Krypto's Ultimate Controler

LOL... 'n take a phatty along!

I hope I explained it correctly... The whole shebang is a planned future upgrade for me. So I just know what I have read, and what I have learned about Hydro-Engineering via the school of hard-knocks; aka Trial and Error.

Holes made Easy.

I drove five nails into a piece of 2 X , about an inch apart and ground the heads off.
The torch was used to heat the nails so the nails would push through the plastic bucket easily .

Killer info, seriously thinking of giving buckets a shot. Has anyone succesfully built the controller yet based on these instructions? Pretty straightforward? Any points to add? Thanks!

I've built a few of these now and the one I built while writing this tutorial is working fine.
I have been contacted bye one member who says he is having a rough time of it and says he may have gotten bad float switches.
It's possible but seems highly unlikely that all four were bad.
I've purchased ten of them used them in two controlers I built and used the entire summer without a problem.

If anyone who is building one has any problems, post here or leave me a PM and we'll get everything in working order for them.

Hi there Krypto, i got all my pumps and buckets, im just putting it together for a run of HOG's way, to get me going in E and F, Iwas just wondering, you said earlier u planned a revised version of the controller for ukl electrics, will it me much different, or do u think i could go with this list to a supplier and find uk equivalent?

Float Switches

Float Switches

Hey Kryptonite,

Still accumulating all the parts and getting overly excited. It has been close to 2 weeks since i ordered my Float Switches. I sent them an email and it bounced, so i tried from another address and still no luck. I was just curious as to an order status as I did not receive any email after i had made payment.

Has anyone had any luck contacting them. Them being the makers of the Float Switches on page 1 of this thread.

cheers

venge

Harry Gypsna said:

Hi there Krypto, i got all my pumps and buckets, im just putting it together for a run of HOG's way, to get me going in E and F, Iwas just wondering, you said earlier u planned a revised version of the controller for ukl electrics, will it me much different, or do u think i could go with this list to a supplier and find uk equivalent?

Click to expand...

Yes,,I do believe you could do that! :tup:
Get the advice of someone who knows electronics.
The connections, ect. should be the same.
Good Luck!

venge said:

Hey Kryptonite,

Still accumulating all the parts and getting overly excited. It has been close to 2 weeks since i ordered my Float Switches. I sent them an email and it bounced, so i tried from another address and still no luck. I was just curious as to an order status as I did not receive any email after i had made payment.

Has anyone had any luck contacting them. Them being the makers of the Float Switches on page 1 of this thread.

cheers

venge

Click to expand...

Someone told me they also found them at grainger if your un-comfortable buying from the place I posted earlier.
I have NO affiliation with that fella and is just the only place I could find a product comparible to what was needed.
It's not my intention to spam his auctions here but last i checked he was also selling them on ebay.

Sorry if the post sounded negative towards you Kryptro, was definitely not my intention. Was just curious if anyone else ordered or had actual contact with them as my email keeps bouncing when i try to contact them.

I know how this all works so your info is greatly appreciated.

thanks

venge

venge said:

Sorry if the post sounded negative towards you Kryptro, was definitely not my intention. Was just curious if anyone else ordered or had actual contact with them as my email keeps bouncing when i try to contact them.

I know how this all works so your info is greatly appreciated.

thanks

venge

Click to expand...

Well I dunno where that came from, was just explaining I dunno the guy,, just bought a few switches from him..

Man,, you people sure are sensitive.

venge said:

Sorry if the post sounded negative towards you Kryptro, was definitely not my intention. Was just curious if anyone else ordered or had actual contact with them as my email keeps bouncing when i try to contact them.

I know how this all works so your info is greatly appreciated.

thanks

venge

Click to expand...

i ordered and had the switches in under 7 days....

hope this helps.

IC Rocks@!

These specs look only slightly different from the website ones, these should be fine also right or which would be better:

Features :


· Contact Rating: 10 VA max

· Switching Voltage: 200 VDC

· Switching Voltage: 200 VDC

· Switcing Current: 1.0 A

· Breakdown Voltage(open contact): 250 VDC

· Contact Resistance(initial): 100m ohm

· Operating Temp: -40 -+125-c

· 1 foot leads, 5/16 stem

· nc or no just reverse the float

Hey kryptonite, thanks again for the awesome thread, im finally finishing up the controller... have a question, you had us put 3 wires, and 3 female connectors on the negative lead of the power cable... I have been through the thread a couple of times and cant see where you said to use these, well a picture I saw showed the first female connector going to #2 on the timer... then the very end with no female connector, connected to both negatives of the outlets.... so Im left with two female connectors on the negative lead of my power cord, know where I went wrong?


thanks in advance

hellinksi said:

Hey kryptonite, thanks again for the awesome thread, im finally finishing up the controller... have a question, you had us put 3 wires, and 3 female connectors on the negative lead of the power cable... I have been through the thread a couple of times and cant see where you said to use these, well a picture I saw showed the first female connector going to #2 on the timer... then the very end with no female connector, connected to both negatives of the outlets.... so Im left with two female connectors on the negative lead of my power cord, know where I went wrong?


thanks in advance

Click to expand...

DOOOHHH!!!!!!!

I know where I went wrong!

One of the leads are attached to Relay A #8, the other to relay B #8.

Lemme know how it's going for you please and Thank You for bringing that to my attention..

will edit that in.
Thanks again.

doh I shoudl have caught that... thanks again kryptonite...

heres a couple shots of my finished controller


shoehorn anyone?


side shot

Major :applause:

That box even looks good!
Everything working OK for you Bud??

thanks kryptonite, thats all you buddy

I havent got to test yet, I have faith though I will be getting around to testing later today, I will post back when I have...


thanks again man, couldnt have done it without ya

IC Rocks!!!

major props Hellinski!! What kind of box is that...seems to fit perfect!!

I need to finish mine....put it on the back burner a couple weeks.

***Question***
-Do you flip all 4 float valves or just two? If just two is it the tops or bottoms.

I agree, Helsinki, very nice enclosure. You are as meticulous as I am!

I bought ABS Black Plastic Enclosures to house the components.

I got the 5-7/8 x 4 x 2-3/16 ones because I plan on adding a second timer to plug airpumps into. This way I can turn the airstones off during the flood cycle so the buckets won't overflow. Thanks Krypto, I would have never thought of that if you didn't mention it earlier in this thread.

The bucket and float switches are assembled, flood buckets plummed and drilled, Im just waiting on the enclosure to plug everything into.

I also ordered the float switches from the source you mentioned, and received them within 7 days of order. I never did get a confirmation email, just the parts in the mail.

For those still not sure about the difference between a controller bucket with float switches and one with simply pumps and timers, the difference is safety. You cannot flood your home with the controller system if used correctly. The switched have a double redundant backup. If one fails, the other takes over. With timers only all it takes is a kinked / clogged hose or a timer failure to empty an entire 55+ gallon rez on the floor.

Not to mention performance. With a controller bucket you know for sure that your plants get the full 15 minute flood to the same level in the buckets each and every time. You just can't get that reliability with timers alone.

I had a friend get busted for a flood, always a danger if you rely only on timers. Please consider your safety and the safety of other and use a safe controller with bucket systems.

Thanks again Kryp.

tnx guys....

hog its cat#270-1805 "Project Enclosure" from rat shack

NICE Link Phototropic!!!
I do believe I will purchase my box'x from them next round. :tup:

Great explaination of the controlers use.:tup:

Using timers only there are many things that can go wrong.
As the root mass gets larger less water is needed to fill the space in the pots so you will have to constantly be tweaking your timers to make up the difference.

AF has his garden in an attic area. He is using DWC and has flooded out his attic on a few occassions, the last one causing him to remodel his entire kitchen.
50 Gallons of water can do a real number on drywall and wood. :tdown:


Phototropic, also you mentioned the switches being double back up.

I have gave the way these switches are set up so much thought and experimentation. Originally I wondered why you even need two of each set, upper and lower, but it can't be done with just one switch to operate each pump.
Using only one switch, the water moves about in the controler bouncing the switch up and down continuosly turning your pumps on and off. This is Very hard on your pumps, I've had to buy extra parts.
These particular pumps are nice and you can buy a new impeller and repair parts, The seem to last forever.
Back to the point.
As the pumps come on and off the water is then constantly stirred, continuing this cycle and rendering the controler useless.
This will also happen if the controler is wired improperly.

The key is in the difference in height of the two switches.


I have grown using several different hydroponic and soil methods over the years and I have used Nothing that comes close to the ease of use and results of using this particular system.

The sweet part is that you can now make i just about any size and configuration you'd like for whatever use you need it for.
Currently I am designing a shallow ebb and flow tray system for Micro-Green cultivation.

Some members have expressed concerns about the small amount of water that stands in the bottom of each pot after a flood.
If you would like to build this so that doesn't happen, design your controler to flood a half in to an inch higher than you normally would for the size container you are flooding and then place a space under each container to make up the difference.
This would make your controler lower floats a half to an inch lower than your buckets draining your buckets Completely, yet still allow the flood to reach the top of your container which holds the medium.

.