DIY Light timer?

Check the timer, make sure that you get the 'heavy duty' variety. It has 3 pins, i.e. is grounded. Some aren't and only come with 2 pins.

Oh, and X-10 is sweet! A few years ago I was in a lab automation class, hooked up an X-10 to my computer through a phone line, lets you send on/off and dimmable signals through your power lines.
 
speaking of x-10 and automation, I've always wanted to set up a fully automated aquarium--a computer like an old 486 commected to a bunch of solenoids and vats and pumps and water level sensors so, say, 1x/week it would open a solenoid to fill a holding vat with water and turn on a circulation pump and heater, then 24 hours later it would drain the main tank to 40% of capacity, turn off the pump and heater, and turn on a pump to refill the tank, then fill the holding tank back up, automatically monitor for equipment failures (o2 level dropping, temp rising, somethign else, etc etc) and shut off malfunctioning equipment and activate a backup along with a failure light lighting... ohhh the possibilities... and it could all be programmed in BASIC on a 486 running DOS 6.11 :D yeah I'm a geek
 
Most folks dealing w/automated water changes prefer smaller daily partials,because with smaller total volumes changed daily you can use dual activated carbon inline filters and tap water to drive line presure, with low flow rates to allow for full chloramine/chlorine clearance. Besides, smaller more frequent changes are ideal for maintaining stability.
 
Sounds like a costly and complicated endeavour to me, plus, I have little faith in the long term reliability of solenoids. They seem to last just long enough for you to start to trust them, then an o-ring goes.

However, I am a big fan of automation, if you embark on this, keep me posted, sounds interesting.
 
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