Automated Digital Light Timer

Keep it simple.

1 Leave the moonlight LEDs on all the time = no timer needed as they are insignificant when the others are on.

2 one timer on from 7 AM to 9 pm 1 level of light

3 one timer on from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM 1 + 1=2 level of light

4 one timer on from 10 AM to 3 PM 1 +1+1 =3 level of light

5 one timer on from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM 1+1+1+1=4 level of light

since you have a symmetrical day night pattern, this is all you need.

I might suggest an earlier sunset as equatorial fish are used to 12 hours day and 12 hours of night and your sunrise and sunsets are too long. sun rise and sun set is less than 1 hour in the tropics, often less than 30 minutes

Adjust the bulb wattages to give you the summed daylight pattern.

go to the hardware store and buy 4 of the $10 timers and arrange as I suggest.

If you do not see the concept, I will expand on it

1. LED moonlights are necessary for the cyclical program I have set up. There is a reason I don't want them on in the day as normally the range of light given off by the moon (~475 nm) is blocked out by the typical daylight sun (5500k). In the home aquarium I have, 8 LED blue lights will be a lot more intense than what we currently recieve. 4 would even be too many during the day.

2. Each timer has a different Kelvin Bulb Ratio, to mimic the sun changes from a 2700k - 5500-6500 back to 2700k full day cycle.

Having a 2700kelvin light timer set from 7am-9pm would be an inproper balance of sunlight.

3. The light and timers are not there specifically for intensity. The bulbs I have are rated for the correct lumens per square feet necessary for my tank. Having 12 of these on at one time would burn out my tank, explode in algae and kill off my fish due to oxygen depletion.

The light timer's single function is to produce a sliding kelvin light cycle for my piranhas (east to west) to mimic a full days sun cycle.

I Unfortunately need one that doesn't take one plug input and uses pins to turn on and off, I need one that you connect bare wiring to (+ to -) that just cycles power from one switch to the other.

Here is a picture of how it will be set (It is not 100% perfect and matching to my post but the color coding system will help you understand what i mean)

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/Ottawagoa/LightSchedulefor240GallonTank.jpg[/IMG]
- Copy and paste into firefox/IE... i guess html isn't on in these posts

Thanks for the reply though, I appreciate the help.

Any engineers with Digital Timer switch experience please E-mail me ksrhayward@rogers.com I'm willing to purchase working prototypes or one-of-a-kinds if the technology I need isn't in existance but is viable (has to be... not THAT hard heh)

Thanks - Ottawa

The use of the leds on all the time is to avoid the cost of the timer for them. Since their intensity will be 1/100,000 of the daylight you can ignore them in your calculations. Besides, in the real world the moon is often in the sky in the daytime.

If you wish a more complex cysle, just set the small manual timers to go on and off as needed. Since this is a niche product with no hope of a volume market it does not make sense using a complex device for a one off system.

If you had the ability to sell 1000 of these a month, then a dedicated computer based controller would work. I find it had to beat these $10 timers, althugh in Canada they may be $15 at radio shack or other place.

A small programmable logic controller with >8 digital outputs will do all that is required, and more.

http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/rswww/searchBrowseAction.do?Nr=avl%3auk&N=4294739962&name=SiteStandard&forwardingPage=line&R=4684242&callingPage=/jsp/browse/browse.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@1582495764.1171616892@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccladdkediihkecefeceeldgondhgg.0&cacheID=ukie

...is one example of a piece of kit that will do the job (usual disclaimer applies), with a purchase price that isn't too significant a percentage of that of all those exotic lamps and fishes, and won't bite!

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If standard timers are not enough, any PLC would do, with just discrete outputs connected to relays or contactors. Using a PLC would give you the ability to cycle during the year the shift in time, and would also have room for expansions and indicators.

You didn't mention where you would like to buy or assemble it. We could help finding a local supplier, if you're not able to do so.