First post from an electronics novice who's keen to learn.
I want your help please designing a circuit that controls 3 electromechanical relays. When switched on, the circuit applies power for a fixed time period to each relay coil in turn.
The pair of contacts on the "output" side of each relay are normally in the open state which is the state when no signal is applied to the relay coil. The relay output contacts close when an electrical signal is applied to the relay coil and remain closed for the duration of the signal. The relay contacts return to the normally open (NO) state upon cessation of the input signal.
Upon activation, the proposed switching circuit energises relay 1, switching it to the "on" position (contacts closed) for a predetermined and fixed time period, say 5 minutes. In this on position the relay contacts are closed. When the designated time of 5 minutes expires, the circuit de-energises Relay 1, returning it to the "off" / NO position. The proposed switching circuit then powers the coil of Relay 2 switching the contacts on it's armiture to the closed position for 5 minutes. When the 5 minute time period expires, Relay 2 is depowered to the NO state and Relay 3 is switched on for 5 minutes. At the completion of this 5 minute period, Relay 3 is switched off, completing one full switching cycle.
Once a full switching cycle is completed, the proposed circuit immediately starts another full switching cycle beginning, as before, by applying power to the coil of Relay 1 then to Relay 2 then to Relay 3. Cycling continues in this way until the switching circuit is turned off and all relays return to the NO state.
The switching circuit needs to be scalable to accommodate future expansion of the number of relays.
The switching circuit also needs to allow modification in the future to incorporate a way of manually varying the time interval over which power is applied to the relays.
I have soldering skills and all the tools I need but no theoretical knowledge of electronics. I want to learn about electronics from this and future projects. So I would favour a transparent design that allows me to "look into" the circuit and understand how it works over a possibly more opaque "black box" approach.
Thanks for reading this commrades. I look forward to hearing from you.
I want your help please designing a circuit that controls 3 electromechanical relays. When switched on, the circuit applies power for a fixed time period to each relay coil in turn.
The pair of contacts on the "output" side of each relay are normally in the open state which is the state when no signal is applied to the relay coil. The relay output contacts close when an electrical signal is applied to the relay coil and remain closed for the duration of the signal. The relay contacts return to the normally open (NO) state upon cessation of the input signal.
Upon activation, the proposed switching circuit energises relay 1, switching it to the "on" position (contacts closed) for a predetermined and fixed time period, say 5 minutes. In this on position the relay contacts are closed. When the designated time of 5 minutes expires, the circuit de-energises Relay 1, returning it to the "off" / NO position. The proposed switching circuit then powers the coil of Relay 2 switching the contacts on it's armiture to the closed position for 5 minutes. When the 5 minute time period expires, Relay 2 is depowered to the NO state and Relay 3 is switched on for 5 minutes. At the completion of this 5 minute period, Relay 3 is switched off, completing one full switching cycle.
Once a full switching cycle is completed, the proposed circuit immediately starts another full switching cycle beginning, as before, by applying power to the coil of Relay 1 then to Relay 2 then to Relay 3. Cycling continues in this way until the switching circuit is turned off and all relays return to the NO state.
The switching circuit needs to be scalable to accommodate future expansion of the number of relays.
The switching circuit also needs to allow modification in the future to incorporate a way of manually varying the time interval over which power is applied to the relays.
I have soldering skills and all the tools I need but no theoretical knowledge of electronics. I want to learn about electronics from this and future projects. So I would favour a transparent design that allows me to "look into" the circuit and understand how it works over a possibly more opaque "black box" approach.
Thanks for reading this commrades. I look forward to hearing from you.