Hacked Aqua Chef feeder for Aquarium Controller

[kenman345]

well, it works.....

Here's the breakdown of what happened. I will upload pictures tomorrow and maybe even a video if I find time.

I took some twisted wire pair I had laying around from tearing apart a CAT 5e cable. IT's about 3' long. I then tried to figure out where it can be wired up with the device nicely. I found that it was not actually that hard a task, the device is basically 4 components. 1 - the shell, 2 - the display with electronics, 3 - the motor and drum, 4 - the battery compartment.

The battery compartment has a slit on it to separate the batteries that it holds, but is also the perfect avenue to route some wire through.

I took this idea and ran with it. Knowing I could short the two pads, I tried to find a tool to cut a hole in the bottom of the battery cover where no metal was. I ended up not finding anything, but since it's cheap plastic, I figured, what can go wrong with a screwdriver and a screw to make a hole. I used this to great success, but would recommend the proper tooling for this, as it will just work out better for you.

then I took some techflex and covered the twisted wire pairing so that it looks nice coming out of the feeder. I then routed everything through the hole in the battery compartment and had everything ready for me to make the last hard part, which was soldering to the PCB.

I really need to order myself a holder for these little projects, but basically, I somehow got it done and it worked when I shorted the new ends of the wires 3' away.

To finish everything up, I went and added easy to disconnect waterproof connectors to the ends of the wire coming from the feeder and then some pick-up wire that I had soldered to the clamps that came with the SW5 module for the Reefkeeper.

I put the thing back together, and it all came together perfectly. The only issue is that with the hole I made for the wire, it does put some stress on the wire when opened. This could've been alleviated if I had found the proper tooling to make that hole a little larger, but since i made this modification, I know not to be too rough on the device when opening that compartment. It definitely does not hinder things in the slightest.

I am happy to say I now have the option of using the built in timer or my controller to operate this feeder, and if I ever decide that I don't want to use either one, I can easily ignore them and just use the other option.

Remember, I'll post pics tomorrow. I took a few while doing the work, but it's too late right now for me to upload them and everything involved. I am just happy with the results and will share more tomorrow. Thanks d0ughb0y for the inspiration. Maybe I can inspire you one day.

 

[kenman345]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=22984727

Started my own thread to document the modification. I hope you enjoy it.

 

[d0ughb0y]

as a follow up to kenman's idea, I opened up my aquachef feeder and rewired to the feed switch.
The feed switch is an active high switch. Meaning, if you press the button, it sends +V signal to the feeder cpu. To control the feeder from say an arduino, you need to make two connections, one is the Ground (I used the battery negative terminal) and the second is the terminal on the push button that is not +V (this is the pin further from the lower edge). To activate the feeder, simply send a high pulse of 100ms duration. You need batteries in the feeder of course.

The signal connection. You don't need to completely remove the lcd/electronics panel. Just solder a wire to the pin on the switch.

I soldered the second (ground) wire to the battery negative terminal.

If you want to completely dismantle the pieces, there are 4 screws holding the top part (where the lcd is attached) to the lower part.

 

[kenman345]

as a follow up to kenman's idea, I opened up my aquachef feeder and rewired to the feed switch.
The feed switch is an active high switch. Meaning, if you press the button, it sends +V signal to the feeder cpu. To control the feeder from say an arduino, you need to make two connections, one is the Ground (I used the battery negative terminal) and the second is the terminal on the push button that is not +V (this is the pin further from the lower edge). To activate the feeder, simply send a high pulse of 100ms duration. You need batteries in the feeder of course.

The signal connection. You don't need to completely remove the lcd/electronics panel. Just solder a wire to the pin on the switch.

I soldered the second (ground) wire to the battery negative terminal.

If you want to completely dismantle the pieces, there are 4 screws holding the top part (where the lcd is attached) to the lower part.

Very interesting. It appears even though they seem similar, my unit and yours may have slightly different materials used. I appreciate you following up after I did my hack to the feeder. I like knowing how switch actually works now and why it works. I love when two people can take a different approach but accomplish the same goal. I find that with my coworker at work, we do the same things differently. Without your help, I may not have given much thought as to the information that may or may not have been passing through that line.

I am hoping to find other things to hack and automate. Thanks again for the inspiration