My DIY Automatic Chicken Door

[jthornton]

Yes only 5.4mA Actually

Link?

JT

 

[Mouthpear]

https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-Channel-OPTO-Isolated-Support-Trigger/dp/B00LW2G7V6

JT

Yeah those relay modules use logic circuits to operate the relays but the relays themselves are still electromechanical relays and like I said they require constant power at 2.2mA 27/7 to be used. They also draw 38.2mA when just one of the relays are in use.

Now compare that to just a normal electromechanical relay, that operates at the 50 - 100 mA range but gets used for only 2 Minutes for the entire day as opposed to 2.2mA all day and then add 36mA for 2 minutes. Of those two I'd rather not put a constant drain on the battery. However if there is no issue, and have, either a good battery bank and an adequate charging system or constant "house" power, I would chose the relay module. Much less wiring.

 

[jthornton]

How much power does the timers use?

Do you have a link to that relay that only draws 5mA?

JT

 

[Mouthpear]

Link?

JT

I do not have a link to the 5.4mA ones (white ones). I purchased those here locally and they will not give up their supplier. They don't want to lose out on their profits. They are expensive. I tried looking them up by the part number printed on them but they can't be found. All you get is alternatives.

The Black ones that draw 15.1mA (still way lower than 50mA) are purchased from weidmueller.com too expensive for my taste @ around $15 each. Plus over the top shipping. I won't be purchasing from them anymore.
https://catalog.weidmueller.com/procat/Product.jsp;jsessionid=A3C41E5331334AD567A2D10DD91F8EFB?productId=([1122750000])&page=Product

I have been ordering the Grey ones that draw 14.84mA (still way lower than 50mA) from Aliexpress.com and are only $4.24 x 2 + 6.57 shipping comes to $15.05 add the jumper for $2. The LinkFreely store has them. I purchase 10 at a time to bring costs down. The ones that are in the video.

Note in the video @1:52 there are 4 relays on and only drawing 0.06A (60mA) and @2:48 only one relay on is drawing only 0.01A (10mA)

 

[Mouthpear]

How much power does the timers use?

Do you have a link to that relay that only draws 5mA?

JT

Let me test the timer.

 

[Mouthpear]

How much power does the timers use?

Do you have a link to that relay that only draws 5mA?

JT

Square timers draw 4.9mA at rest and 23.6mA when on.

The DIN rail timers draw 4.8mA at rest and 35.3mA when on.

 

[Mouthpear]

How much power does the timers use?

Do you have a link to that relay that only draws 5mA?

JT

The entire system at rest is 9.68mA and 39.9mA with one timer on.

 

[jthornton]

The entire system at rest is 9.68mA and 39.9mA with one timer on.

That's some good information. So based on that you know the system uses about 250mAh in 24 hours plus how much energy it takes to open and close the door. A person just needs to know how much sun they get and size the solar panel and battery to suit their location.

For me when it get complicated like the through beam and dual timers I prefer to use a Raspberry Pi 3 B or 4 B with a 4 relay board as it makes for a much more compact setup. The drawback is you have to program that in Python. The advantage is it updates the sun events each morning so you don't have to change timers.

JT

 

[Mouthpear]

That's some good information. So based on that you know the system uses about 250mAh in 24 hours plus how much energy it takes to open and close the door. A person just needs to know how much sun they get and size the solar panel and battery to suit their location.

For me when it get complicated like the through beam and dual timers I prefer to use a Raspberry Pi 3 B or 4 B with a 4 relay board as it makes for a much more compact setup. The drawback is you have to program that in Python. The advantage is it updates the sun events each morning so you don't have to change timers.

JT

It is not really all that complicated. Two timers are the same amount of wiring compared to one timer and a DPDT relay. Yet the two timers is way less complicated.

The through beam is only adding the equivalent of a 3PDT relay. The circuit itself is very simple. I even have the 3PDT relays to make it but I wanted to keep everything uniform.

I even have 6 channel relay modules that could be used and have it all on one compact board. To me compact doesn't mean the best. The relays and everything else I use is for ease of maintenance, troubleshooting, and replacing. If a relay goes bad I can just replace the relay without taking all the wires off a relay module, replacing the entire module and then having to put it all back.

As far as the Pi 3, I have a few Arduino operated door setups that I have been using and testing. I found that using relay modules for this Is not the best. The use of a single motor controller module is way better. Forward and reverse, time and speed are all there without having to do any extra wiring. Also I use the Timelord library to Automatically control the time settings for dawn till dusk.

Of course I had to add a 16x2 and a 20x4 display that shows the times it will open and close, Current date and time, Julian date for egg collection, and Temp & Humidity read out.

As far as timers, and having to reprogram the time during daylight savings time well you don't need to do that if you have Astronomical DIN rail timers. They are $11 each, so for $22 you can have the least hassle coop door control.

Being compact Is not my main concern. Reliability and ease of maintenance/troubleshooting is what I go for. That's why I use the terminal blocks. It is so much easier to trace down faults when everything is labeled and not all bundled up. I also can't stand looking at wiring and see a bunch of wires pigtailed ("jumpered") together. Plus if I ever need to add components like the humidity control system I can just plug it right in.

Here are the Astronomical timers and how you set them up.

This is the Safety through beam circuit. In bare components form. As you can see there is not much to it.

 

[jthornton]

It is not really all that complicated. Two timers are the same amount of wiring compared to one timer and a DPDT relay. Yet the two timers is way less complicated.

I was speaking of the video with the photo cell and through beam and a DIN rail full of stuff...

I admire your creativity with the 2 timers and yes it's very simple and straight forward.

I didn't even know you could get Astronomical DIN rail timers, that does make it so much better.

JT