Many of the chandeliers have a pull chord switch. Now add a novelty to your chandelier and surprise the guests. Place a small wire down the lamps from this circuit and touch it once, they will come on dimly. Touch again they glow with medium brightness. Another touch drives them full. One more touch the lights will be fully off.

Here is an attractive application of Touch Dimmer IC, TT6061, an 8 pin CMOS IC which has three steps of touch dimming for incandescent lamps. Because of its high sensitivity, a long wire can be connected to the touch sensor. The circuit has minimum external components. Regulated supply of 6.2V is directly taken from the mains with an operating current of 1mA through Rl, D2, Dl, and C1. R1 drops the mains voltage, D2 rectifies it, CI filters it and Dl regulates it at 6.2 V. Pin out and description of pins is given below.

Pin Description
1. CK    CLOCK INPUT
2. FI    LINE FREQUENCY 50/60Hz
3. VDD    POWER INPUT
4. TI    TOUCH INPUT
5. SI    SENSOR CONTROL INPUT
6. NC     NO CONNECTION
7.VSS    POWER VSS
8. AT    OUTPUT

Just a copper plate of 1cm X 1cm can be the touch plate or even the end of the lead wire will work well. AC hum pervades all over and it is sensed from this plate by the touch detector through two No.s of lkpf / 2kV capacitors in series (C2, and C3). It is then registered in a step register and connected to the counter / decoder. Line frequency signal is fed into the IC through R2 to Pin No.2. At the zero crossing, the triac (BT136) is triggered with appropriate pulse, which can drive up to 500W with a suitable heat sink.

Do not replace two series capacitors C2, C3, with a single capacitor or with a capacitor of a lesser voltage rating. They are connected between touch input pin (4) and the touch plate to remove the shock potential from the touch plate.Mains potential exists in the circuit and you are warned. Take all the precautions which you take while making or working on mains circuits. Place a small heat sink on the triacs. Take a note of the power consumed by the chandelier. If it is more than the capability of this triac, use a higher rated one.

Related articles

• January 26, 2010 -- Telephone Light (0)
• January 21, 2010 -- Light Sensitive Staircase Switch with Triac (0)