■ LIGHTING | SENSORS | ELECTRICS
■ LIGHTING
■ For 2018 haunts, I decided I needed triggered lighting/smoke/audio effects. I couldn't figure this out until I found PIR sensors that could take 240volts. I wired these up by modifying extension sockets.
■ This enabled me to connect up lighting, and tablets plugged into speakers playing audio.
■ When people walked past their movement could now trigger the lighting/audio, which was a huge milestone for my haunt builds.
■ I used this method to trigger the lighting and audio zombie noises inside my Zombie chamber mk.2 build for my 2019 haunt.
■ PIR | SENSORS
■ PIR SETTINGS
■ The PIR (Passive Infra Read) sensors needed to be adjusted to the lighting of the dark room, so it could work effectively, even under smoke conditions. It took a while to get this right.
■ WIRING
■ Wiring these up was simplicity itself, no more complicated than wiring a domestic UK plug. I've made the wiring diagram available too so you can build these yourself.
■ PIR MOTION SENSOR CIRCUIT
■ I've made this electrical wiring diagram available. Please use with caution. I'm not responsible for any mishaps, or shocks. Use at your own risk. Right click and select "open image in new tab" for full size.
■ CAUTION!
■ A word of caution, as with anything electrical, make sure that these are not connected to the mains! You'll get a pretty hefty buzz from touching the sensor inside. Check, then double check everything is wired properly, and if you're unsure consult a qualified electrician. Ok?
■ ELECTRICS | EXTENSIONS
■ ELECTRICS | EXTENSIONS
■ All of the electrical wiring was custom made by myself. I needed custom lengths of 12amp high grade electrical 3-core flex throughout and used surge protectors on every major point. the cables were very well hidden save for two places, the right hand side of Pinhead (2018 Haunt) and Valak (2018/2019 Haunts).
■ WIRING LOGISTICS
It became, yet again, a huge undertaking trying to hide all the cabling, but keep it off the ground as much as possible. Cassette reel extensions were also used, but ultimately, these custom ones I made proved far more reliable and useful. I made endless power wiring diagrams for each haunt build to see what would be the shortest, most efficient distance.
■ WIRING DIAGRAMS WERE KEY
■ Shown here is one of the many final plans drawn up before commencing rigging. This was key, and I learned in 2018 from the previous two yearsa to plan, plan and plan well in advance. This saved me so much time in 2018, and by 2019 everything was labelled and took no time at all to install.