Honnold.net
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Control Module - SSR Solenoid control for RO water unit
This module was created to help control the RO water that I was needing for the tank. I got tired of starting the water, getting busy with something else and then have the water overflow and make a mess. I like the Parallax BASIC stamp as they are pretty easy to use and have a lot of power for thier size. This modules was written to be controlled by a BASIC stamp. I thought I would use the power of the stamp to allow control the RO water so that it only filled the bucket and then stopped instead of overflowing. In this case this module is just driven as a on/off switch. Like the other modules I have created, this is in a plastic blue electrical construction box that you can get at HomeDepot or Ace Hardware. This solenoid is a simple 120V AC type and I am using a plain RJ45 type jack and a computer supply plug for the input to this box. The following is a simple wiring diagram that shows how the module is wired internally.
When I got this solenoid the water inlets and outlets where covered with a red plastic cap, and I am embarshed to say that I looked at these and was like how do I hook the water up to this thing. It took me a little while to relize that these came out and I could screw in fittings to meet my needs. Here are a couple pictures of the solenoid as I put the fittings in. These are 1/4" JohnGuest fittings, as they match the fittings on my RO unit.
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This solenoid was the perfect one to use as it has a round threaded mounting point that matches perfectly with the pre-cut holes that are in the electrical outlet box. These holes are suppost to be used with tubing that is used with electrical conduit. The hardware that is used to mount this conduit worked great in mounting the solenoid to the box as well.
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Now that the solenoid was mounted I needed to get the rest of the hardware mounted. The solid state relay(SSR) that I use here is one that I have used a number of times in the past. These are real simple to use and easly handle the loads that I need for around the fish tank. They can also be controlled with a simple 5volt TTL that the BASIC stamp can provide. The control signals go onto pins 3 and 4 and the load is run through pins 1 and 2. In this case I am using a RJ45 plug to get the control signal into the box and to the SSR. Basic hardware that is easly gotten. I used to use molex connectors but got tired of having to go buy them all the time and then always have to get more pins. The RJ45 jacks can be easliy reused as I need. Here are some pictures of everything wired up and just needing put in the box and mounted. I use double stick tape to mount the replay to the side of the box.
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Once it is all wired up and mounted it all fits cleaning into this box and is then easly mounts to the brace the rest of the RO unit sits on. Here are some pictures of the unit all put together and ready to use.
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This last picture above shows the pre-cut holes that are on all sides of this box. The smallest one is the one that this solenoid fit perfectly in. I still need to get the BASIC stamp wired up and programmed so I haven't used this yet. I will get some pictures of it plugged in once I have that done.
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