Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

This is a sequencing / indexing valve that I designed a couple of years ago. This uses a pinching mechanism to stop the flow of water. It is able to pass solids and keep operating if there is a clog elsewhere in the plumbing. I decided that it would be too expensive to develop and would show everyone how it works.

If you need a valve...stick to the spider valve.

usually I get a handful of hits per day on my new videos. I couldn't figure out why I got over 2400 hits in a day! Someone had posted it on the Make Magazine blog. http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/05/sequencing-valve-controls-six-streams-of-water.html.

If someone from here did it, thanks!

Most of the other indexing valve designs require a large pump. This looks like it would work great for the small pump systems. Great design!

Always fun, love the bloopers at the end, LOLed wasn't expecting that. WRT the wiper motor, they have a function to bump them and they travel over one rev and stop, did you consider using that instead of the microswitch to control the starting and stopping? I.e., the timer would give a bump signal long enough to get it going and it would do one rev and stop, gearing and maybe a geneva mechanism would make it a reliable multi-way positioning?

I'm using a small pond pump from Harbor Freight for the entire system. http://www.harborfreight.com/922-gph-su ... 66514.html It's all going through the 1/2" tubing. My biggest bed takes about 20 minutes to fill. Total cycle time is about 1/5 hours...with 20 minutes of pump off time. I'm trying to push the limits on keeping to power usage to a minimum!

This motor has some kind of switch to keep track of the position. I couldn't figure out how to make it work properly...seemed to turn around 12 times before it made contact. It was just easier to make my on cam. It also allows me to take a quick peek at it to see which position it on.