sounds crazy but I never check my veg unit. I change it every three weeks and set the PPM to 1500. As the unit uses water the PPM will climb to about 2000 PPM over three weeks.
Same with the cloner. I set it and forget it.
The veg plants may use a gallon of water (the last week) out of 15 gallons of water.
dragonbud
Well-Known Member
Thanks stinkbud. I'll be finishing the Veg unit today.I got Barney's Blue Cheese getting cloned right now and then I'll be adding some Legend Collection Strawberry Blue, and some big buddah blue cheese which has a 1/3 afghani in it. Got to go shopping for a fence post today, It should boost the local economy out of recession. I figure with all of this pvc and fence posts getting bought in the middle of Winter the economy should be looking up.thanks again.. the fresh air snype.
repvip
Well-Known Member
Flabs thanks for the reply! This makes sense--and confirms what I am experiencing. All of my pumps that are on the floor, of the basement, which is concrete, seem to have leaking current through the floor (through me first), while my clone units, which are on a table, don't have this problem. The current only leaks when the pumps are on. This house is really old.. might have something to do with it. I'm guessing they didn't bury the house grounding rod deep enough or something. Shit, there might not even be a grounding rod!I may be able to answer your question as I had a similar problem with my bait tank. Every time I stuck my hand in the water, I felt current running through me.
I have a question. Have you tried turning off the current to your pumps? Do you still get a tingle? Shut off each piece of electric equipment one piece at a time checking to see if you get a jolt out of the water each time or not.
Next, if you want to see what kind of amperage your water has, test it with a volt ohm meter. I could feel less then a volt in the water, but the power company could not. They could see the power with their meter. When we did something to the power, I would stick my hand in the water first and tell him if it was less, more or the same. He was amazed that I was right on the money with my body as a volt ohm meter.
What it turned out to be in my bait tank was that I was near a power sub station. All the power returning to the sub went through the ground and through my tank. They put some kind of a resistor or something on the pole. It stopped and has never returned.
Good Luck!
Flabs
Just got the third flower unit up and running
will post pics soon.
BIGTIMEROOFERR
Well-Known Member
hey stink thanks for all the info.
my plants are growing about 1/2 to 1" a day its crazy your the best i been reserching for 3 or 4 months and you have the best advice my mother in law has cancer i think this will help her i hate to see her like that its hard on my wife and fam. thanks a million
my plants are growing about 1/2 to 1" a day its crazy your the best i been reserching for 3 or 4 months and you have the best advice my mother in law has cancer i think this will help her i hate to see her like that its hard on my wife and fam. thanks a million
westmich
Well-Known Member
OK - I am going to go out on a limb and risk getting flamed, but I wanted to pass this on.
I looked at that very same timer the other day at the hydro shop. It was the first time I had been in there in over a month. I had some first hand experience since the last time I was in there and a whole lot of second hand experience through these forums. When I discussed the timer with the guy he looked at me like I was half crazy. I explained the thread on timers burning out because of the initial draw and using a DIY relay to compensate for it. He said he never heard of such a thing. He had never had one burn out on him - both personally and through the hydro shop.
I know sales guys can be full of shit, but he has never come across that way to me and seems to have a lot of first hand experience. There have been times he could have easily up-sold me on something and didn't; he has even made hardware store or DIY recommendations on some of the things he knows are way overpriced or at least outside of my budget.
Maybe this is just a disagreement among growers based on their experiences? Again, I personally have never run more than one pump on one timer so I really don't know.
Picasso345
Well-Known Member
Forget opinions and just look at the straight numbers. That ART-DNe is rated at 15A -those Ecoplus 396 pumps draw 8A at start-up. Pretty straightforward to me how many pumps I'm running off that timer before I add a relay.
The interesting part is trying to guess how much of a safety margin the pump mfg and the timer mfg built in. Obviously there is some because we know that two pumps don't immediately break the timer. But I'm playing it safe and that relay is cheap insurance.
token old guy
Active Member
The best price on the timer I have found is here.
http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/cap-artdne-adjustable-recycle-timer-wdaynight-function-p-541.html
$79.75 shiped to my door
http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/cap-artdne-adjustable-recycle-timer-wdaynight-function-p-541.html
$79.75 shiped to my door
Picasso345
Well-Known Member
My favorite mail order place has it for $70.95 before shipping. Probably about the same price in the end. BG hydro has always done me right.
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/items.asp?Cc=TI&Bc=
multisonic
Well-Known Member
While going back to research discussion on the SCT I noticed that we have some riders in here. You'll find me on my 06 636 sadly topped out at 170 bumping the rev limiter. (I need a smaller rear sprocket!!!)
Remember guys: Keep the rubber side down.
So back to the timer q? Basically to play it safe I should get a timer for each pump, or squeeze 2 pumps to a timer? What do you do Stink?
-----------------------------------------------
BG is a good company I have ordered from them many times as well. They even gave me a free T-shirt when I got my fans and big scrubber!!
bubblerking
Well-Known Member
I'm not stink but 2 u should be all good
andyman
Well-Known Member
If you look back about 20 pages I show how to make a contactor/relay setup so you can safely run multiple pumps off one timer. I am currently running many off a timer I made with the relay and have no problems and feel cofident that it will help keep it working for a long time. It draws less than an amp on the timer with my setup. The timer is only activating the contactor , it then activates the pumps and keeps the amp load on the contactor rather than the timer.
westmich
Well-Known Member
Yes, I remember. That was what I was telling the hydro guy and he thought I was a crazy person.
andyman
Well-Known Member
he is a salesmen not an electrician , I never saw any harm in plugging multiple pumps into it till I built my own timer to save some $$. the guy asked what kind of startup load I had. I didnt tell him what exactly I was making the timer for but gave him the specs. so then I asked my dad and 2 other electricians. all told me the same about pumps initial draw power. The bigger the pump more amps drawn. So its a numbers thing like picasso said. hope this helps. Im doing the same with my lights on a timer so I can use a cheap timer without burning the house down or timers going out when Im at work and dont know about it. One pump going out could devistate a crop in the aero/ntf stinkbud system.
andyman
Well-Known Member
http://cgi.ebay.com/SOLID-STATE-TIMER-MULTIFUNCTION_W0QQitemZ220346715203QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_Automation_Components?hash=item220346715203&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
make your own timer. the key is the description has REPEAT CYCLE. this way if it fails you can just pull it out of the socket and put a new one in. and if you make it go strait to a contactor it would be a very reliable setup that could run a nice size system. Mine is going to be running 10 pumps on one timer
make your own timer. the key is the description has REPEAT CYCLE. this way if it fails you can just pull it out of the socket and put a new one in. and if you make it go strait to a contactor it would be a very reliable setup that could run a nice size system. Mine is going to be running 10 pumps on one timer
Picasso345
Well-Known Member
All hydro places already sell a contactor/relay. It is labeled for HID lights, The guy just didn't know his stuff that's all. That's why he looked at you like you were crazy. You should ask the salesperson why wouldn't the same principals apply to high amp draw from water pumps as it does to high amps from light start-up?
In his defense, I'm sure it isn't common to have people running a flock of water pumps all off one timer like we do, so it just isn't something he runs into a lot I'll bet.
BgHydro sells a few different ones:
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=AACILS120ON&eq=&Tp=
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemMatrix.asp?ic=TICMLC8&eq=&Tp=&MatrixType=2&sGroupCode=TICMLC800
westmich
Well-Known Member
What you guys have been saying on paper all makes sense to me. I will be building a grow room and move out of the closet as soon as my budget allows it and I will take all of this into consideration. I will have to run wiring anyways, maybe I should run a 15 amp circuit for 15 amp devices like the timer.