[Rastajedi]

Hey ,well chuffed thanks for pinning, Rj

[Fat Freddy]

Rastajedi, on Dec 23 2007, 08:28 PM, said:

I reckon it would cost around the £55 mark for a single variac controller, more money could be saved if the fans where hardwired in, but by having the 4 way it means you dont have to unscrew the thing if you want to add more fans or move to another grow room

Nice

[Rastajedi]

Cheers Freddy , give it a whirl mate , really is a doddle ,Rj

[Rastajedi]

This may save alot of searchin if your lookin for a variac other than the one offered by maplin, R.S.
about the only two places i can find other than ebay, but R.S. looks like the better bet folks
Rj

[squirrel]

For anyone like me, who read through all this and thought "Ooh er, don't fancy trying to wire something like that, might kill myself/burn the house down", there is an easier option. The Airforce fan controllers are variac-based, you can find the basic one without thermostat for 95 quid in several online growshops, though unfortunately not Greens at time of posting. I've just received mine, my fan is no longer humming, and I didn't have to wire anything - just plug the fan into the controller and the controller into mains, sorted. It doesn't need to be an Airforce fan, it will work with anything.

This post has been edited by squirrel: 23 January 2008 - 02:03 PM

[Felix Dzerzhinsky]

Clairtronic make most of the variacs sold in Maplin or RS Components so why not buy direct from them. They'll quite happily sell to the public although you do have to pay by direct bank transfer but it's cheaper than paying a middle man for one, it's where I buy mine from

You can get them in enclosures or for the more daring/suicidal they come un-enclosed.

[Rastajedi]

squirrel, on Jan 23 2008, 02:31 PM, said:

For anyone like me, who read through all this and thought "Ooh er, don't fancy trying to wire something like that, might kill myself/burn the house down", there is an easier option. The Airforce fan controllers are variac-based, you can find the basic one without thermostat for 95 quid in several online growshops, though unfortunately not Greens at time of posting. I've just received mine, my fan is no longer humming, and I didn't have to wire anything - just plug the fan into the controller and the controller into mains, sorted. It doesn't need to be an Airforce fan, it will work with anything.

As squirrel says dont take it on unless your confident about wiring etc, otherwise it really is quiet simple to diy and you will save over £55 instead of paying hand over fist to airforce B)

[Rastajedi]

felix_dzerjinski, on Jan 23 2008, 03:50 PM, said:

Clairtronic make most of the variacs sold in Maplin or RS Components so why not buy direct from them.

this info would have been far more helpful a month or so ago ..

[Felix Dzerzhinsky]

Rastajedi, on Jan 24 2008, 04:17 PM, said:

this info would have been far more helpful a month or so ago ..

Well I only just read the thread yesterday and it's there now for anyone else who needs it.

Let me just see if my time machine is working............... Sorry it's not

[Rastajedi]

Rj

[buildAbong]

Hi,

Clairtronic are £37 for the 0.7A open type variac (dont know about delivery)
Maplin are £31 and offer free delivery on orders over £35.

I was wondering if you could give me some input on a quad variac design i was thinking of building. Do you think its worth the extra for the additional functionality?

>>Brief<<
Build a fan speed/enviroment controller that can balance intake out-take. Would maintain the balance, but increase fan speed as T rises.

<<Build>>
4 variacs
1 central heating thermometer
1 humidistat
1 fan or oil filled heater

So on both intake and out-take channels, there would be a min variac and a max variac. The thermometer would switch between these two settings. The humidistat would turn on the heater when humidity rises and T is on the low setting.

I would very much appreciate some feedback on this before i go buy all the bits. Specifically, do you think its worth including the extra 2 variacs and humidity controll?

Any help, thoughts or advice much appreciated.

BaB

[scraglor]

if you can source two variacs similar to the ones rj has with fixed voltage outputs you could do it with just two, or if you're handy you could use the maplins variacs and attach an extra tap, pretty simple to do, you'd just need a plastic strip to attach to the spindle with a terminal soldered to a metal contact glued to the end of the plastic strip, then just fix it at whatever voltage point takes your fancy, voila you now have two voltages from one transformer, just switch between the two

[buildAbong]

Hi,

Could you use a 100w rheostat to set the offset of the fans then 2 variacs to determine the HIGH and LOW speed settings?

Im concerned about the weight and size of the module with 4 variacs, and the offset of the fans should be about the same drop in V at both the HIGH and LOW speed settings.

Any thoughts on this? specifically what size of rheostat (if possible) should be used.

BaB

[growguy yorks]

u really like that ATc unit dont you whazzup... i know i do.... i think they have em back in stock now- Im waiting for them to phone me back to confirm and then im ordering mine-to go with the 5step from ebay.
hows your setup with the ATc comjing along then??

[growguy yorks]

gutted that u aint got it yet- i ordered mine yesterday at about 4pm and it got here this morning-mind you i hadnt seen the hong kong seller and I waited for monitors direct to have em in again....
Its a lot chunkier than I expected..... Ive ordered the finder relay and socket, and the 5 step controller(that ebay seller has some 2.2 and 5 amp ones now) as well-they should be here monday/ tuesday i guess.... then theres just the enclosure and cable glands to get-oh and some heavy duct power cord/sockets and a panel mount fuse holder.
That 5 step in its enclosure is as big as the ATC, so i dont know if im going to be able to take it out and put it with the ATC in 1 big enclosure-might not be able 2 get one big enough for em to go in together..... Ah well ill get it sussed....
I hope ur ATC arrives soon and you dont get stung for the import taxes....
toke it easy

This post has been edited by growguy yorks: 09 February 2008 - 12:20 PM