-
ICMag with help from Landrace Warden and The Vault is running a NEW contest in November! You can check it here. Prizes are seeds & forum premium access. Come join in!
Grow controller? (DIY)
- Thread starter Hephaestus
- Start date
M
medi-useA
disfunktional-> What about monitoring Relative Humidity and having an Emergency Shutdown switch?
Perhaps a computer fan blowing on the digital ballast?
I would plan on having @least 2 unused control/monitoring 'switches' for future expansion...OverEngineer and PlanForTheFuture!
muA
Perhaps a computer fan blowing on the digital ballast?
I would plan on having @least 2 unused control/monitoring 'switches' for future expansion...OverEngineer and PlanForTheFuture!
muA
Hephaestus
Member
That serial LCD circuit you've linked to is built into the growshield circuit...
That wind sensor could be wired in to the arduino for sure; you'd have to do some ass backwards calculations to make it cfm - really is intended for wind velocity, but - that's the info you need to work out cfm - as you know your duct size etc.
That wind sensor could be wired in to the arduino for sure; you'd have to do some ass backwards calculations to make it cfm - really is intended for wind velocity, but - that's the info you need to work out cfm - as you know your duct size etc.
disfunktional
Member
good call medi!! definitely add RH monitoring and high /low alarm to the list along with emergency shut off, and extra control/monitoring switches for future use(iv got a feeling that il find a use for them). i think the digi ballast should be fine tho, the exhaust fan is squirrel cage type and will be exhausting the utlity room air also. do you think that will be enough to keep the ballast cool? or would you still recommend useing a pc fan? maybe even mount a temp sensor on the ballast to monitor temp and temp hi alarm/shut off?
Hephaestus-lol see i told you i was green. i thought that i had stumbled upon something. the wind sensor isnt really necessary, its more for makeing sure that im not bogging the fan down too much with the intake and scrubber. my main concern is with the intake chokeing it.
Hephaestus-lol see i told you i was green. i thought that i had stumbled upon something. the wind sensor isnt really necessary, its more for makeing sure that im not bogging the fan down too much with the intake and scrubber. my main concern is with the intake chokeing it.
Hephaestus
Member
Emergency shut down - possible, run your high voltage through a big honkin SSR before the power distribution center... Personally I'm leaning more to a 'smart' control system - so if temps get stupid high, it shuts down things in a perscribed order to bring temps into a correct range - rather than kill it all (though I am a big fan of those nice allen bradley mushroom caps for a panic power shutdown that's easily accessed during maintenance)
Don't know if you really need to monitor the airflow as much as the effect the air is having... I'm no cabinet design genius - but I know you can hear the change in pitch quite audibly when you overload a fan... Not sure if that's something you really need to monitor - though in cabinets with extreme heat loads - yes you may want to monitor so you can kick in a secondary in case the primary fails...
Don't know if you really need to monitor the airflow as much as the effect the air is having... I'm no cabinet design genius - but I know you can hear the change in pitch quite audibly when you overload a fan... Not sure if that's something you really need to monitor - though in cabinets with extreme heat loads - yes you may want to monitor so you can kick in a secondary in case the primary fails...
M
medi-useA
disfunktional -> Read My Sig!
:muahaha
I also like the controlled shutdown...I was just pointing out an emergency cutoff switch as a basic precaution.
Give me a day or so to search my bookmarks...I think I've BM'ed some ic's, and how-to's on monitoring airflow in cabinets or enclosed spaces...
I'll rummage this arvo..
muA
disfunktional
Member
medi- lol, be paranoid, over engineer for the future, buy the best quality i can, and RTDM(dont know what that means) gotcha. i will add a pc fan on the ballast, so add another fan on the list of things to be controlled.
Heph- ya i dig the "smart" control system over the emergency shutdown system, but a good thing has happened i understand the allen bradley mushroom caps, those are the e-stop buttons used to shut down a process.
Heph- ya i dig the "smart" control system over the emergency shutdown system, but a good thing has happened i understand the allen bradley mushroom caps, those are the e-stop buttons used to shut down a process.
Hephaestus
Member
Thinking about it - don't think it's cfm you might want to be measuring to watch if you're overloading the intake side of a squirrel cage... Air presure might be a better measurement; getting air pressure to both sides and comparing could give a better indication - might help you catch a clogged filter or air leak...
disfunktional
Member
differential pressure more my lingo. there are two places for pressure loss 1-the cab side of the intake 2-the utlity cab side of the scrubber. would the air pressure entering the intake need to measured also?
disfunktional
Member
you know i was thinking the fan i have that will be blowing on the light is a thermal take smart fan 2 with adjustable speed and a thermal sesnsor that speedds up or slowsw down accordingly to the heat on the sensor. i may pick up another for blowing on the ballast so it wont need to be full blast the whole time, and along with the other fan blowing on the light, will turn on and off with the light.
Hephaestus
Member
Was thinking about that myself today - the fridge's air intake will be ridiculously cold - i need to be really careful about overall airflow in the cabinet...
Might require another circuit or two - dc motor control isn't hard but it's something that'll take another circuit again
Might require another circuit or two - dc motor control isn't hard but it's something that'll take another circuit again
M
medi-useA
RTDM!
Read The Damn Manual!
another way of saying it is if all else fails, read the instructions!
muA
Read The Damn Manual!
another way of saying it is if all else fails, read the instructions!
muA
disfunktional
Member
this controller will be absolutely sick when its finished!!
Hephaestus
Member
http://www.nkcelectronics.com/freeduino-arduino-motor-control-shield-kit.html
At least there's no need to design & build a circuit
See this is why I built it to accept other shields - slap this one on top again; hell 11$ - not a bad price actually...
At least there's no need to design & build a circuit
See this is why I built it to accept other shields - slap this one on top again; hell 11$ - not a bad price actually...
M
medi-useA
imnotcrazy-> just looked @ Nano PLC In A Growroom...
Good one man!...I'm gonna have to read up on it..Like to add it to my list.
Damn!...wrong thread AGAIN!lol
Guys...have you seen this page?
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=99252
muA
Good one man!...I'm gonna have to read up on it..Like to add it to my list.
Damn!...wrong thread AGAIN!lol
Guys...have you seen this page?
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=99252
muA
disfunktional
Member
motor controller? for the fans?
Hephaestus
Member
Looked at it - PLC's are good; but have their limits. Got a bunch of mitsubishi plc's kicking around gathering dust (since I got my hands on the arduinos - so much easier to work with).
Hephaestus
Member
Darn rights
Think about it for a second - not just straight on/off - use 5v fans and have speed control so your a) saving power b) cooling at just the right speed; just enough to keep the temp from climbing above X degrees... Or kick in a secondary fan at that point... 
disfunktional
Member
so i wont need the thermaltake fans then?if not il be able to use them for another project. saweet guess i need to start lookn for different fans then.
disfunktional
Member
would an Arduino MEGA be better for this application. sorry if it isnt just seen the word mega and thougt that it would be better(must be the guy oozeing out of me, lol)
