Wireless mains voltage tester

Description.
This circuit can be used to test whether mains voltage is present or not without having electric contact with mains line. The CMOS IC CD4033 is the heart of this circuit. The CD4033 consists of a 5 stage decade Johnson counter and an output decoder for converting the Johnson code to a 7 segment decoded output for driving 7 segment LED display. A 10cm long insulated copper wire connected to the clock pin (pin1) of the IC serves as the sensor. The sensor wire has to be placed in the vicinity of the mains wire to be tested. When there is no voltage in the mains line, no voltage will be induced in the sensor wire and the display will show a random digit. When there is voltage in the mains line, a small voltage will be induced in the sensor wire due to electromagnetic induction and this voltage is sufficient enough to clock the CMOS IC CD4033. Now the display will count from zero to nine and repeat.

Circuit diagram.

Notes.

• The circuit can be assembled on a Vero board.
• Use 9V PP3 battery for powering the circuit.
• Use a 10cm insulated wire as the sensor.
• The IC must be mounted on a holder.
• Switch S1 can be a miniature ON/OFF switch.

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Mains Slave Switcher II

As a guide, a one-inch reed switch with 40 turns reliably switched on with the current flowing through a 150-watt lamp (approx. 625 mA) but larger reeds may require more turns. If the master appliance draws less current (which is unlikely with power tools) more turns will be required. The reed switch is used to switch on transistor T1 which in turn switches the relay RE1 and powers the slave appliance. Since reed switches have a low mechanical inertia, they have little difficulty in following the fluctuations of the magnetic field due to the alternating current in the coil and this means that they will switch on and off at 100 Hz.

Circuit diagram:

Mains Slave Switcher II Circuit Diagram

C3 is therefore fitted to slow down the transistor response and keep the relay energised during the mains zero crossings when the current drawn by the appliance falls to zero and the reed switch opens. C1 drops the mains voltage to about 15 V (determined by zener diode D1) and this is rectified and smoothed by D2 and C2 to provide a d.c. supply for the circuit. The relay contacts should be rated to switch the intended appliance (vacuum cleaner) and the coil should have a minimum coil resistance of 400 R as the simple d.c. supply can only provide a limited current. C1 drops virtually the full mains voltage and should therefore be a n X2-class component with a voltage rating of at least 250V a.c.

Warning:
The circuit is by its nature connected directly to the mains supply. Great care should therefore be taken in its construction and the circuit should be enclosed in a plastic or earthed metal box with mains sockets fitted for the master and slave appliances.

Author: Elektor - Copyright: Elektor Electronics Magazine

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