timers

[hambandit]

i want a dual channel timer than can control both my halides and my vho actinics. id prefer something that has say 6 plugs, 3 per channel. the idea is to have a longer vho photoperiod than the halides, and overlap both ends of the halide period. i dont even know if this is possible i just dont want to buy a whole bunch of single ones and try an get them all set perfectly the same.



this graph is sort of what i want to do

actinicactinicactinicactinicactinicactinicactinicactinicactinicactinicactinic
~~~~~~~~~~~halidehalidehalidehalidehalide~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[triggerjay]

Sounds like either you need a tank controller, or if you are the DIY type, an industrial PLC. Allen Bradley makes an affordable line of PLC's called Micrologix,... but then you have to buy the software to program it, unless you can find a "borrowed" copy. You can get the Allen Bradley PLC's pretty cheap on ebay... then all you would have to do is wire it, and write a simple timer program.... I have thought about doing this myself...coralife also makes a powerstrip that has two timers on it.... but it looks like you are wanting more. I only use two timers on my 55g, but I dont run halides on it, so there is not much amp draw from the PC lights... Figure out your max amp draw on your halides...some timers have 15a contacts in them... so if your halides dont exceed 80% of 15a, you would be safe to use one timer for all the halides, and as far as the actinics, It would be safe to say you could do this as well.... So, how to figure how may amps your halides draw? wattage / voltage = amp draw... so, add up your total watts of halides, and divide it by 120, and you will have your max amps.... Hope this helps!


Jason