Greetings,
Well I'm not exactly a "chicken farmer" but do have chickens and need some help with a circuit to activate the coop door latch. The latch will be a solenoid cabinet latch requiring 12VDC .6A supply. I have the power supply but now need to build a control circuit.

In the coop is a digital timer which is used to turn on a light every morning for about 2 hours. I would connect the power supply to that so the door will unlatch at the same time. As you can see, there would therefore be constant power to the circuit during those 2 hours. My search through these forums and elsewhere seems to indicate some type of 555 circuit would work to provide a 1-2 second pulse to activate the solenoid. I'm not sure however if any of those I've seen can provide one pulse only while input power remains "on".

Any assistance or guidance in the proper circuit design would be greatly appreciated , thanks.

 

Looks like deja-vu all over again!
We just had an almost identical request a week or so ago.
Do a search for Chicken Coop, you will bring a few threads up.
Max.

 

Many ways to skin the cat.

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...=sGAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22eR2bRpDnYLeBS35FRLORGY=

 

Looks like deja-vu all over again!
We just had an almost identical request a week or so ago.
Do a search for Chicken Coop, you will bring a few threads up.
Max.

Thanks Max...Duh should of thought of that. However upon viewing many of those threads it seems they are dealing with motorized doors, light sensors, solar panels, etc.

 

Many ways to skin the cat.

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/United-Chemi-Con/E36D250LPN683TC92M/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22eR2bRpDnYLeBS35FRLORGY=

Thanks #12....Is the light shown in the schematics the coop light I mentioned? If so, the light I use will be operated from the timer and not be integrated into the latch set up. Also, is that circuit all I need to provide the pulse and then "turn off"? Looks a lot simpler than I thought.
Thanks again

 

I thought the lights were on the same circuit, so I used them to dump the charge on the capacitor when the switch opens. Here it is without using the lamps for a dump route.

This circuit only pulses when the power comes on. If you need to pulse when the power goes off, that's a different matter.

 

I thought the lights were on the same circuit, so I used them to dump the charge on the capacitor when the switch opens. Here it is without using the lamps for a dump route.

This circuit only pulses when the power comes on. If you need to pulse when the power goes off, that's a different matter.

Awesome thanks again!

 

This thing is going to pulse for about a tenth of a second. If that isn't enough time, it can be adjusted. Mostly, increase the value of the capacitor. Using a transistor amplifier gets the capacitor cost down to less than $1

Even if you need 1000 uf at 25 volts to get 1.5 seconds, the price is fairly reasonable at 44 cents (plus shipping).

http://www.mouser.com/Passive-Compo...0x6edZ1yzv881Z1z0x758Z1z0z819Z1z0z7l5Z1z0z80l

 

This thing is going to pulse for about a tenth of a second. If that isn't enough time, it can be adjusted. Mostly, increase the value of the capacitor. Using a transistor amplifier gets the capacitor cost down to less than $1

Even if you need 1000 uf at 25 volts to get 1.5 seconds, the price is fairly reasonable at 44 cents (plus shipping).

http://www.mouser.com/Passive-Compo...0x6edZ1yzv881Z1z0x758Z1z0z819Z1z0z7l5Z1z0z80l

Yes I think a longer pulse would be better...prob 1 sec min so I will follow your advice.
Thanks #12

 

Greetings,
Well I'm not exactly a "chicken farmer" but do have chickens and need some help with a circuit to activate the coop door latch. The latch will be a solenoid cabinet latch requiring 12VDC .6A supply. I have the power supply but now need to build a control circuit.

In the coop is a digital timer which is used to turn on a light every morning for about 2 hours. I would connect the power supply to that so the door will unlatch at the same time. As you can see, there would therefore be constant power to the circuit during those 2 hours. My search through these forums and elsewhere seems to indicate some type of 555 circuit would work to provide a 1-2 second pulse to activate the solenoid. I'm not sure however if any of those I've seen can provide one pulse only while input power remains "on".

Any assistance or guidance in the proper circuit design would be greatly appreciated , thanks.

It seems there are quite a few chicken checker schematics around. Most of these can be built from scratch for chicken feed. So you can definitely do it on the cheep.

 

I have been meaning to automate my chook pen and gates but have been busy on other things. My thought was to use a 12v irrigation timer with 4 or more channels to control leds and gates etc.
Just a thought.
Pnut

 

Keep your feet in that position and it will never happen.

 

This thing is going to pulse for about a tenth of a second. If that isn't enough time, it can be adjusted. Mostly, increase the value of the capacitor. Using a transistor amplifier gets the capacitor cost down to less than $1

Even if you need 1000 uf at 25 volts to get 1.5 seconds, the price is fairly reasonable at 44 cents (plus shipping).

http://www.mouser.com/Passive-Compo...0x6edZ1yzv881Z1z0x758Z1z0z819Z1z0z7l5Z1z0z80l

Hey #12...my solenoid latch should be arriving in the next week or so so I've been trying to purchase the circuit components locally since I can't buy just one or two of each online. My electronics knowledge is above average but limited so I have two questions if you don't mind. There are two diodes shown but only one has specifications. Is the other the same? Also, the transistor schematic looks like two back to back or is that how the TIP 120 is designed?
Thanks

 

First, all diodes are 1N4000 series. Whichever one you can buy. They all exceed the needs of this job.
Second, yes. The TIP120 has double guts.
Third, please test the latch before you buy the capacitor. If it can work reliably with only a tenth of a second of electricity, fine. Buy the 100 uf capacitor. If it needs more time, adjust the size of the capacitor in a linear fashion. Double the time needs double the capacitance. Four tenths of a second requires 4 times the capacitance.

If you would enter your location in your profile, we would know where you can buy parts. Then we could tell you where to get one part at a time.

If you build this and it doesn't work right, come back here and we'll know what to adjust.

 

First, all diodes are 1N4000 series. Whichever one you can buy. They all exceed the needs of this job.
Second, yes. The TIP120 has double guts.
Third, please test the latch before you buy the capacitor. If it can work reliably with only a tenth of a second of electricity, fine. Buy the 100 uf capacitor. If it needs more time, adjust the size of the capacitor in a linear fashion. Double the time needs double the capacitance. Four tenths of a second requires 4 times the capacitance.

If you would enter your location in your profile, we would know where you can buy parts. Then we could tell you where to get one part at a time.

If you build this and it doesn't work right, come back here and we'll know what to adjust.

Great..thanks for that info. I think I have found a place to get what I need. Will try to get there this week..Will keep you posted...Appreciate your help

 

I know it's against the rules to talk about over unity, but if you are a chicken farmer and also grow corn, can't you fertilize the chickens with corn and the corn with chicken shit? Seems like a win - win.

Sorry came into my head and wouldn't go away.