[Solved] Input wanted on wiFi controlled water valve

@inst-tech That is very close, the only difference is the wall switch and arduino relay should be in series. Remember, the objective is to turn off the water to prevent a flood. Also my wife wants a switch, she is not so techie. 

HOW DO YOU PRODUCE THOSE KINDS OF DIAGRAMS?

@inst-tech Close, but the switch and relay should be in series. The objective is to turn OFF the water. The cloud relay default/unpowered state should be OFF, in other words, we need power both at the wall switch and the arduino to get water. We do have backups for emergency situations, turn on pump for internal water tank (250L) or change quick connects to bypass the valve.

HOW DO YOU PRODUCE THE DIAGRAM???

@Zander, Yes I see, but if you put the switch and relay contacts in series you will have an "AND gate" and will require both the switch and the relay contacts to be closed to turn on the water valve.. so the idea is to turn it off remotely if no ones home to turn off the wall switch?

The way I do the drawings are to use MS paint app, Then I just search the browser ( in my case DUCk DUCK Go) for photos of what I want to put on the drawing..when you find one you like, just right click the imagine, you'll get a menu, select copy image, then just paste it in the Paint app. Takes a little practice, but I've been doing this a long time now..lol

If you need more help, please don't hesitate to let me know..I hope the drawing was sufficient to help you see how to do it with the 5v relay.. BTW: your right, you didn't need that 240vac relay..., so I took it out of the circuit..lol

Good luck with the project.. it should work just fine...

regards,

LouisR

Sorry about the double post, somehow even after refreshing the page I didn't see my original post so redid it. Also I have noticed on two occasions recently that I am not getting all notifications. Perhaps the admins can look into that.

@inst-tech BINGO, yes, we want to err on the side of safety, make it real easy to turn it off, even though it introduces a slight possibility of inconvenience to turn it on. I understand about the relay but since it's already wired in and changing the wiring would be a PITA (remember it's NOT a house) I will probably just leave it since it doesn't change the way everything works. 

So the relay is the only way to control AC from a microcontroller?

I understand about paint. I have a Mac so no idea about an equivalent but I also have windows in a VM so possibly. I also have Visio but need to re-learn, it looks like they 'improved' yet another perfectly good piece of software. Just fired up visio but don't find any relevant templates yet.

@zander, Indeed, I see what your doing now, it's a fail safe system.. Now apology necessary about the double post.. That way I can read it twice so I can understand it better...lol

I understood you to say that you were an industrial electrician, so I suspect you know what an Instrument tech is.. I was in the business for 39 years, not counting my Navy experience, was a FT ( Fire Control Tech) EWS (Electronic Warfare Systems) D.A.S.H, and Asroc systems.. Worked in a paper mill the last 28 years before I retired in 2014..Ran the Control Valve shop, Automated control valves with "smart positioners" ..Isn't technology great...lol

regards,

LouisR

@inst-tech That was 57 years ago, I don't recall anyone with that job title, we did some if not all that kind of work but back then but there wasn't much that I encountered. This was just as the logic and solid state controls were being installed. They were still testing them when I left to work at IBM. I think there was more of that kind of work in the hot side of the mill.

@zander, If you want to build your own controls, then using an Opto-coupler and a Traic will do the trick..

I found a link to a YT video that you may be interested in using a Arduino to control this control board.

Not very complicated and only a few inexpensive parts..

regards,

LouisR

@zander 

Would an SSR work as the first part f your proposed circuit in this situation ? Take a look amazon.ca at (TWTADE SSR-25) ...

"https://www.amazon.ca/TWTADE-SSR-25-24-380V-Single-ssr-25da/dp/B079BGM72C/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=7TMRFT5MCFXY&keywords=110v+ac+ssr&qid=1646672214&sprefix=110vac+ssr%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExSDhYSzVHMElOMzhIJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjM4MzA5MkE2MUJZTDlLOU1UMyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDkwNDQzVDVDTFNTRzZYOUIxJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ=="

-input voltage 3-32V DC

-output 24-380 VAC at 25A

$22 for two of them delivery by Friday, maybe 🙂

@inst-tech Very interesting, but without a circuit diagram I can't understand what is happening. I am NOT abread crumbs follower kind of guy, I need to understand what it's doing. Maybe I can find a diagram somewhere else by searching for Triac.

I just realized I have been calling the devices I have solid state relays when in fact they are just relays. 

@will I already have some relays, I thought they were SS but turns out they are not. They are opto isolated however. 10 for $21

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0857KFZRJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I found a diagram over on hackster.io. Now it makes enough sense for me to consider it but not now as I have 10 relays in my inventory so later.

@will I ordered them. I don't think I will need a heat sink, the water valve is either 2W, 28W, or 55W. I will leave the other relay in place and do some current measurements before I decide if I will remove it. It is heavy duty and I just measured it at 73F/23C after being on for a few hours.

BTW, I will make a 12V to 5V converter with a LM7805 and a 10micro f cap on the input and a 1 micro f cap on the output. Does that sound right? Reason is I have 12VDC and the esp8266 needs 5VDC.

@zander 

Sounds reasonable, but think I'd go for 10uF caps on both sides.

I think I need to add an emergency by-pass to the arduino side. If we are at home and want to turn the water ON, there is a possibility the cloud or esp8266 could fail. If I add a switchable jumper from the 5V input to the pin I am using to control the SSR is that ok? My hunch is if it is a pin capable of putting out 5V then if I connect 5V to it nothing bad will happen. I am ok adding a diode if needed, but need to know if it will release magic smoke or not without the diode.