The dying cow sound, could be the relay buzzing at a high rate.

This shouldnt happen if the +Vfeedback is set correctly.
All that means when the 'dark' switches the unit ON, it should take a little more 'light' to switch it OFF.. like a dead band, else the relay will buzz.

Whats the value of R1 ,2 and 3 and P1.?

__________________
Eric
"Good enough is Perfect"

PIC tutorials:
Gramo's: www.digital-diy.net/
Bill's: www.blueroomelectronics.com/

 

Another thought,
is your battery nearly dead?
Jim

 

hi,
What with dying cows and dead batteries, this sounds a depressing project.

__________________
Eric
"Good enough is Perfect"

PIC tutorials:
Gramo's: www.digital-diy.net/
Bill's: www.blueroomelectronics.com/

 

He he Eric,
it's getting desperate now

It might be driving you crazy David, but you will have learned 10x more, than you would have if it worked first time

 

David,
Have you tried adjusting P1?

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Hmm.. lower value for R1 - even though thats what came with the Kit...?

the LED series has the these stats:

=========
current: 20mA
typ. Voltage: 3.4V
luminosity: 20,000 mcd.
==========

there is a 120 Ohm resistor to run 3 LEDs (when complete will have 18 leds with 6 resistors)

Are you saying that R1 in the kit doesn't suit the Kit or just doesn't suit my LED series?

Also if it is wrong, should it not have worked the first few times?

Thanks again

 

Hi David,
I think hero means the variable resistor P1, have you adjusted it for the best dark/light response.

What are you powering the circuit from.?

__________________
Eric
"Good enough is Perfect"

PIC tutorials:
Gramo's: www.digital-diy.net/
Bill's: www.blueroomelectronics.com/

 

Wow - responses up the Wahzoo (thanks to all)

Ok....

1) Battery still has about 6v left
2) tried adjusting P1 (but it stopped working before I touched it anyway)
3) R1=330k, R2=3k 3 (not sure why it has extra '3' orr-org-red-gld), R3=10k, P1=22k

also, I swear I tested the battery an hour ago and it was still over 9v - is it possible this thing is draining my battery faster then it should?

 

a 12v 7ah sla battery.

update: when the battery is not plugged in to the kit it shows over 9v again

 

It means '3 thousand 3 hundred' or 3.3k

 

David <---- stupid

Depressingly simple.

Thanks House

 

Hi,
If the 12V SLA is reading 6V on load, its not acceptable.
Thats why the circuit worked and now it dosnt.

The SLA should never be less than 10.8V or you will ruin it..

__________________
Eric
"Good enough is Perfect"

PIC tutorials:
Gramo's: www.digital-diy.net/
Bill's: www.blueroomelectronics.com/

 

Right then... recharge the battery and pat myself on the back?

it sounds like with a full battery this will work fine....

Now, when Im done the whole thing will run 18 LEDs at 20mA each (360 total) - according to the it Kits information that should only consume less the 100mA.

so in theory, the whole thing should only consume about 460mA.

With a fully charged 12v 7ah battery, I should get about 15 hours use out of it, right?

my next question (which, I should possibly open a new thread for) is do I need 2 batteries to see it through the night, until the solar panel (which I have not added yet) can recharge it, ready for the next night ? or will it be ok with just the one battery?

Thanks to all - you guys Rock.

 

hi David,
Ref the solar charging, where is your location.?

BTW, whats it lighting up. ?

__________________
Eric
"Good enough is Perfect"

PIC tutorials:
Gramo's: www.digital-diy.net/
Bill's: www.blueroomelectronics.com/

 

I kid you not, the thing just came on as I pressed submit - and with it plugged in, it now shows 8.6v with leds off - cover the sensor and they come and the battery shows 7.5v

Why is it randomly working... ghost in the machine ?