DIY Motion activated storage cubby lights

[Lew]

I experienced doing the small Led's on my Sailboat electrical panel using the resistors along with a green and red Led which showed on and off positions for a host of switches. Looked great....I might do my storage with a few red Led's . White light has a tendency to somewhat blind you at night.

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by Lew

I experienced doing the small Led's on my Sailboat electrical panel using the resistors along with a green and red Led which showed on and off positions for a host of switches. Looked great....I might do my storage with a few red Led's . White light has a tendency to somewhat blind you at night.

You can control the intensity of the lights with the LED resistor. As shown in the schematics, they are not too bright...just right.

[Smallblock454]

Hi paticlewave,

nice idea, but all your interior lights have the wrong color. It has to be orange.

Now for to be a little more construtive. How about adding a motion sensor, so the light is only on if you put something or your hand into the little compartment.

You can such things pretty cheap and completely setup - for example:
https://www.banggood.com/HC-SR505-Mini-Infrared-PIR-Motion-Sensor-Precise-Infrared-Detector-Module-p-1011714.html?rmmds=search&stayold=1&cur_warehouse=CN
Or:
https://www.banggood.com/search/motion-sensor.html

Regards, Markus

[particlewave]

What?

That is exactly what this circuit does, Markus.


I actually tried a unit similar to the one you posted, but it does not work well in such a small space or in a moving vehicle. The circuit I designed is built for a small space, accuracy and ease of construction (anyone can put the original circuit together with only a few components, regardless of electronics experience).


.

[Lew]

Originally Posted by particlewave

You can control the intensity of the lights with the LED resistor. As shown in the schematics, they are not too bright...just right.

PW, your mod looks nice. Since my VW Sportswagon has all it's courtesy lights in red which I really like. All of your courtesy lighting is Blue which also looks good. I might could do the OEM courtesy lighting with that color Led's. It most likely would take several since they are not to bright. Yes!

[Smallblock454]

Originally Posted by particlewave

What?

That is exactly what this circuit does, Markus.

I actually tried a unit similar to the one you posted, but it does not work well in such a small space or in a moving vehicle. The circuit I designed is built for a small space, accuracy and ease of construction (anyone can put the original circuit together with only a few components, regardless of electronics experience).

OK, i should read threads from the beginning.
OK, i should read threads from the beginning.
OK, i should read threads from the beginning.
And still don't have the time to do it, sorry.

Do you have a stabilized power supply for your circuit? Something like a switching power supply that generates a constant power and current?

Also do you have a potentiometer to regulate the IR circuit sensivity? I thing that's important.

Regards, Markus

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

Do you have a stabilized power supply for your circuit? Something like a switching power supply that generates a constant power and current?

That would be overkill in such a simple circuit.

Also do you have a potentiometer to regulate the IR circuit sensivity? I thing that's important.

Also unnecessary. The circuit has enough tolerance to account for any voltage fluctuations and the IR emitter/detector function in a simple on/off configuration. This post is 5 years old, so the circuit has been tried and tested over the years with zero issues.
I designed it to be simple and effective. And it is just that.

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