Three Terminal Buzzer for Turn Signal Warning

[DontBurnTheHouseDown]

Hi,

I've done some searching about how to wire my piezo buzzer into my turn signal switch on my 1965 Mustang. The flasher is very quiet, and I often forget to cancel my signal after a turn, so I thought I'd wire in a buzzer that buzzes each time the flasher flashes.

I saw a neat circuit design that involved the brake light switch sending current to the buzzer to equalize it, in order to make the buzzer buzz only when the brakes were off. Obviously the buzzer would get annoying quick while sitting at a light.

The problem is I have only found diagrams for buzzers with two terminals. Mine has three. I ordered this from PartsExpress.com.

So my question is, how do I wire this? I've connected it to a battery in every way I know how, and have not received any sound from it. It could be defective, but frankly, I don't know how to wire it. No magic smoke was released during my testing.

I'd like to incorporate the brake light switch into this as described above. The flasher (two terminal) is very close to the brake light switch. I can do simple wiring, like what is involved in getting the various circuits to work in my car, but circuit design is a bit above my head.

Thanks for the help

 

[Harald Kapp]

On the page you linked, look up Q&A. It tells you that you need an external circuit to drive the buzzer. On the same page under manuals/ressources the spec sheet is available which inludes sample circuits and also explains why there are trhee electrodes:
- input
- ground
- feedback

For your application it may be easier to buy a self-oscillating DC-operated buzzer (which has only two connections).

Harald

 

[CocaCola]

For your application it may be easier to buy a self-oscillating DC-operated buzzer (which has only two connections).

And this is one of the cases where if you live in the US Radio Shack can actually help you out, as they carry 12v buzzers with the driver installed...

 

[DontBurnTheHouseDown]

Harald,
I tried clicking on the manuals link before I bought that buzzer and nothing ever happened. Now that you say something actually happens, I tried again. Still nothing. I switched to Firefox and tried it. A window flashes then disappears. I allowed pop-ups and turned off No-Script. Still can't get that link to give me anything. Oh well.

I'll look into a self-oscillating buzzer. Thanks for the tip.

 

[CDRIVE]

When you get your Piezo Oscillator, I like to use a generic term for them ... SonAlerts, you will need to attenuate it or it will drive you nuts. Even after electrically attenuating it you may have to stuff up the resonator hole with cotton and wrap it all up in tape.

 

[CocaCola]

When you get your Piezo Oscillator, I like to use a generic term for them ... SonAlerts, you will need to attenuate it or it will drive you nuts. Even after electrically attenuating it you may have to stuff up the resonator hole with cotton and wrap it all up in tape.

Yeah some are stupid crazy annoying, others not so much, depends on the driver... It's certainly not uncommon for one to scream all out like a smoke detector... I have been known to give many of them a few wraps of electrical tape to keep my sanity... Especially when I was doing home remodeling in a basement and would have to temporarily turn off power and the battery backup sump pump systems would scream to no end on power failure...

 

[DontBurnTheHouseDown]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll wrap it up if need be.

I've attached the diagram for the exterior lights to this post. Do you have any tips on wiring the buzzer into the turn signal switch in a manner that when I press on the brake pedal, the buzz will stop?

My friend wants to do something similar, and as a joke, I think it would be funny if I wire his horn to blow with the flasher. I've already added a relay to the horn circuit so it would be easy to send a signal to that I think.

Thanks for the help

 

[CocaCola]

IMO the easiest (certainly not the most eloquent or 'professional' solution) is to use a normally closed relay to feed power to the buzzer... And hook the coil of this relay up to the brake switch, that way when they apply the break it energizes the coil in the relay and switches to 'open' thus cutting power to the buzzer...

This pictures shows the type of relay and how to hook it up... In the standby state, the red connection is made and allows the buzzer to work, when the brake is apply the relay moves to the faded red position and now the buzzer has now has no ground and won't work... As soon as the brake is released the relay switches back to the normal position and the buzzer is again allowed to work...

Do not that there are 1001 relay configurations you need one like this that is normally closed for this application as described...

 

[DontBurnTheHouseDown]

I understand your description. One question I have is where to get power from to power the buzzer. For example, referencing my diagram posted above, wire 44 out of the flasher seems like the logical place to me to get power from. I need to be careful though, because the brake lights are merely the turn signals without the flashing. Obviously, if the signal is activated then the "brake light" flashes on that one side.

I can't run the buzzer in series with the flasher using your method, since I need to kill the ground using the relay as you described.

Is there a way to wire the buzzer so that the potential is equalized across the buzzer whenever the brake pedal is pressed?

Thanks for the help.