# Need Light Activated By Drop-Panel



## Acererak (Jun 1, 2011)

Hey all,

I have a drop-panel scare in my haunt this year and would like to set up a light that goes on when the drop-panel falls. Other than rigging it with a motion detector or having the actor behind the drop-panel manually turn on the light each time (both are last resort options, IMO) I am stumped on how to approach this. Any suggestions or feedback?

Thanks!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

My first thought was to set up a regular light switch that gets flipped on as the drop panel falls and flipped off as the panel is raised back up. You could attach a bar to the panel that hits the switch as the panel moves up and down.


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## David_AVD (Nov 9, 2012)

A simple "microswitch" would do what you want. You can get them with plain levers, roller, style, etc.


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## Acererak (Jun 1, 2011)

Thanks for the ideas!
@RoxyBlue: I had thought of this, but because there are 2x2 support posts on either side of the drop-panel it makes this idea difficult. Not impossible, tho.

@David_AVD: this looks like a perfect solution. I haven't heard of microswitches before so I will definitely look into them. Thanks! I'll let you know how it goes.


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## Technician of Terror (Nov 7, 2007)

David_AVD said:


> A simple "microswitch" would do what you want. You can get them with plain levers, roller, style, etc.


Two thumbs up on this one. I have a spring loaded switch that turns on a light when a pop up extends pneumaticly and extinguishes when the pop up prop goes back down.


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## BillyVanpire (Apr 22, 2015)

grab the door-light switch from an old fridge/freezer/dryer, some can be wired NO/NC.


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## David_AVD (Nov 9, 2012)

Further to this, if you want the light to come on when the panel is fully open (and go off as soon as it starts to close), put the microswitch at the bottom of the panel's travel and use the COM and NO terminals.

If you put the microswitch at the top of the panel's travel, use the COM and NC connections instead.

There would be no real difference for the drop action, but if the panel reset is slower (for safety reasons) you may not want the light left on during that time.


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## rjprod (Dec 20, 2013)

Lowes,Home Depot,Menards..door jam switch around $14.00. Mount It
At the top of the panel. Panel starts to drop..light on. Close panel, light off.
No hacking, heavier duty switch. No little arms or pieces to break off that are supposed to trigger your microswitch. Keep it simple.


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