Hi! Im trying to build an automatic chicken coop door. Ive seen several posts here about it, but none have answered my specific questions. I know a little about electricity, but havent worked with small circuits like this. I also dont know how to calculate the amps of the system or anything technical like that. I know basic housing electric and thats about it. (Oh and theatrical electric, but thats a different story.)
This is what I am proposing. I want the system to be run by a 12v battery that is trickle charged by a solar panel. I have a drill to do the work. Running power to the coop is out of the question. Here are my specifics.
I have a 1.5 watt solar battery charger from Harbor Freight. Its meant to keep batteries from dying, not to charge them. I hope to use this to keep the battery maintained. (I do have access to an ac charger for 12v batteries as well if I need to recharge the battery that way. Im hoping for mostly maintenance free running here.) How do I figure out if this is enough to keep my battery charged?
I have a 12V 5aH sealed rechargeable battery. Is this big enough?
I have a 12v 16a timer.
I have two limit switches that are SPDT, rated 5A at 125/250VAC. Will these work with a DC system? Ive seen a lot of harvest switches from old equipment advice, but its easier for me to buy what I need.
I have a small 3.6V drill that is normally used with a battery that I intend to hardwire to my system. No idea on amps on that one.
Im pretty sure I need some DC DPDT relays, but I am not sure about that. Are AC and DC relays the same? I do have a 30/40a SPST automotive relay, but I think its the wrong kind now that I have done some more research.
I want to put a fuse on it just in case. I have an inline fuse holder rated 250VAC, 10A and some 5A fuses to fit it. Do my fuses have to match amperage to the holder? Or does it need to have a bigger amp rating since the timer is a higher amp?
As far as I can tell, I have two options for this system. 1) The drill goes one way to take door up on a cable and then reverses and goes the other way to put it down. Or 2) the drill only goes one way, is mounted to a disk with a rod attached to the door. When the disk rotates 180 degrees, the door is open, when it rotates the final 180 degrees at the end of the day, the door is back down.
I dont care which way it works, as long as the wiring is relatively simple and straightforward with easy to find pieces. Im not interested in computer boards like Ive seen some others do. I just dont really know what all I need, or if all my pieces are rated correctly and will fit together safely. (I dont want any fried chicken ahead of schedule!) Im cobbling together several different systems because of our particular restraints (money and no AC current being the biggest) and because no one out there seems to have done this before. At least not that they have shared.
So far, my circuit as I have it figured out is this. The solar panel is run into the coop and connects to the battery, charging it. The positive comes off the battery, goes through the fuse, and then goes to the timer. The negative comes off the battery and goes straight to the timer. The feed then goes to the bottom switch which tells it the door is closed, then to the top switch that tells it when the door is open, then goes to the DPDT relay, then goes to the other DPDT relay, which sends it to the drill. Is that correct? Could the last relay be a SPST or does it really matter if it is double and I only use it as a single? Or, as I think some more about it, do I have it wrong and each relay gets its own switch to control and then goes to the motor? The latter switch/relay setup seems more logical to me, as the power would then go through the completed circuit and activate the drill.
Am I missing any pieces? I've seen some talk of diodes, but I don't really know what they do or if they are necessary.
Any advice would be helpful, even if you can only help with part of it. I would love to learn more. Thanks!
This is what I am proposing. I want the system to be run by a 12v battery that is trickle charged by a solar panel. I have a drill to do the work. Running power to the coop is out of the question. Here are my specifics.
I have a 1.5 watt solar battery charger from Harbor Freight. Its meant to keep batteries from dying, not to charge them. I hope to use this to keep the battery maintained. (I do have access to an ac charger for 12v batteries as well if I need to recharge the battery that way. Im hoping for mostly maintenance free running here.) How do I figure out if this is enough to keep my battery charged?
I have a 12V 5aH sealed rechargeable battery. Is this big enough?
I have a 12v 16a timer.
I have two limit switches that are SPDT, rated 5A at 125/250VAC. Will these work with a DC system? Ive seen a lot of harvest switches from old equipment advice, but its easier for me to buy what I need.
I have a small 3.6V drill that is normally used with a battery that I intend to hardwire to my system. No idea on amps on that one.
Im pretty sure I need some DC DPDT relays, but I am not sure about that. Are AC and DC relays the same? I do have a 30/40a SPST automotive relay, but I think its the wrong kind now that I have done some more research.
I want to put a fuse on it just in case. I have an inline fuse holder rated 250VAC, 10A and some 5A fuses to fit it. Do my fuses have to match amperage to the holder? Or does it need to have a bigger amp rating since the timer is a higher amp?
As far as I can tell, I have two options for this system. 1) The drill goes one way to take door up on a cable and then reverses and goes the other way to put it down. Or 2) the drill only goes one way, is mounted to a disk with a rod attached to the door. When the disk rotates 180 degrees, the door is open, when it rotates the final 180 degrees at the end of the day, the door is back down.
I dont care which way it works, as long as the wiring is relatively simple and straightforward with easy to find pieces. Im not interested in computer boards like Ive seen some others do. I just dont really know what all I need, or if all my pieces are rated correctly and will fit together safely. (I dont want any fried chicken ahead of schedule!) Im cobbling together several different systems because of our particular restraints (money and no AC current being the biggest) and because no one out there seems to have done this before. At least not that they have shared.
So far, my circuit as I have it figured out is this. The solar panel is run into the coop and connects to the battery, charging it. The positive comes off the battery, goes through the fuse, and then goes to the timer. The negative comes off the battery and goes straight to the timer. The feed then goes to the bottom switch which tells it the door is closed, then to the top switch that tells it when the door is open, then goes to the DPDT relay, then goes to the other DPDT relay, which sends it to the drill. Is that correct? Could the last relay be a SPST or does it really matter if it is double and I only use it as a single? Or, as I think some more about it, do I have it wrong and each relay gets its own switch to control and then goes to the motor? The latter switch/relay setup seems more logical to me, as the power would then go through the completed circuit and activate the drill.
Am I missing any pieces? I've seen some talk of diodes, but I don't really know what they do or if they are necessary.
Any advice would be helpful, even if you can only help with part of it. I would love to learn more. Thanks!