6 ms·

The Wifi outlet seems like mega overkill to run a schedule. Couldn't you just use one of these? https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=socket+timer+us&safe=off&biw=1

by nihakue 10y ago

The Wifi outlet seems like mega overkill to run a schedule. Couldn't you just use one of these? https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=socket+timer+us&safe=off&biw=1440&bih=778&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjFzZLfgP7MAhUmC8AKHbVyAKQQ_AUIBygC#imgrc=bIMMDcBcN3CWoM%3A https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=socket+timer+us&safe=off&b...

joshstrange 10y ago
Those normally work in 30min increments minimum, this stays on for 20 seconds, once a week. I already own a "smart outlet" so the cost for me would be less than $10 to build this, I just got into growing herbs and this would be a really awesome setup.
- heffo 10y ago
  It may be possible, but perhaps not, to just lower the pump output so that it takes 30 minutes to water the plant. That might be too little output to work though, because that is 2 orders of magnitude longer.
- nkurz 10y ago
  In case it helps anyone, there's a well-documented hack for modifying one of the more common types of rotary timers to allow much shorter increments: http://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/repeat-timer-hacked-for-35-minute-hydroponic-cycles/ http://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/repeat-timer-hacked-for-35-mi... This wouldn't work if you want 1 minute a week (since the cycle repeats every 35 minutes), but for hydroponics sometimes you want a short duration with very frequent repetitions, and the electronic timers (which are preferable in most other ways) don't provide enough on/off cycles per day or week.
  - joshstrange 10y ago
    Interesting, I did some more searches and found this http://smile.amazon.com/Digital-Programmable-Socket-Energy-Saving-DT-02/dp/B01F360XQQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1464484920&sr=8-2&keywords=20+second+timer+plug http://smile.amazon.com/Digital-Programmable-Socket-Energy-S... According to the Q&A you can get it down to second acuracy so you could do the 20 seconds. I'd much rather do this than a wifi switch that I need another system to toggle it.
  - fovc 10y ago
    I wonder if you could chain two timers, picking their periods and durations appropriately to get a much longer combined period with the correct duration.
    - heffo 10y ago
      Well, you could use 2 timers with the same period, if they are accurate. You would plug in timer 1, so that its output (output 1) is on. You would set timer 2 so that output 2 would turn on as soon as timer 2 receives power. When there are only 30 seconds left in timer 1's on cycle, you would plug timer 2 into a separate outlet. Since they are synced, but only overlap by 30 seconds, they will only both be on for 30 seconds. You would then need some kind of AND that would only turn on the pump if output 2 and output 1 are both on.
      - thrownaway1984 10y ago
        Plugging one into the other would provide an AND.
        quesera 10y ago
        The second in series would not be powered continuously, so it would only work for the first cycle. You'd need to separate the timer power from the switched power. Easy to do, but not how the cheap ones work. Also, the settings are not precise enough to get a repeatable interval across two devices. On the other hand, it's a very simple DIY electronics project. Arduino is extreme overkill, but will also work.
StavrosK 10y ago
And there are OpenWRT-enabled ones. I can't wait for a socket that can hacked and that I need to regularly update! The IoT future is looking very bleak, with all the vulnerabilities it's going to introduce.
semi-extrinsic 10y ago
From TFA: "A Word on WiFi Sockets: They suck. They take the simplest operation of closing a circuit and abstract it in a shitty smartphone app that only works half the time." Short interval timers are a bit harder to come by, as several others have mentioned, but they do exist and aren't very expensive. E.g. this one can go as short as one minute per week: http://plumbdeal.com/product_info.php/grasslin-digital-plugin-timer-topica-600-plug-p-38 http://plumbdeal.com/product_info.php/grasslin-digital-plugi...
- joshstrange 10y ago
  This one appears to be able to do seconds http://smile.amazon.com/Digital-Programmable-Socket-Energy-Saving-DT-02/dp/B01F360XQQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1464484920&sr=8-2&keywords=20+second+timer+plug http://smile.amazon.com/Digital-Programmable-Socket-Energy-S...

by nihakue 10y ago

joshstrange 10y ago

Those normally work in 30min increments minimum, this stays on for 20 seconds, once a week. I already own a "smart outlet" so the cost for me would be less than $10 to build this, I just got into growing herbs and this would be a really awesome setup.

heffo 10y ago
It may be possible, but perhaps not, to just lower the pump output so that it takes 30 minutes to water the plant. That might be too little output to work though, because that is 2 orders of magnitude longer.
nkurz 10y ago
In case it helps anyone, there's a well-documented hack for modifying one of the more common types of rotary timers to allow much shorter increments: http://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/repeat-timer-hacked-for-35-minute-hydroponic-cycles/ http://hackaday.com/2011/09/09/repeat-timer-hacked-for-35-mi... This wouldn't work if you want 1 minute a week (since the cycle repeats every 35 minutes), but for hydroponics sometimes you want a short duration with very frequent repetitions, and the electronic timers (which are preferable in most other ways) don't provide enough on/off cycles per day or week.
- joshstrange 10y ago
  Interesting, I did some more searches and found this http://smile.amazon.com/Digital-Programmable-Socket-Energy-Saving-DT-02/dp/B01F360XQQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1464484920&sr=8-2&keywords=20+second+timer+plug http://smile.amazon.com/Digital-Programmable-Socket-Energy-S... According to the Q&A you can get it down to second acuracy so you could do the 20 seconds. I'd much rather do this than a wifi switch that I need another system to toggle it.
- fovc 10y ago
  I wonder if you could chain two timers, picking their periods and durations appropriately to get a much longer combined period with the correct duration.
  - heffo 10y ago
    Well, you could use 2 timers with the same period, if they are accurate. You would plug in timer 1, so that its output (output 1) is on. You would set timer 2 so that output 2 would turn on as soon as timer 2 receives power. When there are only 30 seconds left in timer 1's on cycle, you would plug timer 2 into a separate outlet. Since they are synced, but only overlap by 30 seconds, they will only both be on for 30 seconds. You would then need some kind of AND that would only turn on the pump if output 2 and output 1 are both on.
    - thrownaway1984 10y ago
      Plugging one into the other would provide an AND.
      - quesera 10y ago
        The second in series would not be powered continuously, so it would only work for the first cycle. You'd need to separate the timer power from the switched power. Easy to do, but not how the cheap ones work. Also, the settings are not precise enough to get a repeatable interval across two devices. On the other hand, it's a very simple DIY electronics project. Arduino is extreme overkill, but will also work.

StavrosK 10y ago

And there are OpenWRT-enabled ones. I can't wait for a socket that can hacked and that I need to regularly update! The IoT future is looking very bleak, with all the vulnerabilities it's going to introduce.

semi-extrinsic 10y ago

From TFA: "A Word on WiFi Sockets: They suck. They take the simplest operation of closing a circuit and abstract it in a shitty smartphone app that only works half the time." Short interval timers are a bit harder to come by, as several others have mentioned, but they do exist and aren't very expensive. E.g. this one can go as short as one minute per week: http://plumbdeal.com/product_info.php/grasslin-digital-plugin-timer-topica-600-plug-p-38 http://plumbdeal.com/product_info.php/grasslin-digital-plugi...

joshstrange 10y ago
This one appears to be able to do seconds http://smile.amazon.com/Digital-Programmable-Socket-Energy-Saving-DT-02/dp/B01F360XQQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1464484920&sr=8-2&keywords=20+second+timer+plug http://smile.amazon.com/Digital-Programmable-Socket-Energy-S...