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3D Printer Enclosure – Touch control for your light setup

In this video I’m going to show you how to create a nice touch controller for your light setup. Using a voltage regulator to control the brightness and touch sensor to turn it on and off, you can build an awesome controller to turn on and off your lights or any other DC powered unit.

I wanted to build a simple controller to turn my 3D printer’s enclosure lights on and off, but at the same time I wanted to avoid using rocker or toggle switches because they usually look bulky and stick like an eye sore.

My idea was to use LM2596 DC-DC voltage regulator module. It can handle relatively high currents, it has build in trim potentiometer to adjust the voltage and therefore the brightness of my LEDs and also has a neat On/Off feature. We can modify the regulator board a bit and add TP223 Touch sensor to turn the load on or off by touching the surface. This is perfect because then you can cover that touch sensor (i.e. hide it under another surface) and it will still work, basically giving you an invisible switch from the outside.

STEP files available for download here.

I would love to hear your feedback, so please leave a comment or a suggestion in the comment section below!

4 Comments

  1. Thomas
    Thomas 21. July 2020.

    Found here by the article on Hackaday.
    Very nice indeed! Also, this module (TP223) can be used for a plethora of things to control! Thanks for the ideas! 🙂
    Nice case by the way. 😉

    • Sasa Karanovic
      Sasa Karanovic 2. August 2020.

      Hi Thomas,
      I agree 100%, this TP223 (and also other touch sensing ICs) are very cool and can be used in many applications. It’s amazing how affordable and simple to use they are, absolute win-win for any DIY project. 🙂
      Thank you for your feedback and leaving the comment! Stay tuned for more projects. 🙂

  2. Maurizio Butti
    Maurizio Butti 2. August 2020.

    Great work! In the text LM2956 should actually read LM2596

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