Hi guys,
I have been hunting high and low in the internet trying to find a DIY on this soft-start switch but, it seems like it is not very common. I want to use this to control the start and end of powering a Powerhead in my fish tank. I've successfully built a wave pulse control switch. This switch is controlling 2 or 4 powerheads in the tank based on the onboard timer. The problem is, each time it start the powerhead, the full inrush of the Ac current will cause the powerheads to rattle. I learned from the internet that, by doing so, the life span of the powerhead will shortened dramatically from about 10 years to 2 - 3 years. There is one commercial unit which have the soft-start feature but the unit cost almost USD170.00 (wave mater pro).
If someone can let me know where to find one of this project in the internet or even better, such a switch that is available in the market (like a light dimmer), that will be great. Thanks in advance for the help.
cheers, 8)
I have been hunting high and low in the internet trying to find a DIY on this soft-start switch but, it seems like it is not very common. I want to use this to control the start and end of powering a Powerhead in my fish tank. I've successfully built a wave pulse control switch. This switch is controlling 2 or 4 powerheads in the tank based on the onboard timer. The problem is, each time it start the powerhead, the full inrush of the Ac current will cause the powerheads to rattle. I learned from the internet that, by doing so, the life span of the powerhead will shortened dramatically from about 10 years to 2 - 3 years. There is one commercial unit which have the soft-start feature but the unit cost almost USD170.00 (wave mater pro).
If someone can let me know where to find one of this project in the internet or even better, such a switch that is available in the market (like a light dimmer), that will be great. Thanks in advance for the help.
cheers, 8)