Hi,

I have a problem. Our laundry is located in the basement. Unfortunately, my wife and I tend to forget when the wash cycle finishes and to put the laundry in the dryer (out of sight, out of mind). My clothes, sheets, and towels are ending up smelling like mildew and it's getting a little frustrating. I was wondering about creating a flashing strobe light that would be triggered by the current coming to the dryer's "End of cycle" signal. The light would keep flashing until a reset button is pressed. I was thinking of basing it on a visual phone ringer for deaf people, but that type stops flashing when the phone stops ringing. I haven't even measured the voltage to the dryer's buzzer and I'm not sure how that would trigger a relay.

I'm a novice with electronics projects and don't know how to create something like this, but would like to learn. If anybody has any ideas, it'd be greatly appreciated!

 

Welcome to AAC.

I use a kitchen timer. Simple and cheap.

 

I use a kitchen timer. Simple and cheap.

You're no fun.

 

Yep, positively boring. That's me!

Bill's Index

 

you can check current (directly or contactless using hal sensor) or noise produced by machine (mic) and timer. when current is above set limit (or running machine makes noise) reset timer. when cycle stops, no more resets, timer will expire and set flag "cycle complete". use this bit to do whatever you like (earthquake etc.).

 

An old baby monitor would be handy for this. I think a lot of them give a "bargraph" light indication of noise at the transmitter (in your case, the laundry). This allows you to turn the volume down or to see if the baby is up when ambient noise would make it hard to hear the receiver. For your use, the absence of lights would mean the laundry has gone quiet.