Thread: Hacking a Motion sensor and Fog timer

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Do you have dremel or something that can use a small cutting wheel spinning fast to cut the plastic sides with? You can glue it back together, or move it to a completely new housing if need be.

Ok, I finally got it apart. I did take a dremel to the knobs, and ended up cutting the knobs completely in half. There was really sticky glue all over the inside of the knob. It was even difficult to pull the knobs off the shafts after they were cut in half!

I also had to pretty much ruin the button housings to pop them out. Now I have to see if I can get the knob assembly back together again.

It's a good thing I bought two of these timers. This one might be toast.

Thanks.

Target must have gotten wise to my hack and started glueing everything together. the ones I have made just unscrewed and the knobs pulled off. One week and I cant wait to scare those little TOT's!!!

I got mine from Target this year and they unscrewed and popped apart pretty easy. The knobs were on tight but not glued. Funnest part was trying to get those small springs to line back up correctly when putting everything back together.

I got mine working great, but after trying it out, I'm not sure if I want to use it on any of my props this year. Maybe for lighting changes.

Has anyone figured out a way to further hack this so that the prop always stays on for a specific set time? To avoid the occasional split second of on-time?

Tried this and fried the board : 0
went on Haunt Master products and picked up the Combo Flex ECT,
adjustable for both time delay and duration With a PIR included.

A light motion sensor simply closes the circuit between supply power and common for the light sockets. Whatever the motion sensor's on-time setting is, that's how long it will close the circuit.

Whether that supply power is a simple sensing circuit like the ON button of the fogger controller, or full 120VAC from the wall to turn on spotlights or strobe lights, you must remember the sensor simply closes the circuit when tripped, and stays closed as long as the sensor's delay is set for.

Hardest part of these sensors, is most of them aren't designed for just a 5-second closed timer, they're usually designed with a minimum of 30 seconds. So if anybody shopping around finds a motion sensor with a rotary knob delay control instead of a 30 seconds / 1 minute / 5 minute switch, grab that rotary knob sensor instead. I would definitely test the delay knob at its lowest possible setting first, to make sure it'll work as short of a delay as you need it to. A 5 or 10 second delay would be perfect for most foggers or strobes or noise makers or spotlights.

Oh and by the way... MAKE SURE YOU WEATHERPROOF ALL YOUR WORK!!! You don't want ANY rain leaking into these things. POOF! So once all your testing is done, find a way to stuff em all into some kind of sealed enclosures. Hit up Radio Shack for their large project boxes, or use small sealable plastic containers. I'd also recommend whatever wiring you run back and forth from your props, to make quick disconnects. For example, cut up outdoor extension cords. Or if you wanna get really secure, use Neutrik Speakon audio speaker cable connectors, or for weaker voltages or signal cables, just plain XLR microphone connectors should work.