SpudFiles

David for my high voltage ignition, i used a 9v automotive relay and it switches 300 volts from a capacitor

Still working for a couple months, but then again its only 300v for under a second

there is a good chance that the motor is actuated by 9-12v(use a multi-meter to get an acurate voltage measurement) via a transistor since it only has to run for the second it takes to hit an aerosol can... meaning your looking for a relay with a different(not 4v, or 3.5v) control signal... which BTW can be found at any radioshack even the crappy, tiny one at my local mall, just ask if you cant find their components, even smalls stores keep a decent stock... and to solve your timing problem, place a safety switch inline with the solenoid, that way you can power up your mine in advance, but any power sent from the relay will dead end at the switch... you can find those at radio shack also... and a laser pointer will act as a trip line, overloading the light sensor, causing any decrease in the light(someone walking through the laser) will trip the device off, just place a laser pointer($3 anywhere) taped, puttied, velcroed, etc into position, it should still work if your laser is 100 feet away and someone walk in front of it 90 feet from the sensor, just dont close the safety switch until after the laser/other source of light is set.... good luck

..or a 5v relay and power everything with 3 - 1.5v batteries for a 4.5v power supply.

Davidvaini wrote:ahh i was looking for a PIR motion detector for cheap...

Ohwell if this doesnt work out then I'll pick up a PIR motion detector...

that one that you linked.. do you think the output voltage is high enough to trigger a relay or a power transistor? I'd need it to somehow get 18 or 24v to power a solenoid.

No, Directly its not powerful enough at all. this is why we use a darlington pair. One low-power, High gain transistor is used to drive the High-power, low gain transistor. the schematic Diagram looks as so:



If it were me, I would use this configuration to drive a relay, Which then would drive the solenoid, Because getting a power transistor that will pass enough current for the solenoid to work effectively would be insanely expensive. (think 5-6 bucks). Not to mention hard to find.

daxspudder wrote:there is a good chance that the motor is actuated by 9-12v(use a multi-meter to get an acurate voltage measurement)

I did use a multi-meter to find out its going at 4v.

starman wrote:..or a 5v relay and power everything with 3 - 1.5v batteries for a 4.5v power supply.

No I need 18-24v not 4.5v.. the motion sensor is currently outputting 4v, If I was going for a relay, Id need a relay that can activate on 4v to allow another circuit of 18v to pass through to the solenoid.

Davidvaini wrote:

starman wrote:..or a 5v relay and power everything with 3 - 1.5v batteries for a 4.5v power supply.

No I need 18-24v not 4.5v.. the motion sensor is currently outputting 4v, If I was going for a relay, Id need a relay that can activate on 4v to allow another circuit of 18v to pass through to the solenoid.

radioshack, they have them, for sure, by the rare chance they dont, napa auto parts, or any computer store

Power window relays will give you the time you need and the power, but I don't know what it takes to acuate them??? Maybe set up a duel relay???

Good throw together

Due to the restrictions and inconveniences of your current set up you could use a laser. In the book gonzo gizmos you can use a laser to transmit music over the air like morse code. With a little modding to the circuit it would easily suit your needs (in my opinion better than your current set up). Basicly a laser trip wire.

You can probably find lots of plans like this all over the net.

In the early 90's we made paintball mines using IR motion sensors that we purchased from radio shack that were battery operated which were intrusion alarms for travelers staying in hotel rooms. The problem we encountered with using infrared (HEAT) is that in the outdoors, wind and variances in temperature would set the mines off.

Davidvaini wrote:

starman wrote:..or a 5v relay and power everything with 3 - 1.5v batteries for a 4.5v power supply.

No I need 18-24v not 4.5v.. the motion sensor is currently outputting 4v, If I was going for a relay, Id need a relay that can activate on 4v to allow another circuit of 18v to pass through to the solenoid.

That was my point...that 5v relay will more than likely activate on 4v, what I assume is the battery capacity now. If you move to a 4.5v battery set, all the more likely to activate the relay.

For a 1.99 it's not a huge investment to try it.

jonnyboy wrote:Good throw together

Due to the restrictions and inconveniences of your current set up you could use a laser. In the book gonzo gizmos you can use a laser to transmit music over the air like morse code. With a little modding to the circuit it would easily suit your needs (in my opinion better than your current set up). Basicly a laser trip wire.

You can probably find lots of plans like this all over the net.

beat 2 days before.... about transmitting music through the air with a laser, do you know how a CD player works? fyi there is no physical contact between the laser the CD and the reciever, might only be a 1/4" of air space, but yeah, i think you get my point...

daxspudder wrote:

jonnyboy wrote:Good throw together

Due to the restrictions and inconveniences of your current set up you could use a laser. In the book gonzo gizmos you can use a laser to transmit music over the air like morse code. With a little modding to the circuit it would easily suit your needs (in my opinion better than your current set up). Basicly a laser trip wire.

You can probably find lots of plans like this all over the net.

beat 2 days before.... about transmitting music through the air with a laser, do you know how a CD player works? fyi there is no physical contact between the laser the CD and the reciever, might only be a 1/4" of air space, but yeah, i think you get my point...

This uses a laser pointer. It's still a cool thing to build. If you have a good laser and a line of sight you can transmit across miles.

The 'Lazy-Bastard' relay;
On low voltage; Motor
On higher voltage; Button, Valve

Sensor am tripped, motor do spin. Motor hit button, valve do fire. ZING!


I can't count how many times I used this in my head.

SEAKING9006 wrote:The 'Lazy-Bastard' relay;
On low voltage; Motor
On higher voltage; Button, Valve

Sensor am tripped, motor do spin. Motor hit button, valve do fire. ZING!


I can't count how many times I used this in my head.

seems kind of inefficient.

Sensor is tripped, relay activates. power goes to sprinkler valve, sprinkler valve fires.

much easier in my head