Does anyone know of an inexpensive method of automatically turning on a small 120VAC load for a couple minutes once a week or so?
The application is an automatic water drain for an air compressor. I want to install a solenoid valve at the bottom of the tank, and turn it on once a week or so to drain out the accumulated water. The exact time of day that it actuates isn't important, and neither is the exact frequency of operation. A standard intermatic type time switch gives a minimum "ON" cycle time of 15 minutes, which is much longer than needed to blow out the water, and would waste a lot of air. I have seen digital programmable devices, but they seem like overkill for this application, with mulitple outputs and setpoints which I would never need. Time switches would also need to be reset after a power interruption, which is annoying. I am thinking of something like a time delay relay with a repeat cycle mode, but I don't know of any with such a long cycle time.
Yes, I know that there are automatic float type valves that are made just for this purpose, but we have tried several models, and they all failed shortly after installation. A solenoid valve/timer should be a lot more robust, since it isn't relying on floats which tend to bind up over time.
[This message has been edited by NJwirenut (edited 09-02-2006).]
