Thread: Solenoid and sensor question

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So I got my pop up prop using the door closer and 3 way solenoid set up. I got the Mac brand solenoid and some lines and connectors from Frightprops. Every thing seems to be working pretty good. It just needs some fine tuning. The prop really slams up and down at the end travels. I could buffer it with some bungees and foam I guess.

My main question is this, I used the outdoor flood light with the motion sensor that seems to be common for this use. I had a light hooked up to the sensor to test it while I was testing the pop up prop. It worked great. The sensor would kick on and the prop and the light would activate. Well then I disconnected the light and the solenoid would just keep cycling. The prop would pop up and then go down about every 6 seconds. The sensor is set to the "test" mode so it stays open for a few seconds. Why does it keep cycling when the light is not connected.

for your slamming issue, you could install an inline air speed controller, but since you are using a screen door closer, you do not have a second port to control your speed in the other direction. To keep it from slamming on the way down, you can just unhook the rod end of your cylinder and slide some sort of rubber bushing over the rod and then reassemble. If you go to your local auto parts store you can pick up some universal shock bushings. It's a cheap and easy fix.

For your upstroke, you may need to make some some sort of mechanical stop with a bumper that keeps your closer from hitting the end of it's travel. That should take care of the slamming.

I'm a little confused on your second problem. Is the prop repeatidly cycling because you keep tripping the motion in the test mode, or does it trip once and get stuck in the "bouncing" mode on it's own ? If it is locking up, it might be caused by the spike in voltage from your solenoid ? Having the lightbulb in the circuit might be helping to filter that out. You could try installing a capacitor on the line and see if that cures it. Fright Props sells them and has diagrams on their site to show you where to place them in your circuit.

I guess it is bouncing. The sensor is tripped. The sloenoid opens and the prop goes up. The solenoid closes and the prop goes down. The solenoid opens again without tripping the sensor again. I assume the sensor keeps tripping without input. This keeps going until I stop it. It is not that big of a deal because I will just use the other socket where the light is to plug in some sort of sound effect to trigger with the prop.

I did see some springs that will fit over the rod end side to buffer the down movement. I will check out the auto parts store for the damper for the up side.
Thanks.