Wavemakers

[Marc Daniels]

Hey, are there any wave makers that will take a standard pump plug and are not simply on/off functionality? Something that during the off cycle simply slows the pump down not all the way off, then dials it back up?

 

[Marc Daniels]

Basically a generic Tunze controller I guess is what I am asking...

 

[Reefugee]

Marc - am I reading correctly that you want to use a standard pump as a wave make where the speed is controllable? Most power heads are AC. If I am correct, it's not easy to speed control and AC motor since you have to adjust the frequency of the power. However, if you have a DC pump, you can control it by varying the voltage.

Most "wave controller" that I have seen for AC pump have been on/off and not speed controlled.

So my guess right now is the answer will be no.

Minh

 

[Marc Daniels]

Hey Minh,

Wouldn't a digital controller be capable of controlling the pumps via a relay and potentiometer? Sort of like a super fancy dimmer controlling an AC light, the digital controller would just be the "hand" turning the knob back and forth.

 

[Marc Daniels]

Pumps are basically an electromagnet, which can be controlled by varying the voltage I believe? Which is what a potentiometer would do, correct?

 

[Marc Daniels]

Minh,

I did some quick research, and it appears that they are controllable. How controllable is the big question. A guy took a ceiling fan control (lo, med, hi) and was able to turn a normal power head down to about 40% power, but found that going below that would cause it to stop. So apparently there would be a low threshold. I am sure that would vary among the different manufacturers as well as between the pump sizes themselves. So now I am wondering if you could control one after programming a Raspberry PI computer as your controller. Going to play around with the idea and see where it leads me.

 

[Saltwaternooby]

I was at harbor freight and found this, might work

http://www.harborfreight.com/router-speed-control-43060.html

 

[Tweakes182]

I am also putting in a group buy for Jebao powerheads this weekend if you are interested? They are DC motors and come with the built in controller.

 

[tcoral]

I wonder if one of those variable modules on an apex could do that? It has a regular plug? Then you could time and how much flow/power? This is interesting

 

[Marc Daniels]

According to the apex page they are meant to control pumps/power heads and have a soft start. So yes, they should be capable of a pulsing wave action. The Apex Jr has four controllable outlets and is only $239 and includes a temperature probe.
http://www.amazon.com/Neptune-Systems-AquaController-Display-Probe/dp/B005H1A2BE/ref=sr_1_7?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1423953465&sr=1-7&keywords=apex+jr

 

[tcoral]

I was thinking the VDM module, does it control the power to the apex outlet or do you have to plug what you want to control directly to the module? Never used one.

Ugh, looks like whatever goes directly to the module so it won't work for what you have in mind.

https://www.neptunesystems.com/led-dimming-module/

Would be great if they did make it so you could control the power to the outlet though (dim directly through programming).