Highdroponic
Newly Registered
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 7:26 pm

A watch dog for my garden

It seems the disaster happens when I'm gone and don't discover it until I come in the next day. One time it was the lights staying on--cooked plants. Another time it was water that didn't turn off and plants watered for NINE HOURS. I'm determined but have pretty much lost my faith in commercial plug-in timers. Any suggestions for systems where I can get some sort of alert when something is wrong per some sort of presets?

Thanks!

User avatar
Tabasco
Senior Member
Posts: 113
Joined: Mon May 26, 2014 9:51 am
Location: Zone 9a, 50 miles North of Tampa Fl

I am very happy with this timer, it is seriously heavy duty.

https://www.amazon.com/Woods-50015-Outdo ... B006LYHG42

It comes just like you see it, that isn't a sticker on the front, it comes running.
The battery is robust.

Fluxx
Full Member
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 12:57 pm
Location: Switzerland

Hi

I suggest a mechanic timer. I've mine for years and never had problems.

Good Luck
S.

valley
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1335
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 1:25 am
Location: ranches in sierra nevada mountains California & Navada high desert

Greetings, There can be a problem with your current spiking. When I first built this house, the current was faulty, highs and lows in voltage, and there were problems. Now there are more people living in this valley the current is more reliable.
Timers can be sensitive to spikes in voltage. If you have a meter you can keep an eye on the voltage, if there's a problem the power company may be nagged into installing a transformer closer to you, or making a line repair. Good luck with that.

Richard

kweb
Full Member
Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2015 2:20 pm
Location: Canada, Saskatoon- 3b

Hello,
This may be irrelevant now but I'm currently working on some more technical ways to control environment too. I'm by no means the first to do this but not everyone is going to go this far.
I have been researching for about two months now and just come across another guy in Alberta, Canada.
The use of computers "or processors" is becoming more popular with home gardens. Its inexpensive, especially if you're going large hydro.
Theres many brands out there but the main one is called Arduino. It's an open source micro processor that can pretty much do anything.
I am just learning how to write code for them in C++ format and it's going well.

If you're computer savy and want a fun project and a way to control almost every aspect of your garden, I recommend looking into something like this. Other brands are call Sparkfun red board. Mines the Osepp uno R3 plus.



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