Smart Fan Speed Controller, a good idea or nah?

Budley Doright said:

Very cool!!! Have you checked into getting approvals from any of the testing agencies? I think that is where the cost really adds up .

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Thanks. Yes, its expensive. Couple of k or so. But it needs to be done, there will be a way. And its fine, so they make sure it's safe.

Jack Tambo said:

Thanks. Yes, its expensive. Couple of k or so. But it needs to be done, there will be a way. And its fine, so they make sure it's safe.

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Oh I hear you lol. I'm on my way to the west coast to inspect a gas fireplace that blew the glass out. Liability is a huge concern. This thing blew its aluminum chimney liner out about 30', like a giant snake in a can gag toy .

Budley Doright said:

Oh I hear you lol. I'm on my way to the west coast to inspect a gas fireplace that blew the glass out. Liability is a huge concern. This thing blew its aluminum chimney liner out about 30', like a giant snake in a can gag toy .

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Nice explosion. Probably a nightmare for whomever made that fireplace.

This looks to be a great project. I've had a play with your interface and it's easy enough to use (you do need to change the colour of your menu text to black on white rather than white on white though!)

Personally I'd concentrate on getting the ventilation/humidity settings sorted in the first instance and then move on to pH as an upgrade to your software with some add-on hardware also available to purchase (maybe consider EC checking/dosing too?).

Controlling fans and CO2 generators/regulators is easy peasy with a device like this. There is plenty of margin for error to play with.

Dosing pH... there is no margin for error! I have a Milwaukee MC720 to monitor and adjust pH automatically and the doses of pH up/down it doses are tiny! You'd need to sell the probes and pumps to be sure of consistent results.

Also... this may seem unpopular but this is turning into a completely automated grow controller and will have taken you many hours to develop. The only competition costs thousands of $$... don't break your back to keep it at $110. People would still buy it for double or triple that if it worked reliably.

loftygoals said:

This looks to be a great project. I've had a play with your interface and it's easy enough to use (you do need to change the colour of your menu text to black on white rather than white on white though!)

Personally I'd concentrate on getting the ventilation/humidity settings sorted in the first instance and then move on to pH as an upgrade to your software with some add-on hardware also available to purchase (maybe consider EC checking/dosing too?).

Controlling fans and CO2 generators/regulators is easy peasy with a device like this. There is plenty of margin for error to play with.

Dosing pH... there is no margin for error! I have a Milwaukee MC720 to monitor and adjust pH automatically and the doses of pH up/down it doses are tiny! You'd need to sell the probes and pumps to be sure of consistent results.

Also... this may seem unpopular but this is turning into a completely automated grow controller and will have taken you many hours to develop. The only competition costs thousands of $$... don't break your back to keep it at $110. People would still buy it for double or triple that if it worked reliably.

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Hi, thanks!

Yes, PH dosing seems more of a challenge.

I checked out the Milwaukee device and noticed they sell the probe and dosing pump separately.

Would it be a good idea if they could get connected to 'my' grow controller?

So people who already have this gear wouldn't need to buy it all new.

The controller could than measure PH, dispense adjustment solution, wait a few minutes for the solution to mix (optionally run a circulator pump), and then measure again.

That would also solve the problem @Chrissa mentioned of her system overdosing PH.


// I have not yet fixed the white on white menu text, but I am onto it.

I was using Chrome on desktop actually.

I'd been looking at building something similar myself but it wasn't worth it for me considering I could buy most of the individual controllers separately and it would be easier for me to do 2 shifts of overtime (and buy multiple ventilation controllers, dehumidifiers, pH dosers and even an EC controller) than to learn Arduino which would take countless hours perfecting.

If it worked like a variac does I'd spend 200$ easy

adower said:

If it worked like a variac does I'd spend 200$ easy

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Ok, trying to make that work as variac. It may not regulate all the way 0-100%, but instead steps like Off - 33% - 66% - 100%.

Jack Tambo said:

Hi, thanks!

Yes, PH dosing seems more of a challenge.

I checked out the Milwaukee device and noticed they sell the probe and dosing pump separately.

Would it be a good idea if they could get connected to 'my' grow controller?

So people who already have this gear wouldn't need to buy it all new.

The controller could than measure PH, dispense adjustment solution, wait a few minutes for the solution to mix (optionally run a circulator pump), and then measure again.

That would also solve the problem @Chrissa mentioned of her system overdosing PH.


// I have not yet fixed the white on white menu text, but I am onto it.

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Milwuakee sells it together also http://www.ebay.com/itm/Milwaukee-MC122-MP810-COMBO-MC720-pH-Controller-Dosing-Pump-115V-only-/271917896818?hash=item3f4f91d472:g:E0kAAOSwnipWWIVU

Like I said though you must test different ratios of diluting the ph down with water depending on your brand of ph down / your resivoir size and setup once you dial it in you can maintain ph one thing you could interrogate is ph value recording on a calendar with time frames also could include the e.c or ppm ect users preference , thaway if there is an issue user can go back and see where the values where at , incorporating a ph probe for Either soil or water user preference that solely measured root values incorporated with res values and for hydro e.c ppm run off ect the works , recorded would help you figure out problems , and solve them fast

loftygoals said:

This looks to be a great project. I've had a play with your interface and it's easy enough to use (you do need to change the colour of your menu text to black on white rather than white on white though!)

Personally I'd concentrate on getting the ventilation/humidity settings sorted in the first instance and then move on to pH as an upgrade to your software with some add-on hardware also available to purchase (maybe consider EC checking/dosing too?).

Controlling fans and CO2 generators/regulators is easy peasy with a device like this. There is plenty of margin for error to play with.

Dosing pH... there is no margin for error! I have a Milwaukee MC720 to monitor and adjust pH automatically and the doses of pH up/down it doses are tiny! You'd need to sell the probes and pumps to be sure of consistent results.

Also... this may seem unpopular but this is turning into a completely automated grow controller and will have taken you many hours to develop. The only competition costs thousands of $$... don't break your back to keep it at $110. People would still buy it for double or triple that if it worked reliably.

Click to expand...

Dosing EC would be considered nutrient dosing , this requires individual pumps you can get programable pumps on eBay but this would also require knowledge about your nutrients constant maintenance because of plants rising needs, user individual setup would mater dependant on nutrient mixes users could dial it in and for example with a and b solutions users could set up a vegetative nutrient schedule and a flowering one , these things are all very specific and will require user testing to properly calibrate individual setup. To lower the e.c there could be a electronic switch to control water to dilute the mix to specific e.c. All this requires the solution to constantly be mixed as we all know values stabilize when properly mixed this would insure measuring and dosage accuracy.

HI , I would be interested in working on this project. I have been working on enviro controls using arduino boards and sensors.
I have a strong electrical background and some programming due to being a web developer.

Jack Tambo said:

Hi everyone,

I am thinking about building a smart fan speed controller.


You could check that graph on a smartphone from wherever you are.
However, this would require the speed controller to connect to the internet, which could undermine your privacy. So I may leave this away.



I am quite new in your forum. I hope you don't mind me asking such a question right at the beginning. But I just wanted to hear your opinion before I jump into the effort of building this.

Would anyone be interested in using this?


Thanks in advance for any comments. Happy growing.

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junkman said:

HI , I would be interested in working on this project. I have been working on enviro controls using arduino boards and sensors.
I have a strong electrical background and some programming due to being a web developer.

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Hi,

that is terrific. I need help on the electrical front.

Currently researching the best way to make the fan speed control via transformer, but controllable by the microcomputer.

Seems like an autotransformer is a good way. It would just limit the fan settings to Off, 50% and On.

Do you know a smarter way?

Hi Forum,

I continued work on this WiFi enabled Grow Controller and it is taking form:

Here's a quick update

The system would look similar to this:




There are 3 power outlets.

You can connect sensors to this as needed. Like Temperature, Humidity, PH, EC, Light. Up to about 50 sensors.

The device would get delivered with 1 combined Temperature/Humidity sensor.

Additional sensor can then be purchased as needed.

For PH, EC, (and others) it will be possible to connect sensors from Atlas Scientific, for example this PH sensor. Their stuff seems to be of high quality and gives correct data.


After you have connected your sensors, you can then tell the device what to do.

That is done on a website and I tried to make it easy. You can try it out here


Once the device is running you can check on it from your smart phone, You can see things like:

• sensor data (How hot is it in my grow room?)
• Switch outlets manually (Turn on a fan)
• See how much power your devices consume in Watt.
• Log Sensor data to a chart over time (may require a monthly subscription fee).

Note: It does not HAVE to be connected to Wifi. It would run on its own. But you couldn't remotely check on it.


Now I have some questions to the community.

How important is Fan Speed control to you?

Let’s say you want to turn down a fan to 50% during ‘night’ periods to save energy and reduce noise.

Would that be an important feature?

If you like this feature, it would work together with an Autotransformer like this one.

The system would switch between 100% and whatever you set on the autotransformer.

Also,

do you guys generally still feel like this is a good project? - I don’t want to build anything that is not of value.

Thanks in advance for your time!

Jack

I have AT&T wifi, 1950's milkman was more dependable.

Any chance of a hardline programing keyboard/touchpad?

Grandpapy said:

I have AT&T wifi, 1950's milkman was more dependable.

Any chance of a hardline programing keyboard/touchpad?

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That would, unfortunately, be quite difficult.
It would need a bigger computer inside and we would need a screen. It would make the thing more expensive.
So sorry, this one may not be possible.

However, even a 1950's milkman shows up sometimes, right?
If you have just 15-30 minutes of Internet, it will be enough to program the device.
After that, no more milk internet is needed.

Hi,

you guys here in the forum gave me ideas to build a device.

I have now made something.

If you have a moment, would you let me know what you think?


The device let's you check your grow on a smartphone. Wherever you are in the world.







It shows you temperature, humidity, PH, water level and more

And a photo from a camera.




That white box is the device.
It connects to Wifi



You could use different sensors, as you like:

• Temperature
• Humidity
• Soil Humidity
• PH
• EC
• Water level
• ... whatever sensor you need

Lemme know what you think..

Thanks,

Jack