Diy steel hoop house.

[Bjorn to farm.]

I know what you mean by resting in the middle but the shade it throws is an irritant.
I’ve been racking my brain trying to find a simple solution to get it down the far side.
There is a company that makes roll-up tarps for grain trailers. They have some good ideas.
Yes, please PM me the wiring diagram. I love shit like that.

 

[Bjorn to farm.]

https://www.michels.ca/product/grain_body_tarp_systems/product_2.html

 

[TychoMonolyth]

I would think any garage door company would have something for you. I saw a roll up tarp being installed on a steel machine shed door last summer.

 

[CrushnYuba]

It doesn't really block any light iff installed well. Luckily, you are doing a very short greenhouse and it will be a breez to get dialed.* When it's all rolled up,* that strip down the middle will be about 6".* The clear plastic cover diffuses light and sends light in different directions.

To make a 10ft wide hoop, it takes a 20ft wide piece of clear plastic.* 6" of that will be blocked by the blackout bars when it's all rolled up and it's mounted at the highest point in the house. Doesnt matter what position the sun is, there shouldn't be a shadow casted on any part of your plant canopy at any time of day.

I have used a system just like the link you posted. A cable spool attached to the roller to pull the bar as it unrolls when you don't have gravity to pull it. I don't think it would work for up and over. It really just to move the bar horizontally. I used it to unroll an insulating blanket.

 

[Bjorn to farm.]

What do you consider short?

 

[CrushnYuba]

Maybe you didn't say what size you were doing and i confused it with another post.

The longer the greenhouse, the harder it is to connect the bar to all that plastic evenly. Anything under 40ft long is very easy. 60 ft is a little harder. Closer to 100ft takes a couple sets off hands and a bunch of rolling up and down to see if you got it right. The straighter it rolls, the closer you can get the bars rolled to the center.

The wider and taller the greenhouse is, the wider the strip can be down the middle blocking sun without it casting a shadow. It's all about that diffused light from the clear plastic that makes little things up high not cast shadows.

 

[shredGnar]

When you say big pipe, do you mean long pipe or big diameter?
It would only take 2 pieces of 10ft top rail to go down a 20 ft long hoop house. They also make 20ft long top rail, but top rail nests into the next piece so well, i don't see the point.
You could build your own "controller" with a few parts if you are comfortable with some very basic wiring. Doesn't require soldering. Just a screw driver and some wire to connect 3 components. I could pm you a wiring diagram and parts list.

Edit: it seems like you mean bigger diameter pipe. You will need 2 motors for black out regardless. The bars need to rest in the center of the greenhouse when open. Maybe i have to take some more pictures to share

I would love that wiring diagram and parts list, if not too much trouble!

Thanks man!

 

[CrushnYuba]

I would love that wiring diagram and parts list, if not too much trouble!

Thanks man!

I hope you understand this diagram. I'm not the best at these things. I tried to draw it as simple as possible. You could use terminal blocks to organize the wires better. I use wire duct to hide all the wiring. I don't like any visible wires. Din rails and/or backplate for your enclosure to mount on. I would also add a switch to manually stop each motor so u can manually open one set a time.

On the dpdt relay
Terminal 4 and 5 are jumpered together with a short piece of wire.
Terminal 8 and 1 are jumpered together.

This is how polarity is reversed. 1 and 4 normally have power. When the relay is triggered by the timer it switches to 5 and 8. When you reverse the - and + on a dc motor, it changes direction.

Terminal 12 and 9 are the power in on the relay and always have power.
Terminal 14 and 13 are the trigger. 13 always has - power. When the timer turns on, it sends + power to terminal 14 and it energizes the coil.

The diagram is for any standard 8 pin dpdt "icecube" relay rated for over 15 amps.
Any 24v timer
And a 24v power supply greater then 10 amps.

 

[shredGnar]

View Image

I hope you understand this diagram. I'm not the best at these things. I tried to draw it as simple as possible. You could use terminal blocks to organize the wires better. I use wire duct to hide all the wiring. I don't like any visible wires. Din rails and/or backplate for your enclosure to mount on. I would also add a switch to manually stop each motor so u can manually open one set a time.

On the dpdt relay
Terminal 4 and 5 are jumpered together with a short piece of wire.
Terminal 8 and 1 are jumpered together.

This is how polarity is reversed. 1 and 4 normally have power. When the relay is triggered by the timer it switches to 5 and 8. When you reverse the - and + on a dc motor, it changes direction.

Terminal 12 and 9 are the power in on the relay and always have power.
Terminal 14 and 13 are the trigger. 13 always has - power. When the timer turns on, it sends + power to terminal 14 and it energizes the coil.

The diagram is for any standard 8 pin dpdt "icecube" relay rated for over 15 amps.
Any 24v timer
And a 24v power supply greater then 10 amps.

Thank you for that!

 

[Zeez]

Looking for a good supplier for 1 3/8" perlin connectors, clamps, wiggle channels, coverings, etc?

I saw this place but would prefer to go with a recommend. https://www.buildmyowngreenhouse.com/wigglewirepolylock.aspx

 

[Grateful1]

Very informative thread thank u very much!!

 

[CrushnYuba]

Looking for a good supplier for 1 3/8" perlin connectors, clamps, wiggle channels, coverings, etc?

I saw this place but would prefer to go with a recommend. https://www.buildmyowngreenhouse.com/wigglewirepolylock.aspx

They are reputable but they do not have the largest selection. They sell bending jigs. It should be more economical to get 1 3/8 fittings from an online fence supplier then greenhouse supplier. You could try to get heavier things like plastic and wire lock locally to save on shipping. But if you are unsure about what you need, they would be very helpful. You could call them mid build and ask them questions if you wanted.
I got a row cover/low tunnel conduit bender from them.

 

[Zeez]

I already have 2 50w light dep motors, crank winders for ventilation and the bending jig. I'm going to make my own controller using Z-wave home automation with a couple transformers and 4 12v relays.

They have a deal going with free ship over $200. With the recommend I'll probably go with them to get the rest.

Thanks for all the info. Great thread.

 

[CrushnYuba]

Why 12v v relays? does z wave only do 12v?? And why 4 relays if you only have 2 motors? And why a COUPLE of transformers?
I'm sure you can use your z wave with a modified version of that wiring diagram i posted last page. Just use the zwave instead of a timer. That's what i did. I use ewelink instead of z wave though.

Safe. Easy. RELIABLE

 

[Zeez]

I saw your timer design and came up with a simple way to do it with Z-Wave. Zwave works well with hydro too.

I have two dual z-wave 110v plug in modules. One module (2 switched outlets) for each light dep motor. One outlet for up and one for down, transformers (wall rats) to control the a/b relays. Using two batteries in series and a solar panel. It's easy with zwave to monitor and be able to control from the phone anywhere. Modified schedules like opening at night will be easy.

 

[Chunkypigs]

Are there limit switches to stop the motors at the top and bottom?


[/B]QUOTE=CrushnYuba;8502614]View Image

I hope you understand this diagram. I'm not the best at these things. I tried to draw it as simple as possible. You could use terminal blocks to organize the wires better. I use wire duct to hide all the wiring. I don't like any visible wires. Din rails and/or backplate for your enclosure to mount on. I would also add a switch to manually stop each motor so u can manually open one set a time.

On the dpdt relay
Terminal 4 and 5 are jumpered together with a short piece of wire.
Terminal 8 and 1 are jumpered together.

This is how polarity is reversed. 1 and 4 normally have power. When the relay is triggered by the timer it switches to 5 and 8. When you reverse the - and + on a dc motor, it changes direction.

Terminal 12 and 9 are the power in on the relay and always have power.
Terminal 14 and 13 are the trigger. 13 always has - power. When the timer turns on, it sends + power to terminal 14 and it energizes the coil.

The diagram is for any standard 8 pin dpdt "icecube" relay rated for over 15 amps.
Any 24v timer
And a 24v power supply greater then 10 amps.[/QUOTE]

 

[CrushnYuba]

Are there limit switches to stop the motors at the top and bottom?
]

Yea. There are limit switches inside the motor for rolling each way. Once it gets to the end of it's travel, it cuts power to the motor. So you can leave power going to those motors all day. It doesn't complete the circuit until polarity it's reversed and it starts to roll the other way. So all you need is a dc motor reverse circuit

 

[CrushnYuba]

I saw your timer design and came up with a simple way to do it with Z-Wave. Zwave works well with hydro too.

I have two dual z-wave 110v plug in modules. One module (2 switched outlets) for each light dep motor. One outlet for up and one for down, transformers (wall rats) to control the a/b relays. Using two batteries in series and a solar panel. It's easy with zwave to monitor and be able to control from the phone anywhere. Modified schedules like opening at night will be easy.

I wouldn't use a relay for up and a relay for down. Its possible that both relays could be accidentally triggered at the same time and your motor and controller gets toasted. Or one relay can stick and its all toasted. Also possibility of electrical fire. Have you ever accidentally reversed jumper cables on a car? Now imagine 2 batteries in series with twice the voltage! Mechanical relays do stick sometimes!

Using a single dpdt relay would prevent the possibility of this! We can make that zwave controller work safely and with less parts then you are thinking.

Also, you Have 24v power going to motors. Your z wave is 110v. You said you are using 12v relays. What trigger source is 12v? You should bee using 110v relays if your zwave outlets are 110v.
And if you Have 110v power there, There is no need for a solar panel, 2 batteries, and a charge controller. You can just use a 20$ 24v power supply and skip all the solar

You can use that zwave and it will kick ass for you. Just the way you are doing it after the zwave is dangerous and more complicated then it has to be.

I did the same thing but with a sonoff instead of zwave.

 

[Zeez]

The Z-wave modules are 110v. that could power a 24v transformer going into the relay. The double throw and normally open should offer pretty good protection. This stuff isn't really my thing, so I just can't see how it would would be done.

 

[CrushnYuba]

PM me and I'll help you with a diagram and explanation on how to use your zwave to power it.
When you have a relay that says it's 110v ac, the TRIGGER voltage has to be 110vac to energize the coil and make it flip. The power that runs through it can be any voltage you want as long as it's within the amperage it's rated for including 24vdc. So if you get a 110v dpdt relay, you can hook the zwaves 110v to the coil trigger, and 24vdc power supply to the power in.

You don't want to use 2 separate relays to do open and close. You want to use one relay with the normally open for rolling one way and the normally closed for rolling the other way. This is because a relay can only be open or closed. There is NO possibility of a short.

If you use 2 relays that are RUN in opposite polarity going to the same motor, and one of those relays get stuck, when the others trigger, you will have a short and BOOM. or you accidentally trigger both relays from your zwave, BOOM. It happens. The possibility of a short exists. Using a single relay, it doesn't exists. There it's really no point in Using 2 relays considering 1 dpdt relay can throw in 2 different directions and roll the motor both ways.

Do you understand that the motors have limits and they stop on their own? The controller doesn't need to kill power to the motor When it's done rolling down. The motor gets power 24 hrs a day. It just doesn't complete the circuit of the motor has reached it's limit.