555 Door Ajar Flasher

A magnet is placed on the door and a magnetic reed switch on the door casing so when the door is closed the circuit is disabled. When the door is open, the LED flashes VERY BRIGHTLY—when closed, the circuit is disabled in such a way that it draws virtually no current for maximum battery life.

Door Ajar LED Light Schematic
555 Door Ajar Flasher Circuit Schematic

Bill of material

555 door ajar BOM

How it works
The flasher is the standard 555 oscillator circuit that drives an ultrabright white LED for daylight visibility. Repetition rate is about 2hZ and the duty cycle is about 10%. Peak LED current is 60mA, but average is 6mA.
Since the door is supposed to remain closed most of the time, the circuit power is controlled by a 2N7000 N Channel MOSFET. When the reed switch is closed (sensing the magnet), it shorts out the gate drive signal to the transistor and turns off the oscillator. At this time the battery drain is only 9uA.
Note that there seems to be no convenient way to turn off the 555 in such a way that it does not draw much current. Grounding pin 4 stops oscillation, but turns on the LED continuously.
C2 provides voltage transient protection for the MOSFET gate.
LED brightness is controlled by R5—YIKES! do not look into the LED like I did…
The reed switch
This circuit uses the commonly available NC (normally closed) reed switch. A NO variety would be easier to use, but such is rare and expensive. If the circuit is packaged inside a small plastic enclosure, the reed switch could be cemented into one edge of the box thus protecting the glass tube from damage. The reed switch I used for the test is packaged in a plastic tube. It is quite sensitive — can sense the magnet at 2 to 3cm.
Door Ajar Flasher Photos

For the future
555 Strobe Circuit

555 datasheet

Comments

3 Channels Audio Splitter Amplifier Circuit Diagram using TL084

This is the schematic diagram of 3 channels audio splitter amplifier circuit which built using op-amp IC TL084. The 3 channels amplifier output distribution applies a single TL084. 3 Channels Audio Splitter Amplifier Circuit Diagram The very first step is to capacitive coupling having a p. 1.0 ~ electrolytic capacitor. The entries are railways Vee Y2 or 4.5 V. This enables working with an individual 9V power source. A voltage gain of 10 (1 M?/100 Kohm) is obtained in the first stage, as well as the other three floors are connected as a unity gain voltage followers. Every single output stage drives independently through an amplifier output 50 pF capacitor towards the resistance of 5.1 k ohm load. The response range is flat from 10 Hz to 30 kHz.

Simple But Automatic Load Sensing Power Switch

This circuit will automatically switch on several mains-powered "slave" loads when a "master" load is turned on. For example, it will switch on the amplifier and CD player in a stereo system when the receiver is turned on. It works by sensing the current draw of the "master" device through a low value high wattage resistor using a comparator. The output of that comparator then switches on the "slave" relay. The circuit can be built into a power bar, extension cord or power center to provide a convenient set of "smart" outlets that switch on when the master appliance is powered (turn on the computer monitor and the computer, printer and other peripherals come on as well). Automatic Load Sensing Power Switch Circuit Diagram Parts List: Notes: This circuit is designed for 120V operation. For 240V operation, resistors R2 and R6 will need to be changed. A maximum of 5A can be used as the master unless the wattage of R1 is increased S1 provid...

RF amplifier protection

RF amplifier protection I have developed the protection circuit for the EB104 amplifier I am working on, after I finally had some time to design and test a few models. The main requirements have been: - protection in case of high temperature; - protection in case of high SWR; - protection in case of wrong output filter selection; - simple design (i’m a fan of the whole K.I.S.S. rule of thought), able to work in strong electromagnetic fields, reliable, inexpensive. Because i will be using the same directional coupler i have used in the SWR meter (the one made on PCB) wich is directly influenced by the signal frequency, and because i want full HF coverage, i cannot just measure the reflected signal and make a circuit cut the amplifier when it goes over a limit; on 28Mhz the coupler generates roughly 4 times more voltage that let’s say in 7Mhz. So a system that compares direct and reflected signal and triggers when the latter is percentually too high was needed, therefore an operational a...

TREE

Search This Blog