High temp shutdown general question / plus warning about electrical shock risk!

[lysol]

So I just got a high temp shutdown from plantlighthydroponics. On it I see it is manufactored by CAP custom automated products. located at 4715 hiers ave ( the address of discount hydro ).

On the directions it says if there is a loss of power when power is restored it delays turn on by 15 minutes, but does this mean I need to set my timers back 15 minutes or does it reset itself after 15 minutes of power loss? Does it have to go before my timer?

Also yes it definitely does store power to retain this memory because when I unplugged it I got a serious shock, I am ok but if it was serious enough that I feel it could pose a health hazard to someone w/. pacemakers, etc... which are more prone to growing medical cannabis.

On the letter it came it has a disclaimer "custom automated products inc and their retailers and distributors are not responsible for any damage or injuries, consequential or otherwise arising from the use of this product. the purchaser assumes all responsibility for the use and proper installation of this device."

So basically they felt it neccessary to put a legal disclaimer, but apparently they did not conceive the risk large enough to put a warning DO NOT TOUCH THE PRONGS even when the device is unplugged because apparently electricity can flow back to your body. It is very large there is probably a big 120v 15 minute capacitor hooked up to a simple relay switch, huh?

 

[Dr Dog]

crazy man

I would not use that product and return it. Get yourself one that is certified for the UL group.

There most likely stores potential in there somewhere, not really the volts your should be aware of, but the current.

I would put an item like that before everything. It is a fail safe, I have often thought about getting one, and setting it to something like 92 f. That way it allows for fuck ups small enough that wont kill the plants in a day, and you will hopefully notice that issue arising. The idea is to kill all power in there, so you would typically have all heat generating items connected.

Stuff like fans, I would typically have plugged in separate of the ballasts etc

 

[lysol]

Yeah I finally found a safe addy and I dont want to ask him to do this again right away, the breaker to the room is arc fault plus supposedly the power strip is a surge protector one, I know now not to touch the power plug even when it is unplugged now. Yeah my intention is to help cooling, before I had 15m breaks strategically programmed in my timer, this will be more efficient.

Yeah I was gonna shut down the ventilation because if there is a fire causing heat you dont want to supply it with o2. But I just started another thread to discuss a similar concern, https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=2597993&postcount=1 " scrubbing smells at night / to bypass exhuast?"

 

[Hazy Lady]

Good warning, glad you're safe, I didn't know anything could hold a charge that could flow backwards that way, save for TV's and things similar but still you would need to be poking around inside to get hurt, good post.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Hazy Lady is right. Lots of appliances hold an internal charge and don't hurt/kill you when touched. Did exposed male prongs shock you or did it arc from the insulated female receptacle? Caps don't store power for memory. Memory is CMOS and usually powered by a small battery.

The disclaimer is little protection against a faulty product. They're so useless, a fence and "No Trespassing" sign won't save me if/when somebody drowns in my pond.

 

[Dr Dog]

when somebody drowns in my pond.

sounds ominous

maybe a fence

 

[lysol]

Hazy Lady is right. Lots of appliances hold an internal charge and don't hurt/kill you when touched. Did exposed male prongs shock you or did it arc from the insulated female receptacle? Caps don't store power for memory. Memory is CMOS and usually powered by a small battery.

The disclaimer is little protection against a faulty product. They're so useless, a fence and "No Trespassing" sign won't save me if/when somebody drowns in my pond.

Yeah but those TVs weren't built by the TV store down the street, those are fortune 500 companies, so I assumed it was possible the same safety precautions may have not been built into this device. Anyways if there was a capacitor inline it could have happened but I guess the shock could have come from the female end. I make it a point to not the touch exposed metal until they are inches apart though. Dunno just be careful people

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Consumer product safety regulations apply to the guy selling hot dogs on the corner. I guess the thing I was curious about is whether the appliance is faulty (or the people making it.)

A capacitor charge should not release unless the circuit allows. It sounds like the cap is discharging when it should hold the charge instead. This sounds like a malfunction and could possibly malfunction in operation. I hope you get it worked out.

Dog is right, voltage can be painful but amps can be deadly.

 

[lysol]

Ok what I meant was maybe it was using a very low power capacitor at 120v just to time 15m worth instead of having a battery, and maybe that was hooked up to a relay therefore the capacitor itself is very low power.

Anyways the question still remains as to how to properly configure it with the timer, I guess I'll screw with it tomorrow when I power on my new gear.

On the plus side, when I bought it said there is a 15m delay after high temp shut down, it turns out it actually continues monitoring the temperature and resumes operation after there has been a 6F drop in temps at the probe. The site also stated the probe has a 3ft cord when in fact it is more like a 10ft cord, can't complain about that. I'm able to have the probe dangling / resting against the plant's top which is perfect, gonna keep it at 85F and then play with light distance. Apparently if there is a shutdown event an LED blinks for the remainder of the day so you can see if the threshold was exceeded that day.

And geez I sure hope the device that is supposed to be protecting me from potentially fire causing temps doesnt malfunction itself, I am gonna go ahead and wing it tho, ive already gone thru so much equipment its not even funny and I want to ration my use of my safe addy so he doesnt get sick of doing it

 

[lysol]

FYI they do pick up the dark period as a power outtage if you put your timer before the high temp shutdown. ( it does 15 minute power loss delays to prevent hot starts, dont know if I mentioned that ), so you have to set your timer back accordingly. If you did not then your timer would loose power and have the wrong time I believe. So you have to run 12h 15m / 11h 45m instead of 12 / 12 in order to properly grow with this thing. I didn't test the full 12hrs off tho so I only let it power off while I was hooking up the rest of my stuff this morning, so maybe if I gave it a full 12hrs to reset it does reset. I guess I will leave it at 12/12 and try to keep a closer eye on it, 15m of extra light shouldnt hermie anything worst case, should it?

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

It's a good idea you plan to test and see. I have the battery back-up timer and thought I had to adjust when the power went out. It turned out to be just the opposite, no adjustment. The shutdown device seems like a nice addition, several benefits from one device.

 

[lysol]

Thanks disco. On another note, this thing works. So I spent all day trying to use duct conduits and run 8" insulated, I get it all hooked up and my ducts inflate like a baloon and dont push any air out the end, this is with a 400cfm centrifugal, guess fiberglass makes a lot of drag.

So I cut the 6" part and ducted it into my bathroom while I went to home depot to return the shit, I get back and the shutdown had triggered, looks like when I was hooking up my duct I forgot to turn on the fan I have blowing on the plant which caused it to hit 100F, the girls are not happy at all but it could have been a lot worse without this device.

 

[dongle69]

I touched the prongs on a CAP adjustable recycle timer today after I unplugged it and I got shocked.