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August 10, 2007 11:01 AM

Is there something like this timer, that runs on and switches 12 Volts DC?

I am building a sizable hydroponic garden on my roof deck. It's essentially a large dutch pot system, but instead of individual buckets, it's built into a couple of big planters.

In the past, I've used 120V AC pumps and a timer like the one that I linked above to run similar systems on this roof, but for this system, I'd like to use (battery-backed) solar power to run the pumps -- which means I'm limited to using DC power for efficiency. 12V pumps are easy to find, but how about something that can turn them on, for a couple hours at a time, 5 or 6 times a day?

posted by toxic to Home & Garden (2 answers total)

Aren't many outdoor lighting and irrigation systems are 12 or 24V. You might be able to use one of those directly, though you should confirm that they are appropriate for the loads generated by the pumps. If worse comes to worse, you could use one to control the pumps via relays.
posted by Good Brain at 11:41 AM on August 10, 2007

There were some suggested here.
You could try marine (boat) supply places.
posted by MtDewd at 1:11 PM on August 10, 2007