window alarm endstops

I have a few magnetic window alarms and I was wondering if anyone has used them for end stops. They seem like they would be fairly simple to adapt. They are ran off of 2-4 AA batteries which could easily be transferred over. They come with a separate piece that has a magnet attached and when the two pieces become separated it triggers a peizo alarm speaker.

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That's a cool idea. And they are often sold at the dollar store for um. a dollar. So that would be a cheap way to do magnetic endstops. Are yours triggered by reed switches or hall effect sensors?

Bryan

Mine have small glass reed switches. I'm not all that knowledgeable when it comes to end stops. How would you go about wiring them. I know how to power them but how would you hook them up? I'm assuming you would use the lines going to the peizo speaker's.

The "small glass reed switch" closes when the magnet is near. Just put the small glass thing where the mechanical switch would go in the circuit. Range is around 1 cm, so this might not be terribly accurate.

What are you describing seems pretty much like proximity sensor but with a twist. Cnc world has been using inductive proximity switches as endstops all along.

Probably best endstops with regards to precision are optical ones. Microswitches and inductive sensors are less accurate and consistent but have their advantages. Microswitches are simple to use, and inductive sensors can take a lot of dirt.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2013 04:30AM by NoobMan.