A timer circuit design which could be used for turning the position of the eggs in an incubator between predetermined intervals of time was requested to me by one of the keen readers of this blog, Mr. Eugene.
The requested circuit has been exclusively designed by me and published here,
Circuit Specifications
Let's hear the whole episode:
I'm raising chickens for derby and I have hen that is laying eggs. For the hen to continue laying eggs, I need to incubate the eggs. I have researched incubator designs and parts and I have already assembled a simple one. I have a digital 220V ac thermostat and in order to protect it, it will only have to drive a 220V relay. This one already worked well.
Now I have an additional info that the eggs have to be rotated or moved upside down 3 times a day in order for the eggs to hatch well. I am planning to make a rows of eggs holder chained or built together driven by a motor such as electric fan swing motor. Its strong and moves very slowly and I think its quite enough. This 220v ac motor will be driven by a 6v dc relay. Now I need a relay driver circuit and a timer circuit that wil trigger the relay driver more or less every 8 hours for approximately 3 seconds only.
I may not have enough words to reach 300 but I think my intention is clear enough. But if the blog requires 300 words, I will try to extend my explanation.
Thank yo very much and I hope you can help me.
Eugene"
Designing an Incubator Egg Timer Circuit
The circuit of the proposed incubator egg timer and optimizer is given below:P1 should be adjusted for the long 8 hour duration and P2 for the short 3 seconds duration.
Circuit simulation:
Looking at the circuit diagram we can see that it consists of two identical IC 4060 stages which are coupled across each other for implementing the proposed actions.
The upper timer stage is intended for producing long time intervals and therefore its output is taken from pin #3, while the lower IC generates smaller time intervals and so its pin #15 is chosen as the output.
When power is switched ON the following things happen with the circuit:
The 0.1uF capacitor resets the upper IC so that it can start counting, during this period its pin #3 is at logic low which keeps the relay driver stage switched OFF, also the lower BC547 is kept disabled, which keeps pin #12 of the lower IC at high logic which in turn renders the lower IC inactive.
After the predetermined period is lapsed, pin #3 of the upper IC goes high, this switches ON the relay driver stage and also the lower IC pin #12 gets reset, this toggles the lower IC into counting mode.
After the predetermined period, pin #15 of the lower IC becomes high, which sends a logic high to the reset pin #12 of the upper IC, resetting it back to its original position......the cycle repeats, and goes on repeating as long as power is available.
The lower section can be upgraded for generating higher time intervals at par with the upper section by replacing pin15 with pin3 as already done in the diagram below.
The relay contacts are wired up to the motor for shuffling the egg orientation.
Using Rotary Switch for Adjusting the Time intervals
If you find adjusting the pot difficult and time consuming, you could easily replace them (P1, P2) with rotary switches as shown below. The involved could be also easily calculated with some quick and experimentation:
Questions & Answers
Hi Chandadna,
The timing can be extended by increasing the values of the Pots and C1s…..you can try 1M pot instead of 100k and put a couple of more 1uF caps parallel to the existing ones, this will provide you with a higher timing range.
Dear Chandana,
Please provide information about your requirement specifications, I'll try to work it out accordingly.
Hi Sam,
Are you looking for the incubator thermostat circuit?
Here it is:
https://www.homemade-circuits.com/2011/12/how-to-build-simple-electronic.html
Hi Aponso,
I'll try to design a simple circuit and let you know soon.
It may take a little time, but you will surely get it.
Done, It's published here:
https://www.homemade-circuits.com/2013/09/simple-electronic-load-controller-elc.html
Hii sir… what amp rate should I supply this circuit??
Hi Srishan, use a regulated 12V power supply, Amp rating is not crucial but it should not be less than 100mA
Awesome….thank you sir…..
And I made the incubator temperature circuit and it works perfect… Thank you for it 😀
you are welcome Srishan.
Dear bro… I'm a completely new hobbyist for electrical projects…. and I'm gonna make an incubator for my pigeons and ur circuit of auto egg turner is just awsm…. but as because i'm so new here i got the positive power connection but witch is the negative power connection pls mention it for me… and i completed this circuit on a breed board but when i connect with 12volts with positive and earth connection my lower ic gets hot and the heat keeps increasing …. so pls tell me why this is happening witch will be so great full to you…Thanks, Tanvir
Dear Bro, with reference to the following diagram, the line which is connected with pin4 of the IC is the negative line and must be connected with the negative of the 12V supply.
The IC should not become hot….there could be some major fault in your circuit connections, please check it properly.
https://www.homemade-circuits.com/2011/12/how-to-build-simple-electronic.html
Hallow bro I'm so grateful to u for ur reply its now working well.. 🙂 and now i need to know also about egg turner circuit, witch one is the negative port to connect with power ? is these 4060 ics are cmos or another ?unluckily in this circuit my lower 4060 ic is also getting hot and the heat keeps increasing, wht could be the problem? and what is the procedure to make caps parallel? if u pls explain I'll be grateful, and i am making an incubator by ur circuit for my pigeon eggs, for wht humidity is so important, so can u pls provide us a programmable humidistat or hugrosta's easy and simple circuit diagram witch can produce humidity to fixed level in incubator chamber by an watering source? coz it will make the incubator perfect and complete. Thanks a lot… 😀
That's great Bro!
In the above programmable timer circuit, the line which shows an "earth" sign is the negative line.
Yes, the IC4060 is a CMOS IC.
The IC will become hot under two conditions, if the supply voltage goes above 16V or/and if its outputs are shorted, so you would want to check for those….
I will surely post a simple programmable humidity controller soon in this blog and let you know.
…….caps can be made parallel simply by joining their leads together…..for example you can see the following diagram which shows caps connected in parallel:
https://www.homemade-circuits.com/2012/08/high-current-transformerless-power.html
Thats just great bro…:) I'll be waiting for Ur programmable humidity controller eagerly witch will make my incubator completed as early as u give me the circuit and pls draw the circuit with details of ports, connections and component's picture so that we as a new comer can understand that easily and enjoy Ur help ,, I'll checkout the fault and of timer circuit and let u know… 🙂 Thank u so much brother,, R U Bengali ?… 🙂
It's my pleasure bro! I'll try to post it soon with all the necessary details, yes I'm bengali.
taholeto ami lucky akjon expert vi pelam obossoi onek kichu sikhte parbo…isn't it?… 🙂
surely Mr.green, feel free share your thoughts here…. by the way I have published the humidity controller circuit you requested for, you can see it here:
https://www.homemade-circuits.com/2014/03/programmable-humidity-controller-circuit.html
Dear bro thanks a lot for the circuit of humidity controller,, I'll make it but I'm so disappointed that i couldn't collect caps 1uF/25volt non polar or .47 uF non polar so that i couldn't make the egg turner circuit… and by the way, my name is Tanvir… 🙂 Thanks
Dear Tanvir, no issues you can other values also for the capacitor, it should be non-polar that's all….for increasing time delays you can increase P2/R2 values to any desired higher levels.
Dear Swagatam,
Is it possible to identify the switching time interval of the relay by seeing the the blinking rate of the LED's connected across pin 15 and ground if both the ics. i have used 1u 63v capacitor is there any change in the time interval if the volt rating of the capacitor increases.
Regards,
Liju
Dear Liju,
yes surely that's possible…..all the outputs switch at a particular pin order sequence where pin3 produces the slowest frequency and pin7 the highest….the order increments at the rate of 2x.
you can refer to the following post for more info on this:
https://www.homemade-circuits.com/2011/12/how-to-understand-ic-4060-pin-outs.html
Hi bro,
its tanvir again, i collected some 1 uF and .1 uF non poller caps but there volt value is different and still the circuit is not working properly, i am sending capacitor's pics and 100 K verriable resistors and its connected pins picture also to ur "homemadecircuits@gmail.com" e-mail add,
pls see it and tell me that are these correct components? Now the main thing is i build the circuit and when i'm connecting it with power the 400 ohms SPDT relay sounds energize and keeps ticking after3 seconds for 1.20 minuets then it stops ticking and restart ticking after 1.20 minuets again and it continues, so what the hell is happening and what is wrong i've done? and what is the fault and solution pls elaborate details with pics my dear brother because i cant do anything until i make this device, Thanks bro… 🙂
Hi bro, something could be terribly wrong with the connections or the parts, because the circuit should start working correctly as soon as it's switched ON…I have tested it.
try 1M pot in place of 100k, this will provide a wider range of time selection.
please refer to the following post, it has the same design but with little modifications, could help you troubleshoot the issue.
https://www.homemade-circuits.com/2012/04/how-to-make-simple-programmable-timer.html
Dear Swagatam,
Thanks for your reply.I would like to know, what changes i need to make in the above timer circuit to get the relay to be switched ON in one hour interval and cut off after 10-15 seconds.
Regards,
Liju
Dear Liju,
you will have to do it with some trial and error.
You can do it by initially replacing R2, P1 with a 33k fixed resistor and see what time delay it produces, if it gives say a 50 seconds delay would mean that a 66k would produce 100 seconds delay and so on……the response would be very linear.
i do believe in ur circuit but don't know why i dont have confidence on my parts so that i sent some pics of my parts to ur "homemadecircuits@gmail.com" this e-mail address, did u get it if so then pls reply me that those parts are correct, so I'll have confidence again to rebuild it … , I'm using 400 ohms SPDT relay, is this correct ? … thanks bro .. 🙂
Bro, i have checked your email….all the parts are OK.
I have updated the above diagram with some modifications please do as per the new diagram, i am sure you'll succeed.
dear sir,
according to the description, its told like, pin 15 of lower ic should be used for attaining 3 secs interval.. but when i made a close look of the diagram, no connection are there in lower ic's #15.
how can be this justified..???
dear Arshad, I'll make the necessary corrections soon….pin15 was later replaced by pin3 so that the lower section could also become capable of generating larger time intervals, at par with the upper section.
Thanks ya..
Hallo brother,
It seems that i'm such an unlucky person for this device, coz i made it but it's not working, at first i made it and connect it with power and both of the led and relay turns on and doesn't response with pots,
brother i know there must be a connection problem but the thing is where the connection problem can be if u pls mention some of the miss connections or problems for this troubles i can check it and sort it out… pls brother mention some problems witch could be with this. and is the 4060 ic are sensitive.? should i forget to built it bro?… 🙂
hello bro,
i think you should rebuild it and this time make and test the stages separately.
First build the upper stage and check it's response and then go for the lower stage.
Both the stages are actually identical, simply cascaded to work in tandem.
The lines connected with the earth symbol must join with the negative of the supply.
The positive supply must not exceed 15V.
No, 4060 is not at all sensitive or vulnerable, unless connected wrongly.
Hey brother, its tanvir again , u know wht? i was so frustrated that i couldn't build it, but last night i tried once to build it and and just for interest i connect a led to pin 7 of upper ic via 1k resistor to negative point and i see it is blinking i got excited and keep wiating wht happens and after sometime i see the relay activates… but now there is a problem ,, when i connect a motor with the relay than power the device than the relay activate and turns off instantly …. but when is the motor disconnected the device works properly .. wht could be the problem ? pls mention the problem with details solution so that i can sort it out… thanks brother… 🙂 i am using 400 ohms SPDT relay .. but wht is the correct relay should be??? pls elaborate..
congrats bro, keep it up.
is you motor dropping the supply voltage while switching ON? in that case you will need to use a higher amp supply input.
you can also try putting a 220uF/25V or bigger capacitor parallel to the motor wires and check the response.
One more thing i forgot to say i build the previous one not this one… will it be of with it ?
the diode across pin3/pin11 in the above circuit is crucial, it must be included.
Dear brother ,
i connected the led with pin 5 maybe that was the problem now i connected the led with pin 15 and the motor is working properly..now give me some safety instruction for the device and should i connect any capacitor with the motor's pins? coz i saw it in a remote controlled toy car. and is it possible to add variable resistor instead of 100 k resistors so that we can change the resistance from 10 to 100 k when we need to ? if so wht power of resistor should we use and how to connect it ? thanks … 🙂
Dear brother you can connect a 100uF/25V capacitor parallel with the motor wires, and also a 0.1uF directly across the IC supply pins, a pot can be used for setting the time intervals as shown in the diagram.
brother , how to set a nob with the variable resistors and how to measure the interval periods of this device , coz its really tough to wait for long to measure the times of the divice.. 🙂
this you will have to do with some trial and error, make a dial behind the pot knob and mark the minimum, center, and maximum delays obtained across the entire dial radius, once this are fixed the intermediate delays can be marked simply by graduating the dial linearly.
ok bro i'll do it,, now pls give me some safety tips of this device and should i connect any capacitor with the motor for its safety and perfect output…
you can connect any electrolytic capacitor parallel to the motor wires
and bro .. how to supply to this device perfect 12 volt by connecting direct to 220dc volt without transformer… Thanks
bro you will 12V ac/DC adapter for this….what were you using for so long, a battery??
dear bro,
thanks for the suggestions, but can u pls show the diagram of 0.1 uf caps connected with the ic pins… or witch number pins will be connected with the cap? and unfortunately i couldn't find any 25v caps here, i'm using higher volts caps, will it harm the device or its activity ? Thanks
bro, connect it directly with the pins16 and pin8 of the ICs…………it surprises me how you are not able to find the supply pins of the IC which are clearly shown in the diagram and which are already connected in your prototype??? higher voltage caps will be fine…no issues.
and i want to make it digital,, so can u pls help me out ? can u pls draw this device's diagram with a seven segment led or lcd display?
presently don't think about it bro:) when you are not able to make such a simple circuit which is shown above, how would you be able to make a complex digital circuit integration with the above.