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RyeJar
StrangerDanger


Registered: 04/16/15
Posts: 523
Last seen: 10 months, 2 hours
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Cannabis enviromental controller behavior
#23378031 - 06/24/16 04:28 PM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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So I am kind of a geek who loves to make stuff and also lives where the environment quickly swings outside of cannabis' preferred conditions. I also am gone sometimes and well I admit, I also become lazy from time to time. I needed a solution to give me a helping hand when mine were unavailable.
I first went to the catalogs to look up enviro controllers. WOW! These are not priced for the average joe needing a little help. These units looked like they were for commercial cultivators. With nothing available at my price point I decided to grab all my electronic equipment out of storage.
I created a wireless network implementing the ATMEGA328p MCU consisting of up to 5 "scouts" battery powered that collect the environmental data and sends it to the "commander" which then controls relays to turn on/off different appliances. The "commander" then sends information to "intel" wirelessly who hosts a web page so I can see the status of the grow room anywhere in the world when I am gone from home.
This unit controls....
Light Exhaust Fan Dehumidifier Humidifier Room Exhaust or Cooling Room Heat Hydro Pump (I have capacative moisture sensors for the medium) Reservoir Heater Reservoir Chiller (I personally dont use either the heater or chiller but I am all about scalability when I make something so its added in at little cost.)
I am getting close to completion but I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the expensive units? How do they act for turning on/off devices? Like if I set the desired humidity to 40% how should I execute the relays? I dont want the relay clicking on/off constantly trying to maintain a perfect 40. Do the expensive units let it dip to 38 before turning on or maybe just a delay after every switch?
Also if I was to plug both a room heater and room cooler at the same time (which would be unorthodox but again I like to prepare) how should I treat heating and cooling at the same time to make energy consumption not ridiculous.
How would you guys desire it to act if you were using it?
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Othyem



Registered: 04/17/09
Posts: 1,935
Last seen: 3 years, 4 months
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Re: Cannabis enviromental controller behavior [Re: RyeJar]
#23378732 - 06/24/16 09:01 PM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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Mine you you just set the number you want ppm for co2, temp, humidity etc. at then set a temp where it kicks off at. For example my ac will kick on when it hits 85, run till it hits 80. then kick off and does this continually. It's a titan Saturn 5. I think I only paid a 150 or so for it. It works fine.
My reservoirs are maintained by with their own temp controls. As are my hydro pumps. I wouldn't care to have those on my controller.
Edited by Othyem (06/24/16 09:07 PM)
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RyeJar
StrangerDanger


Registered: 04/16/15
Posts: 523
Last seen: 10 months, 2 hours
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Re: Cannabis enviromental controller behavior [Re: Othyem]
#23379609 - 06/25/16 04:03 AM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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thanks for the info. I didn't even think about the fact you might of had to set specific values for on/off of the devices. My mind went straight to simpler by requesting a desired environmental value and trying to take care of the rest behind the scenes.
Why do you not like the idea of reservoir temp being controlled by a all in one setup?
Edited by RyeJar (06/25/16 04:23 AM)
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Othyem



Registered: 04/17/09
Posts: 1,935
Last seen: 3 years, 4 months
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Re: Cannabis enviromental controller behavior [Re: RyeJar]
#23382830 - 06/26/16 02:34 AM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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My chiller has it's own temp settings/controls already. Running it through a controller isn't needed and use would add another potential thing to go wrong.
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Spanishfly
$$$Rich€€€Bich£££



Registered: 03/19/12
Posts: 1,851
Loc: Spain
Last seen: 6 years, 26 days
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Re: Cannabis enviromental controller behavior [Re: Othyem]
#23382842 - 06/26/16 02:46 AM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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Wow - this is like rocket science !!!
-------------------- I am currently BANNED from using Private Messages - so can anyone who wants to contact me do it via my Journal thread. Link is https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/23831115 Maybe some mod or whatever might think this has now been long enough.
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RyeJar
StrangerDanger


Registered: 04/16/15
Posts: 523
Last seen: 10 months, 2 hours
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Re: Cannabis enviromental controller behavior [Re: Othyem]
#23382909 - 06/26/16 03:57 AM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Othyem said: My chiller has it's own temp settings/controls already. Running it through a controller isn't needed and use would add another potential thing to go wrong.
Makes sense now. Never used a chiller myself. A thermometer and some frozen liter bottles of water in the summer to throw in the res was all I had money for haha. Looks like I might have to rethink this one. Are there any alternatives to the expensive chillers and heaters that are popular that would require or benefit from control?
Ill try to post some pics of the results soon. As soon as I get done writing the auto addressing protocol I will get it all into project boxes and in a test environment.
Edited by RyeJar (06/26/16 04:01 AM)
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Othyem



Registered: 04/17/09
Posts: 1,935
Last seen: 3 years, 4 months
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Re: Cannabis enviromental controller behavior [Re: RyeJar]
#23382917 - 06/26/16 04:02 AM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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I lost 24 plants in bloom to root rot last summer and said fuck it and bought one. Yeah, deffinetly throw up pics I'd like to take a look at it.
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