Control DC using AC

Other Hardware General Electronics
1

Okay here's the project. I want to turn on under cabinet LED strip lights using the light button on my over range microwave.

My plan was to tap into the AC going to the microwave bulbs and use that to control a solid state relay SSR to control the dc supply to the LED lights.

Alas, I can only find DC to AC or AC to AC SSRs. Can anyone thing of a good easy reliable way to do what I want?

AC relays don't seam to be all that common an therefore are expensive. (From what I have found)

I could tear into the microwave to pull the signal off the button, but I don't want to go that deep if I don't have to.

I could run the DC power supply in parallel with the lights but I worry about pulling too much power from the microwave.

Thoughts?

2

Have you considered a regular electro-mechanical relay?

3

DVDdoug:
Have you considered a regular electro-mechanical relay?

Yes but don't I have to have a special AC input type relay? The ones I found were industrial grade and like $75+.

4

Be exceptionally careful taking the cover off a microwave, the microwave energy, voltages and currents involved are extremely dangerous.

Never change the layout of the internal oven compartment in any way or run wiring through it. It is designed specifically to reduce radiation to an acceptable level.

5

Can't you just turn on the AC to the (DC) supply of the LEDs?

And I would say mains relays are pretty normal and affordable.

6

RF fields in a microwave oven cavity are plenty high enough to toast pretty much all electronic devices placed in them.

7

Out of all possible ways to control bench lights, I would never even think of messing with the internals of a microwave oven to do it!

Advice: Don't open up the microwave oven, think of another way.

8

In the spirit of not mucking with the innards of a microwave and because this is an arduino forum, you could you use a CDS photo cell and sense the microwave light and control a mosfet to turn on the LED strips.

You would need something with hysteresis so the mosfet doesn't go linear.