How does one convert a battery operated wireless doorbell into a switch to turn on DC motors, lights or alarms in toys and other DC motors. I understand a relay switch is required for this. What type is used and how do I connect this?

These are the cheap doorbells that are powered by two 1.5V penlite batteries and a small transmitter that has a 12V battery.

Does anyone know how to do this?

Anyone? I'd be interested in this too.

Hello, I have converted many such bells and the like to control or turn on items.
Probably the easiest way to do this without re-wiring to a relay or other switch is to open the receiver casing (the box that "dings"). You will see a speaker with two wires attached to it, you can solder them loose at the connection to the bell or simply cut them. If cut, re-strip the ends so new wires are available.

You can simply solder the ends to a low voltage light bulb ( 1.5 volt or lower ) which is available from radio shack. I would use "flux" when soldering to get a good hold. Now when batteries are installed in both (transmitter/receiver) when the button is depressed on transmitter or remote the bulb will light up!
This can be used for a multitude of effects, i.e. lighting crystal ball,etc.

Instead of a bulb you can find low voltage motors that are in a gear box, it takes some looking but they are out there. Now you can really do alot! The motor can activat spirit clocks, move objects, etc.

I hope this gives you some ideas, by doing this simple process you have saved a bundle of money that would cost quite a bit to purchase a simular effect.

I specialize in electronic magic, both building and collecting.

Magically,

Chuck

http://caputocollection.tripod.com/

Thanks I will try

The voltage that comes out from the 2 wires at the bell is 3 Volt but there is very, very little Amp there, therefore the light bulb will not work unless it has the same current requirement with the "bell speaker". I tried before and it would not work.
Ken

Hello,

You can try lighting an L.E.D. also but it is suggested that you wire a resistor in series so it does not prematurely burn out, although the "De-Lights" that I have from the early versions do not have a resister to limit the current and they still work after several years.

Also you can purchase the old stand-by "Fart Machine" instead of the doorbell. The remote is much smaller, you would do the same thing as I suggested doing with the doorbell. It does work as I have many things I have built from this.

Good Luck

I have tried a doorbell without success because I need it to run a nine volt battery. All the door bells run off of "c" cell that I have seen. I am going to try a fart machined next. My one question is if you hook it up to a motor and you push the button, does it run the motor for a short period and then shut off. Can you hold the button on the remote down and it run the motor until you let go of the button.

Thanks for the help.

Here's a solution for most of the needs I've seen in this thread:

http://www.electrokits.com/electronic-ki......ndex.htm

If you purchase one of the two or four channel auto roll RF remote setups, you will have a powerful weapon for $40, including FOUR relays already wired in for you.

The remote is a keychain type, it's got a range over 100 feet, it's rolling code design is less susceptible to random interference when compared to the doorbell and fart machine, and it includes the relays. For a meager 40 bucks! (You can hack your own from a Walmart quality car remote security system, if you prefer, but you're on your own with that project!)

Note that the feature many will be interested in is setting the individual relays to latching mode. If you do, when you press the button, it turns on the relay. It stays on until you press the button again to turn it off. If you want it to only power up when you're holding the button down, then use the momentary mode.

For those that do not have experience with relays, they are not a power supply that feeds electricity to an LED, for example. If you hook up the relay outputs to a light, you won't be able to light up anything.

Design the output circuit you want (light, fan, sound, whatever) with it's own battery. Look at your circuit, and where you designed the on/off switch, wire the relay outputs from the RF receiver in instead. The relay will be the switch.

If you like, wire the RF remote receiver with it's own battery (I've used a single 9V battery to feed similar 12V remote receivers in the past, and always was able to power the unit, btw.) If you have separate power supplies for the RF receiver and the output circuit, that's okay. If you want to design a barely more complicated circuit that powers both the receiver and your output circuit with the same power source, that's fine too. Depends on whether you've got room for two isolated power sources, or if you need/want to worry about dramatically different voltages/amperages. In the past, I've needed to drive high torque motors, and it was definitely simpler using a 9v to drive the RF receiver, and supply the motor power independently. In other cases, especially when space was at a premium, a single battery source was better.

Ask if you have more questions.

--- Guy

Thank you Chuck and Guy for your expertise on the matter. I want to know if there is a relay switch lower than 6 volts so that I can connect this to the speaker and have an independent power supply for the DC motor I plan to use.

Yes, I also have the expensive remotes which I bought from Marcello Contento but I just want to make this simple project for fun.

Lou

Hi Lou - sure - there are 3V, 4.5V, 6V, etc.

If you happen to have a multimeter handy, I'd recommend checking the voltage at various solder points in the circuitry leading up to the speaker driver circuit. It's usually the case that one of the lines powers up with the switch, to start the doorbell audio circuit.

If you can get a jump off that solder point, you'll have a clean power line to feed your relay.

You can check online with someone like www.DigiKey.com, or if you have a local/semi-local electronics parts supplier, ask for a 3V (or appropriate voltage) latching relay. Something like this $6 Aromat relay might fit your bill:

http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/......;Site=US

If you don't need latching, then a trip to Radio Shack will get a relay to fit your needs.

Good luck!

--- Guy

If you're looking for a momentary relay solution, check out Radio Shack part number: 275-232. It's about $3, and requires practically no power to switch (about 20mA at 5v)

--- Guy

Steffan Soule came up with a wireless doorbell gizmo to work as a midi trigger. He showed it to me one night after a show and it worked beautifully!! You can see how he used it HERE