Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
110vac control device — Parallax Forums

110vac control device

w4fejw4fej Posts: 264
edited 2011-07-07 13:08 in Propeller 1
Any suggestions on a device to control the brightness of a 110VAC, 60 watt light bulb with the prop?? Want to be able to go from full brightness to off in a ramping method to simulate a rotating beacon. (going to modify an existing backyard lighthouse). Any suggestions would be great. (Be nice now! :smile:) Was going to use a Stamp but the Prop is so cheap I'll use one of them I have laying around..

Thanks, Mike B.

Comments

  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,452
    edited 2011-07-06 17:42
    The safest and easiest way to do this is probably with an X-10 lamp module and one of the stamps that natively supports X10 protocol.
  • w4fejw4fej Posts: 264
    edited 2011-07-06 19:43
    localroger wrote: »
    The safest and easiest way to do this is probably with an X-10 lamp module and one of the stamps that natively supports X10 protocol.

    Thanks, I've all but forgotten about the X-10 stuff. Wonder if I can still find that stuff around..

    Thanks again..

    Mike B.
  • w4fejw4fej Posts: 264
    edited 2011-07-07 06:05
    localroger wrote: »
    The safest and easiest way to do this is probably with an X-10 lamp module and one of the stamps that natively supports X10 protocol.



    @localroger:
    I've researched all the data I could find on the PL513 module that Parallax no longer sells and looks like the bomb for what I want to do. One thing that is not clear to me from the docs is wheather or not I am responsible for syncing with the zero crossing of the A/C cycles. Does the XOUT command in Pbasic take care of the sync or if I use the Prop do I need to look for that? Or is it taken care of in the PL-513 module and all I need to concern myself with is the sending of the commands??
    Mike B.
  • AleAle Posts: 2,363
    edited 2011-07-07 06:39
    60 Watt lamp.... get a 12 V 60 Watt lamp, a mosfet (powerful enough) use PWM and avoid 110V altogether, bigger but safer :)

    How fast do solid-state relays switch ?... if you get some 1000 Hz then it could be a nice alternative :), albeit I'd go with the low voltage version :)
  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2011-07-07 11:26
    Or is it taken care of in the PL-513 module and all I need to concern myself with is the sending of the commands??

    It's all taken care of for you.

    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?110688-X10-power-line-interface-to-BS2-Question!&highlight=PL513
  • DynamoBenDynamoBen Posts: 366
    edited 2011-07-07 11:54
    w4fej wrote: »
    Any suggestions on a device to control the brightness of a 110VAC, 60 watt light bulb with the prop?? Want to be able to go from full brightness to off in a ramping method to simulate a rotating beacon. (going to modify an existing backyard lighthouse). Any suggestions would be great.

    Are you interested in direct control of the lamp? If so you would need to do forward phase dimming. To do this you need to sense the zero cross point then wait the requisite amount of time and then turn on an SSR. So if you wanted the lamp to be at 50% you would wait until the 1/2 way point of the sine-wave to turn on the SSR (the SSR then turns itself back off at the zero cross).

    Here is a visual representation of how it works along with implementation details.

    I have a bunch of code that does this but its geared toward 32 channels of dimming and beyond.
  • GranzGranz Posts: 179
    edited 2011-07-07 13:08
    I posted a reply to Robot Mogul (http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?130878-My-Recent-PDB-Project&p=1014448#post1014448) where I mentioned that I had found a Prop object to control lights, etc through a PSC04 or PSC05 interface. Take a look and see if that object might be helpful in your situation.
Sign In or Register to comment.