Second question (or set of questions):
I would like to replicate your refrigerator/freezer feeder but am still missing some pieces. I have spent a goodly amount of time looking at the pics and your explanations but I am not a technical guy (I teach rhetoric and Great Books for a living!) so explanations have to be typed slowly and clearly for me to get it.
Missing pieces for me:
Is the pool switch running a motor under the tray and inside the cut out of the base holding the tray? If so, what is the motor you are using?
Is your Apex running the hairdryer? If so, how do you coordinate it with the pool switch?
It sounds like you are very happy with the 1" feeder pipes, with a year plus experience is that the size you would continue to recommend?
I see four red wires coming into the fridge. One I assume goes up to your motor. What are the other three doing (hidden by the large pvc pipe)? Peristaltic pumps?
And finally (thanks for you patience) if you have to clean the pipe dropping down through the fridge for some reason you could simply move the feeder in the freezer and run some warm salt water down the pipe, correct?
the pool timer has a built in motor, it's fairly durable as it's made to run a pool motor, you can buy these any any pool supply store, they are fairly standard, get the plastic housing that comes with it, you will notice from the picture that I modified the housing for use as a holder/stand for the timer/motor, which I glued down to the freezer in the center of the trays with silicone glue, I also used a little silicone glue to secure the timer/motor to the plastic housing so it would not move
you can see the cut outs in the rotating tray that accept the timer clips and pointer, which I turned up to better catch the tray as it turns
so the pool timer runs at a constant speed, so I timed how long it takes for one pvc food unit to move to the next, and set one of the outlets on the Apex to run that amount of time for one feeding, the Apex program looks like this:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Time 08:00 to 08:45 Then ON
If DoW S-TWT-S Then OFF
which means it runs for 45 mins from 8 to 8:45 on Mondays and Fridays (I'm currently feeding mostly by hand to it only feeds twice a week)
the hair dryer runs for one minute to ensure the frozen food is released, so I set another outlet on the Apex to run for one minute and set it up so it runs at the end of each feeding, the Apex program looks like this:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Time 08:45 to 08:47 Then ON
If DoW S-TWT-S Then OFF
which means the hair dryer runs for 2 minutes from 8:45 to 8:47 on Mondays and Fridays, which you will notice is at the end of each feeding cycle
I have found the 1" feeding pvc units work quite well and hold plenty of food, I would not change that size
So, yes, I have four electrical extension cords coming in the side of the fridge, two go up to the timer/motor and hair dryer, the other two go to three peristaltic pumps to deliver the liquid foods (two of the peristaltic pumps are plugged into one cord, the other one is plugged into a separate cord), all three peristaltic pumps run for 25 mins as follows:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Time 21:00 to 21:25 Then ON
If DoW SM-W-F- Then OFF
so they run from 9 to 9:25 PM on T, Th and Sat
and when the liquid feeding starts the skimmers are turned off for 8 hrs and restart in a staggered way as follows
Fallback ON
Set ON
If Outlet FeedA_13_2 = ON Then OFF
Min Time 530:00 Then OFF
so when feeding outlet is on (13_2) the skimmer is off and stays off until 5:30 AM, I have the other two skimmer set up in a similar way except they each restart 30 mins later than the other
hope this all makes sense
