Warning lights

Mar 05, 2009 15 Replies

I'm after a couple of red warning neons (I presume) so I can at a glance (and at a distance) see if my thermostats are calling for heat. I'm think of the usual socket sized plate but with just the warning light - no switch, socket or fuse, if you see what I mean.



Is such a thing available? Where? What do I ask for?



TIA



Keith


The MK Grid Plus range (a sort of 'kit') will do what you want. Single gang plate with two rectangular openings to snap in what you will. Then two snap-in red neons. Will cost you about 20 quid though.

It'd be cheaper to mount two panel-mount neons on a blanking plate.

Panel mount neons? Have you got a link so I can see what you mean and where I would get them?

Keith

If you don't want to actually construct one yourself use a grid switch system. The grid takes a variety of standard size modules one of which is a neon indicator. There are different makes. Most electrical wholesalers stock them, as do Screwfix.

If you have a look through this you'll see the options.

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Maplin have lots of them.

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Bob Eager coughed up some electrons that declared:

My local and large-ish B&Q sell MK Gri + Neons

:

Any electronic component supplier will carry panel mount neons. They come with and without resistor, ensure you get one with, for 240v use.

There are much more compact & neat ways to mount neons than a blaning plate, but it sounds like thats what you want.

NT

You can also get panel mount mains LEDs which are rather better to look at.

I once fitted one in the thermostat body.

Wade through the usual suspects - RS and CPC etc. Or even Ebay.

John posted

Yes, I did this a few months ago, inserted it between the 350kohm accelerator resistor and the neutral. I cannibalised the LED from an old AA battery charger; the serial no seems to be LR83355.

That's the solution I've adopted in the past.

I once modified a bi-metel thermostat (or frost stat actually) to operate on 12VDC rather than 240VAC. That required changing the accelerator resistor to give off the same power at 12VDC as the mains one had been designed to do, and I had it also drive a (remote) LED as the current was about right.

It used to switch on the heating when the loft temperature dropped to zero. It's all still wired up, but now it just switches on the remote LED, as the loft frost protection is handled by a DS18B20 digital sensor.

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