How can I make my dormitory hallway's sound activated light stay on cons
February 1, 2013 6:44 PM Subscribe
How can I make my dormitory hallway's sound activated light stay on constantly?
We hang out in our dormitory hallway, and have to clap, or clang a key against the metal handrail, or scream, to make the light turn back on, every time it goes off after about 60 seconds I guess. We hang out there often and it is annoying to have to clap every 60 seconds.
Does anyone have a way I can make it stay on constantly? FYI any sound made while the light on does not count towards the next 60 second sequence, it will absolutely turn off at 60 seconds even if you clapped at 59 seconds.. So I think there must always be a slight period of darkness.
Maybe I can rewire it somehow without anyone knowing? or I can put a tiny mp3 player up near the light somewhere wherever the sound detector is? Does anyone have a better idea?
I can take a picture of the device if needed. They are common in stairways and hallways here in China.
We hang out in our dormitory hallway, and have to clap, or clang a key against the metal handrail, or scream, to make the light turn back on, every time it goes off after about 60 seconds I guess. We hang out there often and it is annoying to have to clap every 60 seconds.
Does anyone have a way I can make it stay on constantly? FYI any sound made while the light on does not count towards the next 60 second sequence, it will absolutely turn off at 60 seconds even if you clapped at 59 seconds.. So I think there must always be a slight period of darkness.
Maybe I can rewire it somehow without anyone knowing? or I can put a tiny mp3 player up near the light somewhere wherever the sound detector is? Does anyone have a better idea?
I can take a picture of the device if needed. They are common in stairways and hallways here in China.
Response by poster: If we bridged connections, how would we turn the light on and off?
posted by crawltopslow at 7:00 PM on February 1, 2013
posted by crawltopslow at 7:00 PM on February 1, 2013
I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood how "constant" you wanted it on.
If you're already taking the thing apart, you could easily add a switch. Or maybe there's a dial inside the housing that you can set to an hour instead of a minute.
posted by supercres at 7:04 PM on February 1, 2013
If you're already taking the thing apart, you could easily add a switch. Or maybe there's a dial inside the housing that you can set to an hour instead of a minute.
posted by supercres at 7:04 PM on February 1, 2013
Perhaps grab an Arduino kit, add a light sensor and piezo speaker, and program it to make noise based on input from a light sensor? It should be reasonably easy to make a device that will beep any time light levels decrease and then stop beeping when light is detected.
posted by eschatfische at 7:10 PM on February 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by eschatfische at 7:10 PM on February 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
Could you plug in a fan in the hallway or run an extension cord to one out there?
posted by limeonaire at 8:34 PM on February 1, 2013
posted by limeonaire at 8:34 PM on February 1, 2013
Response by poster: Yes I can run an extension cord from my room, but I don't see how a fan will help
posted by crawltopslow at 9:33 PM on February 1, 2013
posted by crawltopslow at 9:33 PM on February 1, 2013
If you're running an extension cord you could just plug in a light.
posted by ryanrs at 10:41 PM on February 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 10:41 PM on February 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
It seems like something you should be able to ask for help with from facilities. Ask if you can have the 60 seconds extended to 5 minutes for personal safety reasons.
posted by samthemander at 11:21 PM on February 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by samthemander at 11:21 PM on February 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
How much do you want to spend? :P maybe get a few of these things:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/b278/
This problem reminds me of the time I lived in an apt with a smoke detector that made a chirp noise every few minutes when its battery was low -- but it wasn't obvious where the detector was installed and the echoes in the hallway didn't help to locate it.
posted by mhh5 at 1:31 AM on February 2, 2013
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/b278/
This problem reminds me of the time I lived in an apt with a smoke detector that made a chirp noise every few minutes when its battery was low -- but it wasn't obvious where the detector was installed and the echoes in the hallway didn't help to locate it.
posted by mhh5 at 1:31 AM on February 2, 2013
For a whole bunch of reasons, modifying a public building space by rewiring is not the best idea. In this case, I think complaining is, and not to metafilter.
Gaming it with a timed noise generator is a different issue. If it's sensitive to ultrasonics, you need a 61 second timer with auto-reset and a pest chaser plug in. Nobody gets hurt. This is also reallllly simple territory for a techie student and Radio Shack hardware. A timer IC called a 555 can be configured to generate periodic signals. Three of them could generate the time interval (61 seconds), the noise waveform (whatever you want for frequency) and a gate signal to make the noise brief.
As eschatfiche says, an Arduino or similar could do the same thing in software. Overkill compared to calling Facilities and complaining, though. They should replace the audio sensing switch with PIR detector for motion. Cheap, fast, just as effective, safe.
posted by FauxScot at 6:54 AM on February 2, 2013 [2 favorites]
Gaming it with a timed noise generator is a different issue. If it's sensitive to ultrasonics, you need a 61 second timer with auto-reset and a pest chaser plug in. Nobody gets hurt. This is also reallllly simple territory for a techie student and Radio Shack hardware. A timer IC called a 555 can be configured to generate periodic signals. Three of them could generate the time interval (61 seconds), the noise waveform (whatever you want for frequency) and a gate signal to make the noise brief.
As eschatfiche says, an Arduino or similar could do the same thing in software. Overkill compared to calling Facilities and complaining, though. They should replace the audio sensing switch with PIR detector for motion. Cheap, fast, just as effective, safe.
posted by FauxScot at 6:54 AM on February 2, 2013 [2 favorites]
Yes I can run an extension cord from my room, but I don't see how a fan will help
... Fans make noise. One might make enough noise to trigger the sensor. You won't know until you've tried it.
posted by limeonaire at 7:07 AM on February 2, 2013
... Fans make noise. One might make enough noise to trigger the sensor. You won't know until you've tried it.
posted by limeonaire at 7:07 AM on February 2, 2013
Install a boombox in the hallway, with a supply of ambient and environemntal CDs, or other music of your choice.
posted by Rash at 3:52 PM on February 2, 2013
posted by Rash at 3:52 PM on February 2, 2013
Really, all you need to do is supply your own light.
posted by dhartung at 11:57 PM on February 2, 2013
posted by dhartung at 11:57 PM on February 2, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
Or hell, just bribe an electrical engineer (if it's a school dorm) with beer to bridge some connections (like defusing a bomb) and ignore the sound detector.
posted by supercres at 6:58 PM on February 1, 2013