[OT] Ambi Pur mechanism

May 11, 2008 2 Replies
S

At the discount shop here in the UK I bought an Ambi Pur "Light Sensor". This is a dispenser for air fragrance with a light operated switch so it operates only in daylight.



This is it:

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The electrical part interests me.



Mine didn't come with a fragrance container to try, so does anyone know if the brown-coloured collar inside the dispenser is simply an electromagnet (which then presumably tugs open some part of the fragrance container). It doesn't seem to have any moving parts.



What is the voltage of the two electrical leads which go to operate the brown collar?


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B

That brown ring is a heating element ! I belive its a thermistor type device that provides an air flow and evaporation mechanism.

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B

The brown collar is indeed a resistor (usually just containing a couple of ordinary resistors) but it's rare to find a self regulating thermistor type these days. The collar heats up and accelerates the vaporisation of the noxious aroma chemicals from a wick. The operating voltage of the heater will depend on the circuitry. In most instances it would just be a 24K resistor across the mains giving a rough power output of 2.4W on a UK supply.

If this was from Poundland then you can get the other no-name version without the light sensor complete with a bottle of noxious aroma chemical. I've just hacked a load of them for pleasure by adding two inverse parallel LEDs in series with the 24K resistor (10mA) to make the bottle light up, and replaced the noxious aroma chemicals with pure lavender or orange oil. Very nice, but actually quite strong output!

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