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Step 8Let's get cooking...
Pardon the pun, I couldn't resist. All you have to do now is plug something in and set cook time. Then press start and watch what you plugged in turn on and then off when the time has elapsed. I would suggest something visible like a fan or a lamp. It will be much easier to tell if it's working if you can see an immediate result.
If it has "delayed cook" or some similar feature you can use it as an alarm clock that can turn on lamps or even a stereo. It can be used to limit the amount of time your kids get to watch TV or play their favorite video game. You could use it to turn lights on when your about to get home.It could be used to time and electric blanket to warm your bed before you get into it and not have the fire risk of just leaving it on all nite.
It could be used as a sleep timer if you fall asleep relatively fast and providing the beeping doesn't wake you back up. Of course you could always take the piezo element out so it won't do that. That would be the little round thing with the hole in the middle. Their usually black and about a half an inch in diameter. You can either heat the solder and pull it out or use the Dremel to cut a channel through the trace leading up to it. If you cut the trace you could solder in a switch to turn it on and off at will.
You can buy cheep coffee pots and make them into a programmable one. You could even control the temperature of the coffee if you set it to one of the lower power settings. Ever notice the buzzing noise that happens periodically when you have something defrosting in there? It doesn't regulate the amount of power to the emitter. It just turns it on and off. That being the case it can easily regulate the power to your coffee pot in the same way.
Any way you choose to use it, I can assure you that it will delight you. It is after all something you built that's pretty, well....useful. Just be sure to be careful. Use common sense when deciding when and where to use this project. Last but not least, enjoy...
If it has "delayed cook" or some similar feature you can use it as an alarm clock that can turn on lamps or even a stereo. It can be used to limit the amount of time your kids get to watch TV or play their favorite video game. You could use it to turn lights on when your about to get home.It could be used to time and electric blanket to warm your bed before you get into it and not have the fire risk of just leaving it on all nite.
It could be used as a sleep timer if you fall asleep relatively fast and providing the beeping doesn't wake you back up. Of course you could always take the piezo element out so it won't do that. That would be the little round thing with the hole in the middle. Their usually black and about a half an inch in diameter. You can either heat the solder and pull it out or use the Dremel to cut a channel through the trace leading up to it. If you cut the trace you could solder in a switch to turn it on and off at will.
You can buy cheep coffee pots and make them into a programmable one. You could even control the temperature of the coffee if you set it to one of the lower power settings. Ever notice the buzzing noise that happens periodically when you have something defrosting in there? It doesn't regulate the amount of power to the emitter. It just turns it on and off. That being the case it can easily regulate the power to your coffee pot in the same way.
Any way you choose to use it, I can assure you that it will delight you. It is after all something you built that's pretty, well....useful. Just be sure to be careful. Use common sense when deciding when and where to use this project. Last but not least, enjoy...
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My coffee maker heats and runs water into the filter too fast and if not watched up to 50% of the water can just run down the over-flow into the pot having never seen any coffee.
A microwave control panel is the ideal solution. Put it on low/medium and set it for 1/2 hour and it should take four or five "sessions" to move all the water through allowing enough drip time and ensuring that I have my high-caffeine product!