Thread: Hacking a step pad activator from spirit

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i picked up three of the step pads from spirit. i thought they'd be packaged with a little more information that i could use when i hack them. however this is not the case. does anyone happen to know the voltage of the pad or where i can find the instructions or specifications for them?

Are there 2 wires that come out of the pad? If so, soder one wire to the prop. Soder one wire to the power source(transformer or battery pack). Soder one wire from the prop to the power source.

yeah, i know how to hack it but i just don't know how much juice it can take

Knowing those cheap spirit props, it is probably something close to 2-3 amps of 12vdc. There is also a possiblility it is just a basic trigger and can only handle a small voltage so you would have to hook it up to a prop controller of some kind.

Originally Posted by Scareside

Knowing those cheap spirit props, it is probably something close to 2-3 amps of 12vdc. There is also a possiblility it is just a basic trigger and can only handle a small voltage so you would have to hook it up to a prop controller of some kind.

2-3 amps is too generous. Those same pads were in cheapo door light/sound boxes from Big Lots last year, I bought 20 at $3 each. I would keep power under ½ AMP and or use a relay. They will not last very long by the way, not very durable at all.

Hello, this is Bozz’s son; I’ve been tinkering with electrical engineering for a few years now, and have been assigned the problem of hacking the various pressure mats.

After testing both the Harbor Freight and Spirit pressure mats, I have concluded that they are different types of mats. By checking the resistance of the mats, we can see that the Harbor Freight mat is acting like a simple momentary switch; lowering in resistance when pressure is applied. However, the Spirit mat shows no change in resistance, but produces an impulse of voltage when pressure is applied. This implies that the Spirit mat is a piezoelectric transducer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectricity, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectric_sensor); and should not function with props that require a closed circuit. It may be possible to build a simple trigger circuit for the Spirit mat using an amplifier and FET transistors.