Serge
Aquarium Advice Addict
Another update
Well, my TOC has been running flawlessly for over a month now. I cannot imagine being without it now.
On another note, I spent the last few weeks working on a customized unit for someone else and discovered a bug after the unit was assembled. Well, actually, it is not a design bug but rather an assembly flaw. When assembling your unit, ensure that the 555 chip AND the DC ground are away from the AC copper trace and the triac.
Because this particular unit was assembled slightly differently than the one I use, I did not have that problem. Thank God for oscilloscope! What was happening is, that as soon as the LOW switch (FL-2) would open, the triac would turn off. 8O The interference caused by the AC frequency was causing the 555 to reset prematurely.
So beware!
Cheers!
8)
Well, my TOC has been running flawlessly for over a month now. I cannot imagine being without it now.
On another note, I spent the last few weeks working on a customized unit for someone else and discovered a bug after the unit was assembled. Well, actually, it is not a design bug but rather an assembly flaw. When assembling your unit, ensure that the 555 chip AND the DC ground are away from the AC copper trace and the triac.
Because this particular unit was assembled slightly differently than the one I use, I did not have that problem. Thank God for oscilloscope! What was happening is, that as soon as the LOW switch (FL-2) would open, the triac would turn off. 8O The interference caused by the AC frequency was causing the 555 to reset prematurely.
So beware!
Cheers!
8)
