Aquarium Outlet Controller

[NEOgeorge]

Here's a tutorial for making your own outlet controller to turn device on and off.

You can set timers for time of day or to repeat daily, use a push button to turn off filters during feeding, or have something turn on or off based on temperature. Requires basic electronics and coding (if you want to make modifications) skills.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Aquarium-Outlet-Controller-With-Time-Temp-Events/

 

[Legot]

Nice tutorial! Hopefully it can help people realize how simple this kind of thing is.

 

[NEOgeorge]

Thank you Legot. And it's a fun project!

 

[perkint]

Funnily enough Google Now popped that up on my news feed - was going to have a look later :thumbsup:

Tim

 

[NEOgeorge]

Funnily enough Google Now popped that up on my news feed - was going to have a look later :thumbsup:

Tim

Very cool!

 

[billdogg]

Thanks for posting. I've been thinking about a nice little starter project like this.


Much to ponder.....

 

[Jonviviano]

could this be utilized for dosing pumps?

 

[NEOgeorge]

could this be utilized for dosing pumps?

The relays are capable of switching AC outlets, so the controller could turn small pumps on and off (relays are rated for up to 10 amps, but I would keep the loads much more modest to be safe, and to keep the gauge of the AC wiring to a reasonable size).

Having said that, I don't have experience with dosing pumps. Would they turn on just based on time?

 

[marper331]

Looks like a cool little project that I could give to the technology teacher in my school.

 

[tmnigat]

Good stuff

 

[NEOgeorge]

Looks like a cool little project that I could give to the technology teacher in my school.

Sounds like a great idea marper331!

 

[Apotack]

I can't seem to get the link to work, could someone PM it to me.

 

[NEOgeorge]

I can't seem to get the link to work, could someone PM it to me.

I sent the link via PM...

Just in case anyone else is having problems with the first link, here it is again:
www.instructables.com/id/Aquarium-Outlet-Controller-With-Time-Temp-Events/

 

[AaaRr]

This is awesome thank you for sharing. Would not be too much work to add multiple temperature probes either.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[NEOgeorge]

This is awesome thank you for sharing. Would not be too much work to add multiple temperature probes either.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Correct! The one wire protocol involves unique addresses for every corresponding sensor, so you don't need to take up any additional pins on the Arduino board for more sensors.

 

[Dans85]

This project is very cool. How accurate are the arduino temp probes? I'm thinking about building one to control heaters.

 

[NEOgeorge]

This project is very cool. How accurate are the arduino temp probes? I'm thinking about building one to control heaters.

I purchased the Vktech DS18b20 Waterproof Temperature sensors from Amazon. A five pack was $11.99. Accuracy is +/- 0.5 degrees C over the range of -10 C to +85 C. (spec was not provided for degrees F)

 

[Dans85]

Doing a quick conversion on google is looks like the range is 14-185 F with roughly +/- 1 F. So not too bad. Thanks for your help.

 

[NEOgeorge]

Doing a quick conversion on google is looks like the range is 14-185 F with roughly +/- 1 F. So not too bad. Thanks for your help.

You're welcome! Good luck on the project - keep us posted

 

[perkint]

I haven't checked the code on this instructable, but one advantage of the arduino is that it is easy to add a calibration factor to the code if you need to

Tim