Quad cycle timer DIY for $30, holy shit I'm good!

I'm also high as fuck on a stick right now so bare with me
Ok so i run a HP Aero Drain To Waste 14 plant system,.. need cycle timers to run high pressure water pump on for 6 seconds, and off for 6 minutes,.. shit if they don't cost an arm and a leg though,.. last i checked around $100 for a duel cycle timer,.. don't even wanna know what a quad one would cost but I'm sure someone who'll read this does and can wow me with the total savings i managed to pull off with this DIY i slapped together in under an hour

My reason i want a quad cycle timer is so i can run different spray intervals for day (lights on) and night (lights off) because plants drink a lot less at night and by doing this i should be able to save a lot of my res mix that till now I've been pouring down the drain.

Here's the supplies you'll need:
1) paper clips,.. cuz you can't DIY anything without paper clips damn it!
2)Infitec Solid State Dual Timer 1-30 Min & 1-60Sec in that auction you get 2 for that price of $10,.. +$10 shipping so $20 total here
3)GE 24-Hour Plug-In Basic Timer Model # 15119 2 of these from any Home De'POT will set you back around $9
(is it just me or does anyone else love getting high and going to Home Depot?)
4) A few lamp cords

I have literally a few hundred of these, got them online for .25 a pop long time ago, but maybe you just cut a few off some busted shit, figure it out, lol
5) electrical tape
6) Some sort of sturdy plastic tote, i got the one in the pics from Walmart for $1
7) A power strip you don't mind donating to the cause, everyone has one of those laying around for free.
8) 2 long zip ties

...and the tools:
drill w/ 3/8" & 1/3" bits
wire strippers
any type of super glue good on plastic
a marker



paper clips to make dials, the dual timers don't come with anything,.. you have to clock the timers (i used the iphone stop watch app thing) and mark off what is what but that's not hard.



Now what i did here might seem messy and unsafe, but it is wired safely and actually i think it safer then most units I've seen what with mine being water proof

As for the wiring of all you see, its really not that hard. I'm no electrician by any means but i figured it out. The idea is to have each "Infitec Solid State Dual Timer" wired up to a "GE 24-Hour Plug-In Basic Timer". I run a 12/12 light cycle for my plants in flowering, so one of the timers you see inside the tote is set to be on 12 hours while my lights are on for 12 hours, and off for 12 when my lights are off for 12. The other timer is set just the opposite, so it's "on" when the lights are off. Finally what both timers are wired to turn on is the power strip i zip-tied to the outside of the tote. And of course your water pump(s) plug into it and will be run on two different cycles.

I do! Yes it is just us.

Good info I am always trying to come up with ways to manipulate timers mostly for fans and such to try and save watts.

are you sure the back feed fro either of your solid state timers wont damage the other? in my experience you would need a relay to break any back feed on the solid state dual timer. I mean, if one timer is on while the other is off , are you sure the back feed from the timer that is on cant do harm to the solid state components? Im very gentle with my solid state stuff because they are electrically delicate.

Im not just saying this stuff as a noob, im an electrician and i know that lots of growers MUST wire stuff for themselves for the safety of secrecy but you also gotta worry about the risk of fires - MJs worst enemy.

120v AC relays are about 1.00 each and can save you from a fire or can save you money by saving your components. Looks like you did a good job, im not hatin, just like to give my electrical input.

The solid state timers aren't wired together per say,.. the setup is more like:
120v power wire from wall split into two,.. which is run to both 24hr light timers,.. then to the Solid State Dual Timers (so there only powered by the 24h timers),.. then both run to power the same power strip,.. my pump(s) plug into the power strip.

It's been working fine since 12/23/10, and runs my pump a lot less at night now, which is awesome! I waste so little runoff now.

what i was referring to is where the black wire leaves both timers and they are connected together then also connected to the hot of the power strip wire, but if one solid state time is on then it allows the power to pass through the black wire and to the power strip but it also energizes the black output of the other timer, which is supposed to be off. Energizing the output of a timer that is off COULD have harmful results, some timers can take it and others cant. let me know how it turns out, youll know if its 100% safe if it hasnt burned out a timer by, oh lets say, March would be a good benchmark.
Dont worry about the simple twist knob timers they are fine its only the solid state ones that concern me.
maybe ill draw something up 4 u.

ok so here is what i am talking about. I use a Mac and dont have paint so i had to break out the pen and paper

the Relay is a single pole 120V relay, this may not be necessary, some devices are automatically protected from feedback, others aren't. A relay works by using an electromagnet to control a switch. the squiggly below the break in the line after the solid state relays represents the electromagnet portion of the relay or the on/off control circuit. The break is the switched portion. What this does is prevents any back feed if the timers are not on at the same time because the relay only allows electricity to pass through if (in this setup) the solid state timer is already activated. Its a bit confusing so let me know if you have questions.
You obviously know what you are doing just judging from those beautiful solder joints but back feed is something people dont always consider
just my

DIYer, Great find on those timers. I see in the auction they are rated for 230V, looks like your using them at 120V. Do you know if they are the same units? If they are, do they work without any modification.

Thanks

No GroChef, i didn't mod a thing, just used them as they were shipped to me from that eBay seller, wired like i show. The 120v thing doesn't seem to affect them at all, they still keep good cycle times and are running both my flowering and veg pumps flawlessly so far.

Most time consuming part is using my iphone to time the cycle lengths, and marking off min:seconds on the lid of the tote i used to house everything, but once done cycles are totally customizable.

Nice.

I love diy projects! This may come in handy.

Stan

still using it today