Electronic circuit advice...

[bbsux]

I found an old flare alert alarm light (flarealert.com). Its the kind you plug into the wall and it has two modes. I want it to be a straight flasher.

1 button press - Flashes continuosly
2 button press - leds stay on
3 button press - off

Is there an circuit that could simulate that 1 button press?

 

[bbsux]

I guess I should have tried this before posting. I shorted the pins of the button so they are "pressed" when the power comes on. It goes straight to the flashing mode that I want. But I'd still like to know if there is a circuit, cause who knows-- leaving the button "pressed" may actually burn something out....

 

[BLH]

When you want to turn it back Off.
Do you need to do two more button presses?

 

[bbsux]

No, I plan to turn it on with the output of the webcontrol. I'll use a relay to turn it on and off.

 

[rossw]

I shorted the pins of the button so they are "pressed" when the power comes on. It goes straight to the flashing mode that I want. But I'd still like to know if there is a circuit, cause who knows-- leaving the button "pressed" may actually burn something out....

You might get away with something as simple as a decent sized capacitor across the switch contacts to provide in effect, a "pulse" at turn-on.
If it's going to be cycled quickly, a diode as a discharge path might be prudent too.

 

[bbsux]

I'll have to try that when I get home tonight. Basically, I'm using webcontrol to monitor my sewer system (I have a problem with tree roots blocking it every once in a while, so the sewer backs up) I'm going to have water sensors and when they detect water the webcontrol will shut off the water main so it won't get worse, send me an sms and email via iffft.com, and now I want to add this as a visual indicator that the water main is closed.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I'm not sure what you are asking. You stated you will use a relay to simulate the button press. Do you need something 'other' than that?

Or, is it that you don't want to send a second command to turn the relay off (i.e. you need the relay to pulse once the 'on' command is sent). If so you can do this with a one shot. There are also circuits out there such as the Elk-960 which can do this.

 

[bbsux]

no i'll turn the unit on with a relay, since it runs on 110ac, then i need that button to be pressed for it to do anything

 

[CAI_Support]

Hi bbsux,

You could have a PLC sub routine to flash LED, or through a relay to power lamp, when the sewer problem detected.
The key thing is to implement a PLC sub-routine.

 

[rossw]

\You could have a PLC sub routine to flash LED, or through a relay to power lamp, when the sewer problem detected.
The key thing is to implement a PLC sub-routine.

Subroutine is not the "key thing" here - the OP already stated the device will flash all by itself.
He only needs to turn it ON when he detects water and OFF when he doesn't. The kicker is, he also needs to put it into "flashing" mode by a momentary press of the onboard switch. Sure, he could do that with a second WC channel, but why bother if there's an easy way to make it automatic?

 

[CAI_Support]

Subroutine is not the "key thing" here - the OP already stated the device will flash all by itself.
He only needs to turn it ON when he detects water and OFF when he doesn't. The kicker is, he also needs to put it into "flashing" mode by a momentary press of the onboard switch. Sure, he could do that with a second WC channel, but why bother if there's an easy way to make it automatic?

It is different from my reading. I could be wrong, but I read that he has this flash alert light to use. The flash light plug into 110VAC, there is a push switch on the light to control the light. His question is how to push the switch to flash light when sewer has problem.

 

[bbsux]

wow,
Cai_Support, that's an approach I didn't even consider. Basically having the flasher powered all the time, wiring a ttl relay in place of the switch, and adding an plc instruction to turn it on once when leak is detected so it'll flash. And also add one that will turn the relay on and off twice more when it doesn't detect a leak.

Thanks everyone for your ideas...

see this is why forums are such a good idea. People can see things things different. Its really helpful.

 

[rossw]

Cai_Support, that's an approach I didn't even consider. Basically having the flasher powered all the time, wiring a ttl relay in place of the switch

Just a small consideration - all you "on-grid" people don't need to think about quiescent power consumption - but some of us do. It may only be a small power, but leaving it on 24/7 will use power, will expose the electronics to power spikes and transients etc that won't happen if you actually switch the AC side. The other possibility is that the LEDs in that are unlikely to run on 110V directly. You could perhaps just switch the same low-voltage DC that runs the WC and send DC out to the alarm indicator.

 

[bbsux]

Just a small consideration - all you "on-grid" people don't need to think about quiescent power consumption - but some of us do. It may only be a small power, but leaving it on 24/7 will use power, will expose the electronics to power spikes and transients etc that won't happen if you actually switch the AC side. The other possibility is that the LEDs in that are unlikely to run on 110V directly. You could perhaps just switch the same low-voltage DC that runs the WC and send DC out to the alarm indicator.

well it runs on a 110ac to 3.6vdc wall wart. I assume its desiged to actually run off two AA batteries cause the area for them is there but no wiring. So I can switch the ac on too then use a relay to make the switch go once, then cut the power when done