Pet Safety Heat Alarm

grizzy · 08-15-2004, 08:34 AM

Living in the Southwest we are always concerned about the safety of pets when we travel. Temps inside a car or trailer without airconditioning can quickly raise to deadly levels. Last we found a Temp alarm which is simple yet effective and its portable. It works with your cell phone which means you don't have to be tied to land lines to know that your pets are safe. The guy that builds these is VERY nice and very helpful in getting it set up. Anyway, I just thought there might be some other interested pet owners. The url is http://www.sunnyparkrv.com/

thenewkid64 · 08-15-2004, 08:40 AM

Sonds like a nice product, but a bit spendy.

I have, with information from fantastic fans, rewired 2 of my 3 fans to open and come on if the inside coach temp exceeds a preset temp. One is right over where we set the dog crate. So we can set it and forget it.

Over59 · 08-15-2004, 08:58 AM

This would also alert you to a fire on the coach. Prehaps to late to do anything but it has potential. It would be nice to have this "call" feature built into the coach monitoring system for smoke, fire, break in, movement, ect.

**Pick** · 08-15-2004, 10:54 AM

Brett, I would love to have that information.

When I was fulltiming during the first 4 months of this year, I had a Davis Weather Wizard III set up in the A/S to monitor inside and outside temps. It uploaded to a webpage every 5 minutes, via DSL. I kept tabs on Cali while I was at work this way.

I now have the full station set up at home now HERE

Weather Station software was Weather Display

thenewkid64 · 08-15-2004, 11:49 AM

I will try to post a scan copy of the wiring diagram next time I visit the coach. The wiring diagram is there.

The basic way it works is to change what triggers the lid. The factory setup is that the little switch opens and closes the lid. The thermostat turns the fan on and off. The wires to the thermostat replace the wires from the little switch, the little switch can then be wired as a rain override, The wiring to the in/out switch stays the same. The 0/1/2/3 switch is now what controls the total fan.

I will get you a copy of the wiring diagram.

Pahaska · 08-15-2004, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenewkid64

I will get you a copy of the wiring diagram.

We keep our 2 cats in the trailer and depend on the fans as a backup for AC power failure. My rear fan works on the thermostat as you described, but my front fan cover works on the toggle switch. I hate to leave the cover open and the AC running.

thenewkid64 · 08-21-2004, 04:08 AM

I have scanned the sheet form Fantastic, but it is too big to load. I have it as a PDF. If you want me to email it to you, PM me. Or send me an Email thenewkid64@tamapabay.rr.com.

This is the way that the fan should be wired for the thermostat to lift and close the lid. The power will be controlled by the 0/1/2/3 speed knob, the open/close switch can be abandoned, or if you reconnect it to the 2 barbs that had a blue jumper you can use it as a rain sensor bypass. If you have questions on the scan, just ask. It comes on orange paper so it is a bit weird once scanned.

grizzy · 08-21-2004, 12:12 PM

We also have a Fantastic fan in our A/S Bambi. However, during the hot months in the Southwest there is no way it would be sufficient to keep our pets safe if the A/C turned off. This is why we purchased the Pet Alarm. Although it is somewhat expensive, we don't worry at all if we leave the pets at home in the A/S.

windy · 08-21-2004, 12:28 PM

Hi Pick
I was looking at your weather web site..
you need to untick to use large size in the summary image and icon setup (see from control panel)
and then restart weather display
also, you might like to choose a background image for the summar image maybe?
(just an idea)
thanks for promoting weather display!
Cheers
Brian
http://www.weather-display.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pick

Brett, I would love to have that information.

When I was fulltiming during the first 4 months of this year, I had a Davis Weather Wizard III set up in the A/S to monitor inside and outside temps. It uploaded to a webpage every 5 minutes, via DSL. I kept tabs on Cali while I was at work this way.

I now have the full station set up at home now HERE

Weather Station software was Weather Display

Pahaska · 08-27-2004, 01:58 PM

Quote:

This is the way that the fan should be wired for the thermostat to lift and close the lid. The power will be controlled by the 0/1/2/3 speed knob, the open/close switch can be abandoned, or if you reconnect it to the 2 barbs that had a blue jumper you can use it as a rain sensor bypass. If you have questions on the scan, just ask. It comes on orange paper so it is a bit weird once scanned.

I spoke to an engineer at Fantastic. He told me that this is the way the fans were originally wired and there were so many problems that the wiring was changed to open the lid all of the time. The said that the sun, through the dome would cause the lid to rise and then, as soon as the fan would start, cycle down again. With the Texas sun through the lid, I'm afaraid that is exactly what would happen with the AC runnung on one of our hot days.

One solution is to get the thermostat out of the dome and out of the sun. Short term, I have thought of bringing it out betwen the trim and the ceiling and covering it to make it look OK. Then, I would make the wiring change. The AC would blow pretty directly on the bulb so that if the AC went off, there would be a large temperature change at the bulb.

Better yet, I'm looking for some unobtrusive wire mold to get the wires over to the valance. The wires would then run hidden by the valence back to the partition where I would install a wall thermostat.

thenewkid64 · 08-27-2004, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pahaska

I spoke to an engineer at Fantastic. He told me that this is the way the fans were originally wired and there were so many problems that the wiring was changed to open the lid all of the time. The said that the sun, through the dome would cause the lid to rise and then, as soon as the fan would start, cycle down again.

When I got the replacement unit, Dot, the Fantastic rep asked what domes I had. Now I know why

I have a full insulated dome in the front and a translucent dome in the middle vent. I will have to see if I have a problem with this. We tend to keep our coach at meat locker temperatures when the AC is on, so the temperature difference should not be an issue for me, I hope.

**Pick** · 08-27-2004, 02:08 PM

John, I wonder if placing a small shield over the bulb would be enough. But then again you may have a "greenhouse" effect under the dome area, which would still produce temps that were high enough to cycle the dome.

Windy, thanks for the advice. I had a summary image, but it "disappeared". New one is now in place. Just returned to this thread today. Will try your suggestion. Are you in Cali now??

Pahaska · 08-27-2004, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pick

John, I wonder if placing a small shield over the bulb would be enough. But then again you may have a "greenhouse" effect under the dome area, which would still produce temps that were high enough to cycle the dome.

My 13.4 AC barely keeps up with the trailer when we get over 100 degrees in full sun. I have an idea that the whole dome area would be pretty warm, even with the AC full on.

I'm going to pursue the idea of making the thermostat remote. I can conceal a fine wire under the liner beside the trim strip that runs across just in front of the fan. I'll replace the thermostat in the fan with a low-current reed relay so that I will not need a healthy sized wire to control the fan. I'll probably use a digital wall thermostat which will give me the added convenience of an inside temperature thermometer for the trailer. I wish the wall thermostat that controls the AC would read out current temperature..

Pahaska · 08-27-2004, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grizzy

We also have a Fantastic fan in our A/S Bambi. However, during the hot months in the Southwest there is no way it would be sufficient to keep our pets safe if the A/C turned off. This is why we purchased the Pet Alarm. Although it is somewhat expensive, we don't worry at all if we leave the pets at home in the A/S.

I find that with all windows closed, both fans on highest setting, the front fan blowing in and the rear fan sucking out, the trailer interior stays just about at ambient. I lived here in Texas when there was no such thing as air conditioning and we did just fine although we sweated a lot.

My only concern is that a breaker will pop with the trailer all closed up. Then, it does get quite hot.

Our cats actually prefer to ride in the trailer rather than in the truck and I leave them there unless it gets over about 100 degrees. The biggest threat of losing a cat is the constant transferring betwen vehicles in strange territory with trucks roaring by. When we take a break at a rest area, the trailer is always at a liveable temperature.