Thread: Has anyone tried adding triggered lighting to drop down prop?

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I bought a few of those drop down prop mechanisms a few weeks ago to add my own prop heads or whatever and was wondering if you guys thought you could add a triggered set up of some sort so that when the head for example comes falling down from above that it could be illuminated suddenly to give more of a startle effect? I was thinking of rigging this in our 10-foot tall pergola which I would like to enclose the sides of and possibly add some divider walls within. I believe the drop down mechanism is sound activated; it has what looks to be speaker holes on the bottom where the prop attaches. Sorry but I haven't taken it out of the box yet and the packaging doesn't say. It's made by Seasons USA and I bought it from Improvements Catalog on clearance. I'm out of the batteries I need right now or would try it out. Hopefully someone knows this prop though.

I know motion sensored things need enough light to break the beam and I was hoping to keep most of this in as dark of a place as I could only to be illuminated when it drops and the kids scream. Would the solution be a step pad of some sort to trigger the prop light given the circumstances? I had a haunted lantern that didn't trigger this past year because I forgot about rigging some kind of light beam that could be broken and don't want to have a similar thing happen to me this year. Thanks for the help.

GOS, do you have a link to some info on the drop-down mechs? You may be able to attach a switch that turns on the light when the prop reaches a given position.

Just attach the head to the chain of one of those old pull-type light switches.

Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking, too. A momentary lever-type snap switch would do the job. Just attach a fishing line to the head and switch lever. Head drops, light comes on.

Hmm. I'm pretty sure I know what kind of light you are talking about--with the pull chain or string right?

I don't have any info on the mechanics from the packaging other than it requires 3AA batteries and that it will only support up to one pound. Let's say that the weight of the head is enough to pull the cord and turn on the light. Don't you have to pull the cord again to turn the light off once it's been turned off? I seem to recall these "old fashion" (from my childhood home) light fixtures requiring a little effort to turn off and on. I'll try to pick up some batteries later this week to at least see it in action.

Thanks for the suggestions. I see this thread has quite a few looks so I guess I'm not the only one who would like to see a workable solution.

Yes, those pull on/pull off sockets require 2 separate yanks on the cord, which is why I think the momentary switch is the way to go. They need very little pressure to operate and could be mounted on the side of the drop mech. The fishing line could probably be rewound on the same spindle as the prop cord. I'd need to get a look at the unit to see if that would work.