[harleyhaunter]

Hello everyone!! I have 4 props I built this year that will be triggered with PIRs!! I am curious about the different ways y'all mount them where they work best and are well hidden!! I am leaning towards mounting them in PVC pipe but I am looking for better suggestions!! Thanks!! HH

 

[J-Man]

Not sure what your PIR's look like, are they the small half sphere type? If so, they work best mounted behind a 3/4" hole in a tombstone or something of that nature. You wanna cut down the field of view on those or they trigger too easily when your victims are not close enough.

 

[harleyhaunter]

Yes J-Man!! They are the half sphere ones mounted on a little board!! I think they were like a buck apiece from China!! I guess I could make some filler tombstones and mount the PIRs in those and set one up before each prop I want to trigger!! Also thought about making some foam fake rocks and mounting them in there!! How far back should the plastic sphere be from the front surface of the tombstone or fake rock?? HH

 

[J-Man]

About 3/4 to 1". If your stones are thicker you can cut out the back and set in a bit.

 

[harleyhaunter]

Ok thanks!! I will try to play with them some this weekend!! By the way, UPS delivered those snubber diodes tonight about 6:30!! I am going to install one tomorrow and see if that fixes my Arduino problem!! If it does that will be the best .07 cents I ever spent!! Lol

 

[J-Man]

Sounds good. Just remember the band on the diode has to face the positive lead going into the solenoid. If it's connected wrong, it's a dead short and will blow the diode instantly.

 

[harleyhaunter]

Ok will do J-Man!! At least if I blow one up I have 99 more of them!! Lol!! Back to the PIR subject, what's the range on those things?? I know they have a wide range but what about straight out distance?? I see that there are adjustments on them but they are not labeled so I probably won't mess with them!!

 

[J-Man]

You'll have to test one but set up behind a 3/4" hole you'll probably get about a 10' range.

 

[DustinBurgin]

It really just depend on the prop and where you have it placed. They are really small and easy to mount. I just used some double sided tape to hold mine in place.
Just make sure place where its easy for your guests to set off but not where your other props will trigger it. Just keep in mind how close you want people to get before it goes off.

 

[harleyhaunter]

Thanks Dustin, gonna do some experimenting this weekend!!

 

[J-Man]

That's one of the advantages of a PIR, it needs movement and body heat to trigger. If it's working correctly, just a moving object should not trigger it.

 

[Halstaff]

I use a lot of PIR's to trigger my props. Here's a video on how I make my enclosures for them - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPhuZUS0zrc

 

[harleyhaunter]

That's a great point J-Man!! Thanks Halstaff, great tutorial!! I think I will use your design!! At least a close variation of it!! HH

 

[NelsonHauntControl]

Last year I picked up (10) 12" black heavy duty lawn stakes from Home Depot along with some velcroe. They're about 2" wide and they're made of reinforced plastic. Made it really easy and flexible to pound the stakes in to the yard and velcroe my sensors to the stake.