Design and construction of generator timer switch

Abstract

The ability to supply power to consumer loads is one of the primary aims of the utility companies. In Ghana and other developing countries, power has not been sent to the door steps of every consumer. This has called for an alternative means of prolongs electricity. One of the most common alternative source of power in Ghana is by using alternator (generator) Because of the excessive noise produce by these generators and carbon monoxide, they are positioned a little a bit far away from where the consumer works or sleeps. When a consumer needs to put off this generator, he/she has to walk from the room all the way to where the generator is to put is off. This project sough to switch off the generator automatically when the preset time set by the consumer is due. This system also switched off the generator when the set time is not due but when the fuel had dropped to the lowest level and again an alarm system is incorporated to warn to user that there is shortage of fuel. Based on technological advancement various theories have been implemented to design different kinds of means to attain automatic timers for many applications. In this paper, a generator timer switch was designed using CD4060 integrated circuit. 555timer, ua741, Ca3140µ, 4020BP integrated circuit and other components to achieve the whole functionality. The experiment was conducted in my house with the help of a generator. The circuit was initially set to go OFF at exactly one hour time of which it went off at one- hour two minutes. It was also tested for different set times. The generator went off immediately the fuel falls below the minimum level, then the busser sounds an alarm to prompt the user that there is shortage of fuel. Results proved that the system works perfectly with variation of only two minutes in switching OFF time. Based on this results the following conclusion could be made, the generator timer University of Education, Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh xi switch was constructed with local materials was able to switch OFF the generator at the pre set time. It was able to put off the generator a pre-set time. It was able to put off the generator when the fuel level falls below the minimum and also sound an alarm and finally the production cost was low since it uses locally available components. I therefore recommend that the government of Ghana should encourage Ghanaians to embrace locally manufactured goods in order to improve technology and also built ultra- modern laboratories for schools.