Hi everyone, I'm totally new to arduino, I don't even have one yet. But I'd like some advice on what do I need to buy in order automate the power of color lightbulbs and water pumps on a home made water fountain. What I want is that arduino could turn randomly on and off these things whenever the fountain is on. Thanks in advance for the help!
Hi, welcome to the forum.
The easiest board to start with is the Arduino Uno.
Install the Arduino IDE (the software development environment on the computer) and connect the Arduino Uno. In the menu is the Blink example to blink the system led at pin 13. Try to change that example and see what happens.
To control lights and a pump, you could use a relay board for that.
Or solid state relays, search Ebay for ssr-25da.
Sounds like a good Arduino project....
Probably relays... A relay is an electrically-controlled and electrically-isolated switch.
Voltage and current/wattage of your pumps & lights? What kind of lights? (Incandescent, LED, etc.?)
[u]Here[/u] is a board with 16 relays and associated driver circuits. That's just an example... I've never used that relay board, and I don't know exactly what you are controlling.
There are some relays that can be directly driven from the Arduino's 5V low-current outputs, but usually you need a driver. Solid state relays that can be driven directly by the Arduino are more common. But solid state relays are more expensive than mechanical relays, and you have to me more careful about selecting one that works for whatever you are switching (AC/DC, high/low voltage, etc.).
I'm totally new to arduino, I don't even have one yet.
I suggest you get some LEDs (and appropriate current-limiting resistors for the LEDs) to use during software development instead of the pumps & lights.
And, it's usually a good idea to keep the LEDs connected permanently for troubleshooting purposes. i.e. If a pump or light stops working, you can check the associated LED to determine if the problem is on the Arduino-side or the light & pump side.
Thank you for your suggestions and advice! I´ll do that.