Time For Another Stupid Electrical Question

[convex]

I would say that 1 and 8 also need to be connected ... 1 to neutral and 8 to power.

 

[gudkarma]

convex

is it me? or do you see two gates (circuts) @ 1 & 4 / 8 & 5

those "gates" broken (open & closed) by the ground (-) if 3 & 6 are power

yes?

 

[hiboy]

that diagram is a little confusing. Normally (kinda like your outdoor lawn sprinkler system), only the hot, leg, or positive is energized at time of activation and the negative or neutral in your case, is carried thru straight from the source to the device being used. (solenoid). So that would mean that your solenoids (1 of the wires since they arent marked) will go to all the neutrals #2 and then your other wire will be goin to #3 or #6 since you want them to connect when energized. I believe this is correct. Hard to be exact with that diag.:smiley_joint:

 

[Underground]

You'd be a lot better off getting a transformer and using low voltage units.

 

[hiboy]

You'd be a lot better off getting a transformer and using low voltage units.

why underground go low volt,, except for safety reasons around that water. Definitely put a gfi outlet in. Hi or low you still gotta wire that timer he already has. Why discourage him, he's right there.

 

[convex]

convex

is it me? or do you see two gates (circuts) @ 1 & 4 / 8 & 5

those "gates" broken (open & closed) by the ground (-) if 3 & 6 are power

yes?

It is a double pole double throw relay, so yes it is essentially two circuits (legs) operated by two switches
.
Each leg has two gates, Normally Open (NO) and Normally Closed (NC)

You can either break both L1 and L2 or wire for just the hot side.

Cheers

 

[Bobby Smith]

Thanks so much again guys, and especially Convex for that diagram..............unfortunately, I'm too stupid to understand what that means.

I have the hot going to 2 and the neutral going to 7 (from my power source)...........what numbers do I need to wire the solenoid to?

Thanks guys, and sorry I'm such a retard, but I do have other skills.......

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wYJ8Qban6s[/YOUTUBE]

 

[gudkarma]

LOL! bobby you're funny.

i reviewed this very carefully.

tonight, i'll digest the link to that box one more time (it's so backyard tech & fascinating that i can't NOT love it).

yes, i used a double negative.

no electrician here ...but i do restore cars from the frame to the roof to the bumper to the dash board to you name it.

(not just cause convex & hiboy said so but after a complete review on my own) it's got to be 1 & 8 ...or... 4 & 5 for the solenoids.

don't you have a multi-meter?

ground one end of the meter... the black lead... and probe those terminals (one at a time & with power to the device) with the red lead.

can you do that ...& tell us what you get?

my meter has a setting for low voltage... so make sure your meter is set correctly.

you're right on the cusp & definitely no re-tard.

 

[Bobby Smith]

GK, here's the meter I have and the mess I've made from trying to strip wires (pics below).

I'm gonna unhook the solenoid and just have the timer plugged in, and see what gets "hot" (via my little voltage pen) when the T1 is active (lol, that almost makes it sound like I have a clue).

And here's a link to the other thread where John Guest is saying that I need to do some weird shit (it's post #94 for the diagram, and then the last two posts in that thread):

 

[convex]

Power to 2 (-) and 7 (+) for the timer.
This powers the timer only and does not provide power for the solenoids.

Power to 1 (-) and 8 (+) to feed the gates.
Because 2 and 7 only power the timer, we must provide a 'line in' to be switched by the relay.

When timer is in off cycle the normally closed terminals 4 and 5 are energized, we don't attach anything to them.

When timer is on, the switches are energized and switch to the normally open terminals 3 (-)
and 6 (+).

Terminals 3 (-) and 6(+) are now closed and current flows.

The solenoids are connected to 3 and 6.

To recap:

Timer Power to 2 (-) and 7 (+)
Line In: 1 (-) and 8 (+).
Load (switched power out): 3 (-) and 6 (+)

Diagram 2 above shows an alernate wiring, switching just the hot line, let's ignore it for now to avaoid further confusion..

Hopefully I have explained myself ...

Cheers

 

[Bobby Smith]

I totally get what I'm supposed to do now (I think), but I'm a little confused about the physical wiring...........hot and neutral from the appliance cord got to 7 and 2, respectively - got that.

Hot and neutral from the solenoid are wired into 3 and 6 - got that.

Now how do I get hot and neutral to 1 and 8? Just run a (like 2" long) wire from 7 to 8 and from 2 to 1? Or do I need to run a separate "appliance" cord in to feed those screws?

EDIT: are you convinced I'm "slow" yet? :)

 

[convex]

Nothing slow about wanting to be sure you understand fully ;)

Yes, just a wire from 7 to 8 and and 1 to 2 should do it.

Cheers

 

[Bobby Smith]

Thanks bro, really, really appreciate it.

Trying it now, will let you all know how it works out.

 

[Bobby Smith]

Works great, I think.............definitely powering up the solenoid the and solenoid is working fine, but the frequency of the "humming" seems to follow a pattern.........I wonder if that's just how the timer works..........didn't seem to matter much as the solenoid still opened, but the humming was definitely following a pattern every ~8 cycles, starting quiet, then getting loud, then dropping back to quiet, and repeating*.

Humming was only occuring when the solenoid was powered on, was silent otherwise.

*I'm not stoned, that was definitely happening.

Weird, huh?

 

[convex]

The literature says there are LED cycle progress indicators that increase in rate as the cycle continues, I wonder if this hum coincides with the lights??

You could try and wire 1 and 8 directly to the appliance cord powering the timer instead of jumping 1 and 2 to 7 and 8, might quiet down ...

Cheers

 

[gudkarma]

i'm sure high end solnedoids are quiet.

every one i've ever encountered (for pop locks, nitrous bottles, header dumps, flames out the tail pipe trick, and more) all make noise... in extreme applications & when testing at idle or with the engine off ...to say the least.

that timer could be noisey too.

i've only seen those timers, never worked with one.

best to go over all wiring to be sure.

i didn't check those links yet. if i need to, let me know

when i'm faced with a situation like yours, and as long as i will not ruin the device (cause there's a fuse, shut off, etc), and if there is another VALID wiring option... i'll always try that option.

i only do the above after the result of testing and deduction WITH a meter.

you already have several "knowns" which is quite excellent for a reh-tard if i may say so.

my word of advice, & cause your hobby demands it, plus you can use it on your car & electrical devices, get a decent ($20 to $50) multi meter.

believe it or not, i've never used one of those pens.

 

[Bobby Smith]

Thanks guys, but I think it's cool............just something with the timer cycle, methinks.......and after how long that took to get right, I'm not touching that fucking wiring again :)

 

[gudkarma]

lab up... & grow onward.

 

[convex]

Three cheers and a harem of dancing girls!

:clapping:cool0010:

 

[Bobby Smith]

Nice GK!! :)

Gonna have to wire up a bunch more shit, so check in over the next few days..........onto the pressure switch now..........ugh.