Laphroaig Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 It was all getting a bit too cramped and steel is a royal pain in the ass for me to work with. Found a nice plastic enclosure, drilled it out and transferred the bits and bobs from the old box. Nice deep lid so there's no issue with putting the clock wherever I want! I've attempted to colour code each of the circuits. Red - Live (jumper between the live and common terminals of the clock) Black - Neutral Orange - Output from 24 hour timer (split output operates the on delay relay and is the common pole for the thermostat) Green - Output from thermostat (operates the off delay relay) However I have gone a bit Pete Tong somewhere as neither clock nor thermostat settings have any influence on the lights! Can hear the thermostat relay click but the power stays on to both lighting contactors. Similarly the clock, on, off or timed doesn't switch the lights, bound to be something simple I've done wrong. Going to take it apart tonight and see if I can fix it. First I'm going to take a look at the clock see if it's working properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laphroaig Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Well the thermostat and clock seem to be working correctly ... must be the way I've wired up the on/off delay relays. Confused will sleep on it and take another look tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laphroaig Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Got it! ... I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laphroaig Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Hurrah! Sorted! Where I'd gone horribly wrong? Well practically everywhere. Got timer outputs all wrong. So here's the correct way. Lets begin at the 24 hour digital timer. Black is the neutral supply, red the live and I've put a jumper across to the common terminal on the clock. Orange is the timed live output that goes to the A1 terminal of the on-delay relay (the one farthest away in the picture below). As you can see I have put a jumper across to 15, the common terminal of the off-delay relay (the one closest in the picture)so it's output is subject to the clock and the thermostat that operates the relay. Okay back to the thermostat, got that wrong initially too. This time as with the clock, the common terminal is supplied via a jumper from the live supply. Green is the thermostat output and I've connected it to the normally open terminal of the thermostat so there's only power in the circuit when the set point is exceeded. Which takes us back to the off-delay relay, this bit gave me a bit of a headache but I'm pretty confident I have got it right, after a few ... ahem ... false starts. As already mentioned the timed input from the clock comes in on terminal 15 the common terminal. A1 (black) and A2 (green) are connected directly to the supply and the output from the thermostat is connected to the Y1 (green) terminal.. Y1 you ask? I have no bloody idea but it seems to work that way! The backside of the relays shows from left to right: 16 (blue) normally closed terminal of the off-delay relay, switching the first of the lighting contactors underneath. A2 (green) terminal of the off-delay relay terminating at the neutral supply block. 18 (blue) normally open terminal of the on-delay relay, switching the second of the contactors. A2 (orange) terminal of the on-delay relay terminating in the neutral supply block. ahh no more photo space ... to be continued Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laphroaig Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 (edited) And there it is! My lovely new wireless thermostatically controlled lighting contactor with added bells and whistles, On-delay is set at 7 minutes. Off-delay 2 hours. And the case is closed! I feel a bit like a Jedi hand crafting my first light-saber. Hopefully Obi-Wan will be online soon so I can see if he thinks it will pass muster or burn the house down! Or should that be Yoda. Answers on a postcard please! Got to say, thank-you to everyone who has contributed to this thread, especially Scraglor. Would never have dreamed of attempting something like this three months ago. Peace Edited January 1, 2012 by Laphroaig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scraglor Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 got a data sheet for the off delay timer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laphroaig Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 (edited) Schneider Electric RE11 RC MU Off Delay Timing Relay I have link to the pdf is under "technical reference". Edited January 1, 2012 by Laphroaig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scraglor Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 yeah you got it right, C's the trigger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoneman :) Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 hi guys was just reading through this topic and it has gave me the knowledge that to have a safe grow i need to make a contactor suitable for the light and has also scared the hell out of me becuase ive been using a normal timer for my 250w hps. i definitly value my life and valuable more than the cost of a contactor so i will be getting 1 asap. i decided to take an old timer apart to see the relay in it and jus looking at the size and simplicity of it even i can tell its dangerous so just incase anybody still has doubts that their timer may still be suitable then even looking at thisshould confirm that its not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoneman :) Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scraglor Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 the size of it means nothing, the contacts in a 30A telemecanique contactor are about 4mm across, and they're as good as it gets.... the switching capability is down to the design of the contacts and the materials used, not the size... a 250w lamp draws about 1-2A current, so a good timer would handle this well, a bad timer wouldn't. but yes still better to have a contactor, more to save your grow from fucking up the lighting schedule than anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigfjyp Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 hi people your probably sick of hearing this but can someone pls tell me if a telemecanique LADN40 LA1 DN40 is any good for making a contactor/relay and if it is how do i wire it up?any help would be helpful. iv also noticed the cotact block hasnt got a A1 and A2 conector on it as i said any help would be much appreciatedandthanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scraglor Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 because that's not a contactor craig, thats a set of auxillary contacts... i.e. it connects onto the contactor to give some extra contacts, that switch control signals for a multitude of uses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigfjyp Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 because that's not a contactor craig, thats a set of auxillary contacts... i.e. it connects onto the contactor to give some extra contacts, that switch control signals for a multitude of uses hi scraglor thanks for the reply,so ill just have to buy a proper one then with the A1 and A2 terminals i guess. Iv also heard people saying u can use a normal plug in timer for a 250MH if its a decent one but iv tried four and they have all broke when it tries to switch of for the first time so i was wandering if i could plug an adapter in to a 10 amp contactor/relay that was bought from a shop. It only has 2 sockets on it and iv already got a 600 and a 400 HPS on it thats why i was wandering if i could have the adapter plugged in or is that just way to much for it? and thanks again for your help its much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scraglor Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 a contactor is an 'adapter' of sorts. the timer switches the contactor on, so the contactor takes the load.... and yes you need to buy an actual contactor, and not a set of terminals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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