Nebbian's solar upgrade

Rodm

Keep being fancy.

This stuff is mumbo jumbo to me but it looks the part. :thumbleft:

We have been having some good solar conditions and I have plenty of charge in my batteries. I have been running the pumps manually for a couple of hours extra a night to amuse myself.

nebbian

Thanks Rod, have been wondering how your system is going. Quite encouraging to hear that it's all humming along nicely :-)

nebbian

Circuit board built and soldered. Yay!

Attachment:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1356187193.403688.jpg [ 111.04 KiB | Viewed 4528 times ]

nebbian

And behold the wonder of a simple test program (you need to hear the relays clicking to appreciate the full glory)

Attachment:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1356246642.826519.jpg [ 79.88 KiB | Viewed 4509 times ]

solarmon

Looking good Nebbian! I'm very impressed!

Remind us of the feature/functionality of this little beauty.

Cheers,

Mon

nebbian

Thanks Mon

This system is built to fill the niche of a solar powered aquaponics controller. I couldn't find anything that:

1) Was 12V, and low power
2) Allowed programming of more than 12 on/off cycles a day
3) Showed battery voltage

So this system is designed to have the following features:
1) Low power -- 0.25 Watts when not running any pumps, 1.5 W when both pumps are running (could use better relays, but my pumps pull a combined 35 watts so it's not really a big deal)
2) Programmable cycle length of 0 to 24 hours. Most people would run a 1 hour cycle length.
3) Programmable on/off time within this cycle for two outputs. Most people would run 15-30 minute on time within this cycle. You could set it up to run two pumps alternately if you like, or run an air pump more than a water pump.
4) Min/Max recording of battery voltage
5) Min/Max recording of fish tank temperature
6) Weatherproof case to make it keep on trucking through a Perth winter

It's also built "Because I can". Who needs good reasons when stuff like this is fun! :headbang:

rsevs3

nebbian wrote:

It's also built "Because I can". Who needs good reasons when stuff like this is fun! :headbang:

This is my reasoning for just about everything.

nebbian

Voltmeter is working, timer is working, but that verdammten temperature sensor is refusing to give me a reading!

I could put this into production now but really want the temperature readout up and running... The frustrating thing is that I've used this one (DS 18s20) before, and had no issues. Perhaps the wire is too long and showing capacitance issues? Hmmm.

Attachment:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1356588270.520538.jpg [ 93.04 KiB | Viewed 4492 times ]

nebbian

Finally got everything working, and I'm happy with the software.

I had to go up a model of chip, as my original one only had 8k of program available, and I needed 9k... anyway you don't hear this often, but the software is FINISHED!!!

Some nice features include: when you enter a setup number, this gets saved to 'disk', so that if you lose power then all your parameters are still there when the system starts back up again. Also it has the ability to press a button to turn the pumps on or off when showing off in front of friends, and another button to see what the min and max temperature and voltage were.

Here are my notes on what screen does what:

Code:

Solar Aquaponics Notes


Aim:
1) Programmable cycle length of 0 to 99 hours. Most people would run a 1 hour cycle length.
2) Programmable on/off time within this cycle for two outputs. Most people would run 15-30 minute on time within this cycle.
    You could set it up to run two pumps alternately if you like, or run an air pump more than a water pump.
3) Min/Max recording of battery voltage
4) Min/Max recording of fish tank temperature


Desired outputs:

Startup:

******************
*                *
*                *
******************

******************      Hold for three seconds on this screen
* Aquaponics Pro *
*  6000  v1.01   *
******************

Running:
******************
* 0:56 Auto 12.6V*      Elapsed time in this cycle, Mode (Auto or Manual), Battery Voltage
*P1:→ P2:- 23.5°C*      Pump 1 status, Pump 2 status, Current Temperature
******************




Pressing a button while running:

Up: Turns all outputs ON for 5 minutes
Down: Turns all outputs OFF for 5 minutes
Right: Resets cycle time
Left: Resets chip to start from beginning
Enter: Enters Menu mode


Up:
******************
* 0:05 Man  12.6V*      Man means Manual
*P1:→ P2:→ 23.5°C*
******************

Down:
******************
* 0:05 Man  12.6V*      Man means Manual
*P1:- P2:- 23.5°C*
******************

Enter:
******************      Left goes back to main screen, up/down moves arrow, right/enter enters that mode
* Select  →Report*
*          Setup *
******************

Report:
******************      Left goes back to Menu mode, right goes back to main screen, enter resets min/max
*11.59 - 14.03  V*
*22.05 - 27.84 °C*
******************


Setup:
******************
* Cycle Length   *
* Setup     1:00 *      Up/down makes numbers change, right/left makes cursor move, green means save
******************

******************
* P1 Start Time  *
* Setup     0:00 *
******************

******************
* P1 Stop Time   *
* Setup     0:15 *
******************

******************
* P2 Start Time  *
* Setup     0:15 *
******************

******************
* P2 Stop Time   *
* Setup     0:59 *
******************

So tomorrow is wiring up time!! Can't wait

nebbian

And some pics of various screens:

Attachment:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1357218790.640811.jpg [ 22.92 KiB | Viewed 4440 times ]

Attachment:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1357218807.874189.jpg [ 24.09 KiB | Viewed 4440 times ]

Attachment:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1357218820.440899.jpg [ 26.48 KiB | Viewed 4440 times ]

nebbian

Attachment:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1357218843.673597.jpg [ 20.88 KiB | Viewed 4438 times ]

Attachment:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1357218855.291256.jpg [ 22.06 KiB | Viewed 4438 times ]

Attachment:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1357218880.174160.jpg [ 20.87 KiB | Viewed 4438 times ]

RupertofOZ

What exactly are you trying to do.... :dontknow:

Is this just a digital timer?

KrisGee

As I believe was said earlier , it's because he can!! Awesome dude! :notworthy:

nebbian

RupertofOZ wrote:

Is this just a digital timer?

Yep.

Just like this is just a guitar:

Rodm

Top stuff

I wish "I could"

I would like to relate my experience so that others are aware of the hazard of solar if not properly installed. I had my system jury rigged with twitched wires while I worked out all the connections. I was out there at night and noticed a red glow on the ground which turned out to be the two wires to a pump touching. Foolishly I picked up the cable and got a nasty burn through the insulation. It made me aware of the potential for fire. Thinking it through I realised you can't turn off a solar panel so I installed in line fuses at each solar panel and panel fuses at the inputs and outputs on the control box. Overkill but fuses are cheap.

No doubt you are aware of this but it might save somebody else who reads this thread.

As a matter of interest solar panels will generate power at night with a light on them. At night I have 12v 10w led floodlights in the yard and it is enough to generate 5 volts on a panel.

If you want a board CNC'd to your schematic I can help out.

Backyard Aquaponics A place to discuss aquaponics

Nebbian's solar upgrade

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics