Can I use a timer with a Cir-Kit transformer?, NOT at the socket, but somehow along the cord? Options

[glassbird]

Here is the situation...

I am repairing and gently updating a 1907 dollhouse. It was built for my maternal grandmother, and has been handed down thru the generations. I am going to be handing it to the next generation in a few months...my youngest niece is asking for a dollhouse!

One of the updates includes 4 ceiling lights and a carriage light outside the front door. I have used the tape wire system in other projects, so no questions there. But this dollhouse will be going to a child, who will (no doubt) forget to turn off the lights on a regular basis. I want to add a 30 minute timer, but not at the wall socket. I want the timer built into the system, permanently. I am adding a base to the house with drawers to store the legs when it is between owners, and also to store extra furniture and "seasonal items" when the house is in use. So there is plenty of room to hide a transformer and timer in (under) the house.

I have been looking at Cir-Kit transformers. They sell a big one that is a "table-top" model, which would be perfect because it has a regular electric cord going from the transformer to the wall. I could wire a timer into a regular electric cord, and then build the base so that only the timer could be touched by little hands. BUT...that table-top transformer is built to handle a large number of bulbs, and we will be starting out with only 5. I am hoping that in the future, my niece and I will be adding a few more lights, and I will be placing the wires to allow this. But for now, just 5. My understanding is that a large transformer with too few lights is bad...

So...what to do? Can a timer be added to the wire between a transformer that is plugged directly into the wall and the dollhouse? I am guessing that I would need a different type of timer for 12 volts...do they make them? Where do I buy such a thing? Or am I over thinking this? Is there an easier way to limit the time that lights are left on?

Help!
CT

[MiniGirl*]

I'm sorry I can't help with your questions but I would love to see a picture of the house. I bet it is just beautiful!

I am also fixing up a house for my niece.

[starfire]

Why not simply call Cir-Kit and ask them. I have called with questions a couple of times and they were helpful. It may turn out you will give them an idea for a new product!.

This post has been edited by starfire: Feb 20 2010, 02:52 PM

[Jackie]

I would check with Cir-Kit, as Starfire suggests.

Would you please show us the dollhouse? I'd love to have a look at your antique heirloom!


Whoops, forgot to welcome you to ATM! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

This post has been edited by Jackie: Feb 20 2010, 04:07 PM

[glassbird]

Does this forum have an emoticon for "slap forehead"? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif) Well, thats close...

Contact CirKit...what a great idea! I knew I was overthinking this...

I tried to upload a picture of the dollhouse when I wrote my original post, but the picture just seemed to vanish into the ether...I apparently do not have the hang of it on this forum yet. But I will try again tomorrow night, when I am on my own computer (I am on a computer at work right now...).

It is a nice dollhouse. Very basic, but it was designed as a toy and it has served that purpose well...nine little girls, so far. It is a little larger than 1:12 scale, but close enough. It was built by a house-making carpenter at the request of my great great grandfather. Apparently, this carpenter did not entirely understand the concept of a dollhouse, and he built an actual house, in miniature, with no open side! My 7 year-old grandmother played with it for a while by stuffing her dolls thru the windows, since there was no other option. Eventually, my great grandfather stepped in and hauled it out to the barn, where he took a large bow saw and cut it right down the middle. And just like that, my grandmother had TWO dollhouses!

In the 1930's, both halves went to be played with by my grandmother's brother's two girls. When it was returned for my mother to play with, in 1942, only one half came back. We do not know what happened to the other half, despite inquries to that side of the family. They just do not respond on the subject. Very puzzling.

But my mother's father added doors between the rooms for my mother, and then my mother added stairs and openings between the floors, and into the attic, for me (in 1971). I am adding electricity and a bathroom as my contribution, and repairing the damage done by one of my cousin's children in the 1990s. Regretably, I have also had to strip off the paint, as it was damaged and lead-based. But it has been repainted, and repaired, and I am about to tackle the insides!

Thanks for the interest, and pictures will follow!
Cathy T.

This post has been edited by glassbird: Feb 27 2010, 06:30 AM

[Jackie]

It's a shame that the other half has "vanished" - but it sounds like a very special dollhouse indeed! I'm looking forward to seeing it! It may be that the picture you tried to load was too large ... I'm no expert at this sort of thing, though.

[glassbird]

I have made these pictures as small as I can, so hopefully this will work! This is a view of the inside, but the top section is not on it in this pic. A triangular attic area goes on top, which will be visible in the next picture. This shows some of the damage caused by a cousins child. It was in much better condition when I had it...

(IMG:http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo259/glassbird_photos/10-02-13006lowres.jpg)

And this is the outside front, with the removable attic in place. The attic top has not been touched yet, but the bottom has been stripped of 4 layers of paint at this point, and the white you are seeing is the original paint, which is on like iron! I do not know what they put in paint back in 1907, but it just laughs at modern-day stripping products! I finally decided to just think of it as "primer", and let it stay! Since this pic was taken, the house has been sanded, gouges filled, broken walls repaired, and the outside has 4 thin coats of soft yellow paint. The windows will be white, the shutters green, the roof will be stripped as well and repainted gray.
(IMG:http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo259/glassbird_photos/10-02-13010lowres.jpg)

Hey, I think the pictures are working now! Oh, this is too much fun! OK, one more gratuitous shot...this is my assistant. He will be getting credit as the "official building inspector"...
(IMG:http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo259/glassbird_photos/10-02-13015lowres.jpg)

Cathy T.

[othercate]

Oh wow...what a wonderful old house! After having read the story...I can just imagine the generations of your family's children playing with it. What a treasure! And I love the official building inspector! What is it with cats and dollhouses? They just know that they are constructed for them! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[Jackie]

That is such a treasure! I hope you can record all the family history, so it can be passed along down the generations, along with the dollhouse. A scrapbook of all the family members who've played with it, and pics of it's various "renovations"! I also hope the other half is being cherished somewhere ...

Cats just can't resist miniatures. My Siamese knows how to get my attention when I'm busy. He jumps up onto the roof of the dollhouse in the kitchen, and yells, "Look where I am, look at me!!" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

[glassbird]

Funny you should mention a scrapbook of the dollhouse...my primary hobby is digital scrapbooking, closely followed by genealogy and family history. I am creating a scrapbook of the entire history of the dollhouse, with the names of all the children who have played with it (EXCEPT the brat who damaged it, she will be deliberately un-named) and the history of the construction of the house itself, and its repairs and enhancements. I have pictures of almost all the children (none of my grandmother's brothers girls, yet). I am including pictures of this major overhaul, as well as my reasons for each step. I am adding a "basement"...which is actually a drawer unit, for storage. Everytime it gets passed to a new generation, something gets left behind, or lost, so I am hoping a storage area will put a stop to this. The screw-on legs vanish every time, so a special drawer is set aside just for them! In this drawer unit will be a hiding place that a child will never notice, but will be visible to an observant adult. This hiding place is where the book will go. By hiding it, I hope to ensure that it will stay with the house.

I am doing a separate smaller version of the history book, to be given to my youngest niece. It explains the history in a simpler, child-friendly way, and includes her as part of the chain.

And yes, cats and dollhouses do seem to share a link! I caught Bear actually chewing on one corner of this house, when I first started working on it. I think he was trying to help! I will add that picture in a day or two, when I am on my own computer again.

I am so glad to be able to share this house with others who are really interested! Only my mother and my cousin share my enthusiasm...but they both had it as a child, so that helps!

Cathy T.

[Marie]

Welcome to ATM, Cathy! I love that old house and it's wonderful to know its story. Restorations are so much fun and we look forward to seeing more and more pictures of this one.

[glassbird]

In case anyone is interested...I emailed Cir Kit and they responded speedily! Below is the reply...

Dear Cathy,

I am unaware of anyone who makes an in-line timer for 12 volts nor do I know of a way to put a timer in the cord of our smaller transformers.

The battery holder is a much easier problem. We sell only one battery holder that will work with dollhouse lights. CK211-7 "AA" Size Battery Holder, 8 Cell, 12 Volt version.

Kind Regards,

Craig Skare
Cir-Kit Concepts

I have come up with a workaround though. I am going to buy one of those 6 foot extension cords, one of the ones that has places for two or three items to be plugged in. I will plug the transformer into the extension cord, and hide that end inside the basement, and have only the extension cord protruding from the basement. I will have an electrician friend cut the extension cord closer to the end with the transformer and wire in a 30 minute timer. I have seen very simple ones that can be turned on and off via a simple rocker switch. The rocker switch will be screwed into an opening in the basement, just like a switch on the wall. So the transformer and the switch will be in the basement, with just the cord sticking out to be plugged in. My niece can tap the rocker switch for 30 minutes of light. If she needs more time, she just taps it again. And if she walks away and forgets to turn it off, the timer will do its thing.

Now I have to find that switch! I know they make them, but no luck so far!

(IMG:http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo259/glassbird_photos/2006MarchBearchewingondollhouselowr.jpg)
(He did no harm, and I really think he was trying to help with the "demolition stage".)

[Jackie]

Good luck with the switch quest! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)