iostream212
Active Member
The allure of automated toast is beckoning...That's a good find. I made an offer just to play around with one!
If anyone is looking to do this the seller I used had plenty and ships from southern CA.
The allure of automated toast is beckoning...That's a good find. I made an offer just to play around with one!
Depends on how long the longest break is between spins... I think you need to monitor the load the first time it runs, then adjust. For instance, while it does appear to completely stop for a moment to fill, drain, whatever - you should be able to figure out the longest amount of time it stays off, and wait for that period to time out before making announcements. Of course it'd be nice to know the second a cycle is finished, but that would probably require hacking into the control board a little.That Functional Devices ribxgta current sensing switch is a cool product. I plan on using something like this for my washer and dryer to make whole house announcements ("washer cycle complete", "dryer cycle complete") and such.
However I have a "high efficiency" front loader washer and dryer. The washer spin rate varies a lot, sometimes stopping completely for a while. I suspect the current consumption at these points is very low, maybe 0.05A (~5 watts) but I'm guessing without measuring it. These current sensing switch products trigger at a minimum of 0.35A.
In cases like these I can think of two ways to make it work:
1) Increase the turns count (wire loops through the transformer) as necessary to always stay above the minimum threshold. I might need 5 to 10 turns.
2) Use a more sensitive device (if available) or a discrete CT with the ACS712 Low Current Sensor.
Something to think about if you also have front loaders.
That Functional Devices ribxgta current sensing switch is a cool product. I plan on using something like this for my washer and dryer to make whole house announcements ("washer cycle complete", "dryer cycle complete") and such.
However I have a "high efficiency" front loader washer and dryer. The washer spin rate varies a lot, sometimes stopping completely for a while. I suspect the current consumption at these points is very low, maybe 0.05A (~5 watts) but I'm guessing without measuring it. These current sensing switch products trigger at a minimum of 0.35A.
In cases like these I can think of two ways to make it work:
1) Increase the turns count (wire loops through the transformer) as necessary to always stay above the minimum threshold. I might need 5 to 10 turns.
2) Use a more sensitive device (if available) or a discrete CT with the ACS712 Low Current Sensor.
Something to think about if you also have front loaders.
Thanks for the info mobileme. To clarify you used the same sensor and got it working with this breakout board?