Beranek's Law:
It has been remarked that if one selects his own components, builds his own enclosure, and is convinced he has made a wise choice of design, then his own loudspeaker sounds better to him than does anyone else's loudspeaker. In this case, the frequency response of the loudspeaker seems to play only a minor part in forming a person's opinion.
L.L. Beranek, Acoustics (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1954), p.208.
Thanks! I checked, and it does work with 240 volts. But that would mean adding another 220v outlet to my shop and an 220v extension cord. A lot of work to get 12 volts to the sensor box. I think I will probably just run a 120v extension cord parallel to the main cord for the dust collector. Or possibly extend the 12v output from the wall wart and run 12 volts to the box. I suspect that it doesn't draw very much power.
Looks like the sensor Oneida sells has the same issue. Here is an image from a video on their site.
Screen Shot 2019-06-15 at 9.19.50 AM.jpg
Bob
p.s. I like you Leo Beranek quote. I used to work at Bolt, Beranek, and Newman a while back.
I did some searches on Amazon and found a 20ft 12 volt extension cord. See:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K58LF9Q..._pOtbDbZE3XVB3
I think that will work, and ordered one. Only $7.
Bob
Beranek's Law:
It has been remarked that if one selects his own components, builds his own enclosure, and is convinced he has made a wise choice of design, then his own loudspeaker sounds better to him than does anyone else's loudspeaker. In this case, the frequency response of the loudspeaker seems to play only a minor part in forming a person's opinion.
L.L. Beranek, Acoustics (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1954), p.208.
I got around to finishing the installation yesterday by drilling a hole in the top of the dust collection bin. Used some rubber o-rings to get a good seal.
When I provided power to the sensor, it triggered right away, even though the bin was mostly empty. I turned the little screw until the light went out. I guess I will have to wait until I fill the bin to do a final adjustment. I mounted it on the clear window on the bin because I could remove the window and drill it on the drill press, I don't think that would be an issue.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Bob
Hey Larry, just wanted to say a quick thanks! I too built this based on your post and it works great! I would add one note- if you are using pvc ducting or your duct work is not grounded (and you are using a steel barrel like me), make sure you ground the barrel. I fried a power supply within about 5 min on a particularly humid texas day Thankfully the sensor survived.
The real thanks goes to Rid Sheridan..he was a genius with it.
I started a new milling project, sure enough the light started flashing. I used a flashlight and realized it was not close to full. So I adjusted the sensor again. After more milling it came on again. I checked again with the flashlight, still seemed a little early, so kept going.
When I was done and it was still flashing, I checked again with the flashlight, it was pretty full. Seemed like 90%. I emptied the bag and realized it was full to the point of making it difficult to close and seal the bag. I think that the sensor was set about right.
Overall conclusion, the dust collection sensor works very well. The flashing LEDs are bright enough to be noticed and the sensor can be adjusted to the correct level.
Thanks to Rod for the design and all of the suggestions on this forum.
Bob
Yesterday when I went into the shop, the dust bin sensor was flashing. I checked the bin, it was not even close to full. I tried cleaning the bottom of the sensor, but no change. Tried adjusting the sensitivity, also no change.
Something died.
Any suggestions? It had worked flawlessly since I made it.
Thanks in advance.
Something in your circuit is closed that should be normally open. If you have a multi-meter you should be able to do continuity checks to figure it out. Just make sure you unplug the wall wort first.
Regards,
Kris
I went to debug the problem, but after applying power again, it worked normally. I readjusted the sensor and checked all of the connections, all seemed good. I will keep an eye on it.
Bob
So I built this sensor and it worked perfectly at first, but it's kind of "wigging out" on me more recently. When I trigger the sensor the controller/timer will count down as it should but then it won't turn the light on when it gets to zero. I know the light works because when I apply power directly it comes on as it should. I tried to re-program the controller but when I push the "set" button I get nothing (never shows P1). I'm guessing the controller is semi-fried and probably going to order a new one, but wanted to check with the experts here to see if I might be missing something.
There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “mental illness.” - Dave Barry