G'day!

I found a crosswalk LED display and I'd like to set it up in my workshop. Unfortunately I don't have the technical knowhow to do this, and I can't find anything on the Net.

The LEDs work, but I get a constant "0" (zero) on the bottom display and the "Do not walk" hand on the upper when I simply connect the leads to a 120 outlet. No countdowns, no blinking. The two LED casings are sealed, the wiring is ultra simple. So what controls the timer? Is there a missing component? Can I hack this to get it blinking and counting in all its glory?

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

Perhaps it uses an RF link to control the countdown.

 

There's an 800 number and a model number. Call them up, pretend you're from a community maintenance team and see if they'll give you the manual.

 

Googling the part number GE PS6 PFD2 gets some installation info. Kind of looks like it just gets power from the PLC controller and does its thing?

 

Looks like if you connect the blue and the white to power you'll get the white man and a countdown. If you connect the orange and the white to power you should get a steady hand and zero. Just guessing from what I read. If you want it to continually count down then you have to remove the white jumper under the cap. The white wire that looks to be about 2 1/2 inches long.

WARNING: THIS IS JUST GUESS WORK. But it would appear that white is the neutral line. It's possible that there's some communication somehow with the street light controller. Some lights may cycle through in a matter of a few seconds if there's just one car. But if you push the button for the cross walk signal then the light will stay green long enough for a pedestrian to cross. Since there are only three wires you need to connect I'd be willing (if it were mine) to try the white to neutral and power up either the blue or the orange wires one at a time.

 

Crutschow, MrSoftware, JohnInTX, Tonyr1084: Thank you all!

There does seem to be a missing element to this device, probably linking it to the traffic light. Interestingly, no matter how I connect or cross-connect the three wires, something different happens... but something DOES happen. Disconnecting the white jumper doesn't do anything different.

Now all I need to do is find some sort of controller for the countdown (it always remains at zero), and I've got myself an interesting piece for the shop.

Any other input is more than welcome, but you have all been incredibly valuable.

Thank you!

 

I wonder - if you move the jumper around perhaps that's what is needed to program it to count down from a specific number. Some streets have signs that hold for 14 seconds, other streets, bigger streets hold for 20. In Salt Lake City I've seen them hold for 45 seconds around popular venues like sports arena's. So there MUST be some way to program it. Perhaps yours has been off so long that any internal batteries (not saying there is one - just guesswork here) may have died and lost their programming. Think about it - how does a cross walk sign know to remain active for 14 seconds or 45 seconds or anywhere in between?! Maybe while powered if you actuate the jumper (touch it to certain parts of the circuit). I was wondering what the third screw was for (in the drawing).

 

I once read a manual on the walk/don't walk signals (sorry, no link).

The one I read about was fed normal 120 VAC for red/yellow/green like a traffic light.

It figured out the timing after the first cycle so no countdown the first time after power was out.

So you likely have a neutral wire and red/green lines? No RF or other links...

 

here's some specifications (for similar?) walk sign:

www.signalcontrol.com/tech_papers/dialight/Dialight_LED_Ped_Modules_Spec_10-20-08.pdf

Electrical on page 7, countdown info on page 9-10

 

There is normally a control box one one of the four traffic light poles (or a ground mounted box nearby where the brain is placed.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TrafficControlBox.JPG

 

There is normally a control box one one of the four traffic light poles (or a ground mounted box nearby where the brain is placed.

If this was to be controlled by a "brain" then there would likely be additional wires aside from only the power lines. My way of thinking about this issue is that for the symbol of the man walking is powered through one circuit while the hand is powered through the other. So one line switched on by the brain tells the person they can walk. At the same time the countdown timer is activated so that when you GET the walk signal you also get a timer countdown. I've not gotten the impression that this walk signal is controlled by anything more than simply powering one line or the other.

Since the countdown is stuck at zero, perhaps flashing over from the walk signal to the don't walk signal will trigger a countdown episode. But I'm still wondering how the walk signal was programmed to give a specific amount of time sufficient for pedestrians to cross safely. I think we're missing some programming of the countdown timer.

 

I've not gotten the impression that this walk signal is controlled by anything more than simply powering one line or the other.

I think we're missing some programming of the countdown timer.

Maybe you can look up the definition of "contradictory"?

 

here's some specifications (for similar?) walk sign:

Sections 4.7 and 4.8 seem to possibly offer a clue as to how they are supposed to be operated.

 

Maybe you can look up the definition of "contradictory"?

Maybe I shouldn't.

 

Maybe you have the unit because it's defective.

 

G'day!

I found a crosswalk LED display and I'd like to set it up in my workshop. Unfortunately I don't have the technical knowhow to do this, and I can't find anything on the Net.

The LEDs work, but I get a constant "0" (zero) on the bottom display and the "Do not walk" hand on the upper when I simply connect the leads to a 120 outlet. No countdowns, no blinking. The two LED casings are sealed, the wiring is ultra simple. So what controls the timer? Is there a missing component? Can I hack this to get it blinking and counting in all its glory?

Any ideas?

Thanks!

I have recently acquired a Dialight pedestrian signal light. It has both the countdown numbers and the 'Walk' man / 'Do not walk' hand integrated into one unit. I believe they work similar as others since they have to follow government standards for signal lights. I use a Raspberry Pi with a SSR (solid state relay) to control the pedestrian signal light. I connect the three wires to the SSR which are: white (common), blue (person / walk), and orange (hand / do not walk). I have three states that I have implemented into my RPi program. They are 'Walk', 'Do not walk (blinking)' and 'Do not walk (solid - non blinking). The pedestrian signal light (this one and I believe all of them) have a controller in them. My program puts it in the blinking state by turning the 'Do not walk' hand (orange wire) on for 500 milliseconds and then off for 500 milliseconds for the number of seconds that I want it to blink and countdown. On the first cycle the countdown does not show any numbers. On the second and sequential cycles it does show the numbers. The countdown numbers will display for the number of seconds that I specify by my program running on the Raspberry Pi when it is in the 'Do not walk (blinking)' state. If I change the number of seconds that it is in that state, the pedestrian signal light automatically detects that and will go back to initializing mode and will not show the countdown time for a full cycle. After a full cycle it will then show the countdown time. Hope this helps!