Dawn to Dusk Control

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FionaZuppa

Senior Member
Location
AZ
Occupation
Part Time Electrician (semi retired, old) - EE retired.
Ok, having a hard time finding this.
I need photo cell Dawn to Dusk plug-in for outdoor to run fountain(s) pump during daytime only. Only need one recept for pump plug, etc.
Anyone know of make/model that does day-on night-off? Don't need any more control than that.
 

FionaZuppa

Senior Member
Location
AZ
Occupation
Part Time Electrician (semi retired, old) - EE retired.
Time clock is too complicated, they often lose settings, and do not really follow dawn-to-dusk hours closely, and then there's the ST and DT time change.
I am looking for a basic control, $30 tops.

If I can't find a simple control I will make it.
 

SSDriver

Senior Member
Location
California
Occupation
Electrician
I'm a huge fan of the GPS light lock. They use a a GPS signal (Free with no subscription). You don't have to do anything, no programming, buttons or nothing. Just hook up power. It finds where you are and will turn on dawn to dusk based on satellite location, The nice thing about them they are not prone to having issues if there are other lights in the area that would turn a regular photocell on/off. I have only used the standard unit that looks like a photo cell. They sell a model that is plug in (pre-wired with enclosure, in-use cover etc). Made in USA too.


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Little Bill

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
I'm a huge fan of the GPS light lock. They use a a GPS signal (Free with no subscription). You don't have to do anything, no programming, buttons or nothing. Just hook up power. It finds where you are and will turn on dawn to dusk based on satellite location, The nice thing about them they are not prone to having issues if there are other lights in the area that would turn a regular photocell on/off. I have only used the standard unit that looks like a photo cell. They sell a model that is plug in (pre-wired with enclosure, in-use cover etc). Made in USA too.


View attachment 2556885
The owner of the Co is a member here to boot!
 

wwhitney

Senior Member
Location
Berkeley, CA
Occupation
Retired
The usual application is "dusk to dawn" for lights, while the OP is asking for "dawn to dusk" for a daytime only load. The GPS Light Lock spec sheet says "Custom builds, configurations and programming are available by calling toll-free (833) GPS-TIME (833 477-8463)." Would that be field programming, or require ordering a custom unit programmed at the factory?

For the OP, seems like a normal "dusk to dawn" photocell plus a relay to reverse the logic would work.

Cheers, Wayne
 

Buck Parrish

Senior Member
Location
NC & IN
Ok, having a hard time finding this.
I need photo cell Dawn to Dusk plug-in for outdoor to run fountain(s) pump during daytime only. Only need one recept for pump plug, etc.
Anyone know of make/model that does day-on night-off? Don't need any more control than that.
I have several on my fountains and bird baths . I use a contactor like Hal described They work excellent. In fact I should mass produce them.
For any body wondering why you need this. The pump motors last twice as long if you turn it off at night. Also the water only splashes out when the motor is running.
 

mopowr steve

Senior Member
Location
NW Ohio
Occupation
Electrical contractor
Time clock is too complicated, they often lose settings, and do not really follow dawn-to-dusk hours closely, and then there's the ST and DT time change.
I am looking for a basic control, $30 tops.

If I can't find a simple control I will make it.
I’ve been using Honeywell astronomic wall timers for a while. They have automatic self adjusting dusk-dawn timing or programmed times with daylight savings time when needed and no batteries needed, and seem to keep time for a descent time of lost power.
 

Knuckle Dragger

Master Electrician Electrical Contractor 01752
Location
Marlborough, Massachusetts USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I have several on my fountains and bird baths . I use a contactor like Hal described They work excellent. In fact I should mass produce them.
For any body wondering why you need this. The pump motors last twice as long if you turn it off at night. Also the water only splashes out when the motor is running.
Great point!
The only downside of that is if you have an overflow drain on your pond and you also have a river that handles a lot of water.
When the pump is off all the water in the rive and hose dump back into the pond. you may have to replenish the water every morning if it over flows.
Of course this all depends on how the water feature is designed.
 

Buck Parrish

Senior Member
Location
NC & IN
Great point!
The only downside of that is if you have an overflow drain on your pond and you also have a river that handles a lot of water.
When the pump is off all the water in the rive and hose dump back into the pond. you may have to replenish the water every morning if it over flows.
Of course this all depends on how the water feature is designed.
Yep, I've got one of my pumps half way out on my boat dock. I just leave it hanging from the cord to keep it off the bottom. I have it pumping to an artificial creek that I made. The creek has been there so long it looks like it's natural. It has moss on the rocks, little water falls, ferns that come back every year.
When I first made it, the rocks I put there already had moss on them. So I watered my rocks.
My wife said I'm the only one that waters rocks. :) She sure likes it now though.
 

Todd0x1

Senior Member
Location
CA
I'm a huge fan of the GPS light lock. They use a a GPS signal (Free with no subscription). You don't have to do anything, no programming, buttons or nothing. Just hook up power. It finds where you are and will turn on dawn to dusk based on satellite location, The nice thing about them they are not prone to having issues if there are other lights in the area that would turn a regular photocell on/off. I have only used the standard unit that looks like a photo cell. They sell a model that is plug in (pre-wired with enclosure, in-use cover etc). Made in USA too.


View attachment 2556885

That thing is cool! one of those "why didn't I think of that" items....
 

sii

Senior Member
Location
Nebraska
It’s mgookin. Looks like he hasn’t posted in a couple years. I helped him convert some cad files back in the day.
 

a.bisnath

Senior Member
Another option I have used is what is called
'smart timers', they have a battery back up in the unit so they do not lose the time if there is a power outage, found them on Amazon
 
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