Hello,
I am making a couple of props to use in an "escape room game" for my halloween party.
To open this box, a solenoid will release a tab, so the lid can be opened.
I wired 20 switches so that the circuit is closed by a certain combination of switch positions and the solenoid opens the lock.
When you insert the key in the square hole, a switch is pressed and the "key OK" led lights up. I got things working up to this point, but then I overestimated what I knew about electronics (which is not a lot at all...)
The "key ok" led lights up when you insert the key, but I would then like the solenoid to be powered (it's rated 3v to 12v) and a second led to light up when the 20 switches are all in the right position. The problem is that I can get the first led to light up, but the second led and solenoid do nothing at all (switch positions are correct)...
I briefly tried the second led without resistor + solenoid as a test, which kind of worked, but the solenoid seemed to be underpowered. Can the solenoid's internal resistance replace the led's resistor?
Power source = 6V (I can change this if needed)
The leds both have a forward voltage of 3V and 20mA current. I used 2 150Ohm resistors, could this be the problem? Maybe the leds + resistors "used up" all the available power so the solenoid is left underpowered?
Does anyone have any idea what I could do make this circuit work so the solenoid opens the box? Does the left part of the circuit maybe interfere with the right part, or does it seem like a valid parallel circuit?
I have added an image of the box and the circuit I used.
Thanks in advance!
I am making a couple of props to use in an "escape room game" for my halloween party.
To open this box, a solenoid will release a tab, so the lid can be opened.
I wired 20 switches so that the circuit is closed by a certain combination of switch positions and the solenoid opens the lock.
When you insert the key in the square hole, a switch is pressed and the "key OK" led lights up. I got things working up to this point, but then I overestimated what I knew about electronics (which is not a lot at all...)
The "key ok" led lights up when you insert the key, but I would then like the solenoid to be powered (it's rated 3v to 12v) and a second led to light up when the 20 switches are all in the right position. The problem is that I can get the first led to light up, but the second led and solenoid do nothing at all (switch positions are correct)...
I briefly tried the second led without resistor + solenoid as a test, which kind of worked, but the solenoid seemed to be underpowered. Can the solenoid's internal resistance replace the led's resistor?
Power source = 6V (I can change this if needed)
The leds both have a forward voltage of 3V and 20mA current. I used 2 150Ohm resistors, could this be the problem? Maybe the leds + resistors "used up" all the available power so the solenoid is left underpowered?
Does anyone have any idea what I could do make this circuit work so the solenoid opens the box? Does the left part of the circuit maybe interfere with the right part, or does it seem like a valid parallel circuit?
I have added an image of the box and the circuit I used.
Thanks in advance!
Last edited:
) I'm going to try this right away. Thanks for the help!