Hello guys,
I have less than... Let me count, 3 hours of experience in this "DIY field".
I recently became annoyed at my time-based power switch that I use for my reptiles, and wanting to save money and being a little stubborn I decided to start a journey into the unknown of.... Whatever this is called?

So, enough irony. Here's an example of my little quest and what I wish to accomplish:
I want to build a switch that turns on a light bulb at 6AM and turns off at 6PM... That's about it.

What equipment would you guys advice me to start off with? I know this is a difficult and extremely wide question but I hope you'll spend a couple of minutes sharing your experience and maybe lead me in the right direction of materials, tutorials and guides on how to accomplish this.

Thank you,
Mike

 

Welcome to AAC!

What was the issue with the "time-based power switch" ? Model number?

There are multiple types of appliance timers. Mechanical, electronic, and computer based.

I've used X-10 for a couple decades. You can program sequences into control modules, use the computer interface, wireless or wired controllers; while still maintaining function of the switch on the controlled device. I first became aware of them in the mid 90's when I bought a Stanley garage door opener that came with one lamp module. It would turn on a lamp when the garage door was opened.

When I had an aquarium, I used an X-10 module to control the tank light.

 

Hi dl324,
Thank you for reading my post and wanting to help.

It's not that they are faulty in any way, they are just noisy and I feel like it would be a huge accomplishment to build my own from scratch. I like to invest time in learning new technologies and push myself forward, so I see it as a challenge to build my own instead of going to the store buying one.

With my lack of experience in this field I don't know what keywords to use when researching but I did learn that a DS3231M Board can be used to program a simple time-based switch. What essentially is holding me back is not knowing what to purchase, what equipment I need except the board itself (which, I'm not even sure where to get my hands on) to move on.

Thank you once again dl324,
Mike

 

I feel like it would be a huge accomplishment to build my own from scratch. I like to invest time in learning new technologies and push myself forward, so I see it as a challenge to build my own instead of going to the store buying one.

You're not going to be able to build anything with the fit and finish of something you can buy for $13.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/89362/SUN-734112.html?gclid=COjs1uW269QCFYFnfgodAgMP6g

https://www.target.com/p/ge-mytouch...gclid=CKuGzue269QCFYlhfgodrpgBlg&gclsrc=aw.ds

These DIY's came up in Google; did not read them...

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...iance/&usg=AFQjCNEAk5KPXb-fQ0uNtUHuZTmi-RFpYQ

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...itch-/&usg=AFQjCNHaLhhZA6rc-g0ndy9C6fkl9IQPPQ

Members will help you, but no one will put more work into your project than you do. Do your research and post your block diagrams and/or schematics.

 

Thank you for providing the links, I'll go through the guides tomorrow morning.
To me it's not about the costs or "features", I'd just like to build my own and learn something new.

I thank you once again for providing the helpful resources. I'll be better prepared next time.
- Mike

 

Here's one place to purchase the RTC board, which interfaces to a microcomputer, so that's a rather complex way to go.

Alternately you could build a timer such as this, which is simpler (but less accurate).

 

Yours is a good solid inquiry with a huge amount of applications. As simple as the concept seems I'd like to learn more to.
I saw this on here on ACC:
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/project-for-a-12-hour-timer-to-relay.32435/

 

Yours is a good solid inquiry with a huge amount of applications. As simple as the concept seems I'd like to learn more to.
I saw this on here on ACC:
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/project-for-a-12-hour-timer-to-relay.32435/

Specifically post #4 by KMosffett