Home made automatic coop door question

[jthornton]

https://bit.ly/2TdfK3r reverse polarity switch

And I was wondering what you meant and now I know it's just a Double Pole Double Throw relay... sometimes you guys need to translate into English lol. Putting your location in your profile is always a good thing.

JT

 

[JonathanB]

I remembered the name of the smart plug incorrectly. It is actually a sonoff.

https://bit.ly/2RW9U5g. I use this in place of the timer to give me remote control.

Because the chickens are occasionally left to themselves for the weekend, this, with the camera, lets me open and close the door should I need to remotely and keep an eye on them.

To get wifi to the end of the garden where the coop is I used one of those mains transmitters. I didn't need to run any additional wiring down there as I already had a mains power supply to the adjoining shed. Something similar to this
https://bit.ly/2DElY85

 

[JonathanB]

And I was wondering what you meant and now I know it's just a Double Pole Double Throw relay... sometimes you guys need to translate into English lol. Putting your location in your profile is always a good thing.

JT

Updated as suggested.

 

[northdakotaoutfitting.com]

Well I finally got the PC sorted out with Windoze and ACAD so here is the drawing. Took me a while to remember how to draw in ACAD it's been a long time since I used it lol.

You can use the cheap automotive 12v relays like this one.

View attachment 1590300
JT

Thank you JT for the drawing however I do have a couple questions. What is the off switch and down switch for? won’t the limit switch just kick the motor out and then when power is applied to the other side of the limit switch it would kick the motor and the door would go down.

The other question is if I want to use a photo Eye i should then replace the timer with the photo eye correct ?

 

[jthornton]

Thank you JT for the drawing however I do have a couple questions. What is the off switch and down switch for? won’t the limit switch just kick the motor out and then when power is applied to the other side of the limit switch it would kick the motor and the door would go down.

The other question is if I want to use a photo Eye i should then replace the timer with the photo eye correct ?

I assume you mean what is the up switch and down switch. If you have a timer with two sets of contacts one would be the Up or Open contact and one would be the Down or Close contact. If for example if your using a timer that has only has one contact you can use that for up (open the door) the timer would energize a relay like the one I linked (a 5 pin automotive relay) and the normally open contacts would pull in the Up Relay until the Up Limit broke the circuit. Now to close the door the timer contacts open and the Up Switch (normally open contact on the auto relay) open and the normally closed contacts on the auto relay close which energizes the Down Relay until the Down Limit is hit.

Yes if your chickens go in like mine rather early in the evening the photo cell would be connected to the auto relay to close the door at dusk (when it normally turns on the yard light) and in the morning the photo cell contacts open and the normally closed contacts on the auto relay cause the up relay to run. If you use a photo cell make sure you don't point it at the sun...

If this is not clear I can modify the drawing to show what I'm talking about.

JT

 

[northdakotaoutfitting.com]

I assume you mean what is the up switch and down switch. If you have a timer with two sets of contacts one would be the Up or Open contact and one would be the Down or Close contact. If for example if your using a timer that has only has one contact you can use that for up (open the door) the timer would energize a relay like the one I linked (a 5 pin automotive relay) and the normally open contacts would pull in the Up Relay until the Up Limit broke the circuit. Now to close the door the timer contacts open and the Up Switch (normally open contact on the auto relay) open and the normally closed contacts on the auto relay close which energizes the Down Relay until the Down Limit is hit.

Yes if your chickens go in like mine rather early in the evening the photo cell would be connected to the auto relay to close the door at dusk (when it normally turns on the yard light) and in the morning the photo cell contacts open and the normally closed contacts on the auto relay cause the up relay to run. If you use a photo cell make sure you don't point it at the sun...

If this is not clear I can modify the drawing to show what I'm talking about.

JT

Yea I think I’m just going to use the photo cell for now. Cheap and easier to hook up I would imagine. I always get turned around when I mess with electricity. Not always but just on things like this. So can I use a photo eye if that motor of mine is 12v? How does that work?

 

[jthornton]

Yea I think I’m just going to use the photo cell for now. Cheap and easier to hook up I would imagine. I always get turned around when I mess with electricity. Not always but just on things like this. So can I use a photo eye if that motor of mine is 12v? How does that work?

The photo cell and the timer work exactly the same, the only difference is you set the timer for on and off times.

JT

 

[northdakotaoutfitting.com]

The photo cell and the timer work exactly the same, the only difference is you set the timer for on and off times.

JT

Ok right thanks. So what do you use for the up & down switch in you drawing?

 

[jthornton]

Ok right thanks. So what do you use for the up & down switch in you drawing?

If your using for example a photo cell to trigger the door the photo cell would energize a relay for closing. When the sun comes up the photo cell turns off and the normally closed contacts on the relay will open the door. If I get a chance before I head for vacation I'll draw it up if needed.

JT

 

[northdakotaoutfitting.com]

If your using for example a photo cell to trigger the door the photo cell would energize a relay for closing. When the sun comes up the photo cell turns off and the normally closed contacts on the relay will open the door. If I get a chance before I head for vacation I'll draw it up if needed.

JT

Ok so I’m going to order some parts for my coop door. Let me know if I’m missing something. My coop has 110v power.
110v to 12v power supply
Photo cell
Relay
2 Limit switch’s
I have the 12v window motor.
Anything else you can think of besides a enclosure for the photocell?
Thanks again for your help.