Photo cells

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Photo cells

Postby dge467 » Tue Jan 30, 2018 4:36 pm

Dose anyone know where to find the infer red photo cells for the lap counters. I have a one that went bad.I am not sure if there different types. Any help is appreciated.
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Re: Photo cells

Postby 4424ever » Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:00 pm

Got mine at Digi-Key there are different types to choose from but I’ll bet you can match what you have almost exactly
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Re: Photo cells

Postby RichD » Wed Jan 31, 2018 9:34 am

Those are actually IR phototransistors. You must use one that matches your emitters or your counter will not work properly. Both the emitters and detectors operate over a very narrow frequency range. The common values are 850 and 950 nanometers. If the values are not matched the sensors may not be triggered unless they are very close to the emitters. Since you probably don't know which emitters you have you should order some of each. Install one and if it works OK you are good to go, otherwise try the other frequency.
Here is a Digikey 880nm sensor part number: QSD123-ND
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Re: Photo cells

Postby dge467 » Wed Jan 31, 2018 9:51 pm

Thanks guys! I looked up the part number, but it dosen't look anything like the sensor I have. The one I need is the one that is in the track. It is flat , clear, and square.
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Re: Photo cells

Postby RichD » Sat Feb 03, 2018 9:42 am

Any sensor that sees the right frequency will work, you may never be able to locate ones that look like the ones that you have. If you look through all of these you may find something: https://www.digikey.com/products/en/sen ... transistor .
I only looked through some of these, the ones that were rectangular were surface mounts and in my experience it is difficult to connect to those. Your problem may just be a bad connection, if it is you might not be able to fix the connection. You would be better off using something with leads like a regular LED has.
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