Looking for info on Photoelectric cells?

[BoidKeeper]

Does anyone know where I can buy one in Canada?
Thanks,
Trevor

[leoncurrie]

No

[BoidKeeper]

Gee, thanks Leon. Bang up job man. Keep up the good work!
Cheers,
Trevor

[Lisa]

you might try electronics supply places. I only know a couple in toronto such as active electronics and active surplus. i think radio shack used to sell them but they don't have much in the way of parts anymore.

[mark129er]

I don't know if this is exactly what you are looking for but it may give you a jumping off point:
http://www.rodmaninternational.com/p...tric-cells.htm

[BoidKeeper]

Thanks Mark. Those are close but what I need does the exact opposite. What I'm looking for turns the lights on when the sun comes up and turns them off when the sun goes down.
Thanks,
Trevor

[Wuntu Menny]

Almost any lighting supplier should be able to provide what you're looking for. You'll most likely find units for residential applications at your neighborhood hardware store.

WM

[Scales Zoo]

The general hardware store kind are pretty good.

I just threw some industrial types into the trash in my annual "throw everything away you haven't used in a year" throw away fest. They had sensitivity settings, heavy duty relay contacts..... Then 2 weeks later, i realized I could use them for so many things. The industrial types are usually expensive, I had gotten some salvage ones from a friend for free.

Ryan

[JonD]

Yeah Crappy Tire even has those!!!

[jim mcallister]

Trevor, i can get you the type that fit outdoor streetlights or dust to dawn lights if thats any good to ya...

[Lisa]

you could try solar cells to power a relay to switch the power on and off. solar cell gets light - light comes on. sun goes down, light goes off. Or you could try just getting enough solar cells to power the lights themselves.

[Stockwell]

Trev, all the commercially available ones, have the opposite logic to what you are looking for.
I've looked at a bunch of them and they all power the load with lights OUT , NOT on!!
If any had a double throw output you could simply use the other contact for your logic reversal, however all the ones I've seen have only one throw.
To overcome this, you must use the units to turn on a relay. The relay must be a double throw type that closes a contact both when it's on, and when its off. You simply use the contacts that are made when sensor is detecting light.

I used to make my own circuits to do this function, but the logistics of wiring a separate gizmo and interfacing it to my overhead herp room light, just wasn't worth the aggravation.
I suggest you simply replace you normal light switch with one of those electronic timers.
I've done that in my herp and mouse room...they work great, and you can change the time throughout the season to reflect what's happening with the sun.
Its just much easier, than making special circuits to put in the window and then dealing with all the wiring. Plus you don't have to worry about having no ligts on a dark rainy day.
PS...you don't need light cycles for snakes anyway. It's a myth

[BoidKeeper]

PS...you don't need light cycles for snakes anyway. It's a myth

Oh come on Roy. You can't just make a statment like that and leave it hanging. You're gonna have to back that one up for me if you don't mind. That is a bold statment Unkie Roy. I'm not saying I don't belive you but I need evidence that contradicts what I've read thus far.
I'll start by asking you this,
Why would the Sutherlands go through the trouble of hooking a photo cell into their helix in order to have their ambiants and basking spot temps in sinc with the sun if it was not need for cycling snakes?
Look forward to you reply,
Trevor

[Stockwell]

Well, let me tell you this, I've been breeding snakes for a quarter century this year... I have never used anything close to a natural light cycle ever, yet I have produced thousands of snakes.
I was producing Regius back in the 80's when even zoo's couldn't breed them... This was accomplished with artificial rains, and night time low temp cycling but it was done without any light cycles and without heat geared to light cycles.
In the 90's my cages were what we called "banks" and they had a couple fluorescent lights but these were more for me than the snakes and they were off most of the time.
Now that I have everything in racks, I have only one overhead light with two 4 foot tubes, to illuminate the entire room....
There are no lights in most rack systems..(mine and everyone elses)
I have the room light on a timer, just for convenience, but during the winter when I'm not in there every day, I just manually switch it to off...
Corey Woods, and most other breeders do not have any resemblance of normal light cycles on their charges either...
Like I said, it just isn't necessary... Most commonly kept species are nocturnal anyway...certainly all Boids are, and even rat and kingsnakes do most hunting at dusk and dawn..
Temperature cycling is what's critical for reproduction, proper digestion and incubation... not lighting.

now of course there might be the odd species that can benefit from light... (diamonds) but none I've worked with.

Now why don't you ask me about thermal gradients... i don't use those either...LOL
I heat my entire room, and it does cycle up and down in 4 steps per day but only gravid female Boids have heat tape.
Most of my trays have NO heat gradient and never have.

[BoidKeeper]

Well I'd say that your methods are unconventional but since you've been doing it longer than the convetional methods have been around I guess I don't have a convetional leg to stand on.
For clarification about the light, I'm refering to the light in the room, not the cages. So are you saying that at 10pm when the sun is down it makes no difference to my snakes whether the lights in my snake room are on or not?
As for not using gradiants. Do you mean that your cages are not set in such a way that can't thermoregulate where ever they want to?
Cheers,
Trevor