Bizzare electronics question

[Hedgeyourbets]

Hello I know this probably isn't the right forum to be posting this on generally but everyone here seems good with electronics and I was hoping someone could help.
My grandmother has an obession that she is going to leave her fridge door ajar, so much so that she bought an alarm to tell her when the fridge light was still on, this was fine as it repeated the message over and over again until the door was shut, however, it broke. So far we have pruchased two of the exact same thing and both of them play the message only once. so my question is, is there any easy way to modify the corcuit to make it repeat the message as it did with her previous one.

If at all helpful, here are some pictures
IMG_20120418_142539.jpg
IMG_20120418_142552.jpg

[ASSEMbler]

Just adjust the feet on the fridge so it's permanently angled back, the door will always close due to gravity.

[Hedgeyourbets]

I will give it a try but I'm not sure it will help because as I remember, the door has become a bit misshapen with age and therfore does not shut properly without a bit of force, and it looks closed when it isn't . I will have a look when I get there though.

[Cyantist]

Skip the fridge devices and go straight for door chimes. They chime when the "range" is broke between the two devices, she shuts the fridge door it closes the range. if it doesnt shut it will sound because the range was closed but then opened again.

[Hedgeyourbets]

Where would I find such a thing?

[retro]

Sounds like it's time for a new fridge! If it's old, it's probably not as efficient as it could be, anyway.

If she's got a problem in that the door doesn't shut properly, you could always use magnets:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-...tor-Door-Shut/

[mairsil]

Replace the defective grandmother.

[Cyantist]

Skip my idea. It isn't as cheap as I thought it would be. Get some powerful magnets like retro said, not as powerful as neodymium but I reckon you'd need something strong.

[Dreamcast]

To answer your original question, you could use a 555 timer or a multi-vibrator to gate on a transistor that would allow the photo-diode (sensor) to be detected if it's active. That way, it would "reset" the trigger event in the device that tells it to play the sound effect.

[fasman]

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/wireles...rm-826?item=14

It sounds a alarm if the sensor isnt right next to the unit(Door open), and stops if its next to the sensor (close the door)

Last time I checked it used 6v so just power it with a wall transformer, you can add a 1k pot to the speaker if you want to turn the volume down a bit ;)

[Hedgeyourbets]

Hey
Thank you for all your suggestions, unfortunately the magnets won't work because there isn't enough room round the edge for them
The fridge works perfectly well so she'll not be replacing it. Not like they're free is it.
Ok the alarm sensor looks like an idea, but my nan seemed quite keen on a repeating voice, haha she's a bit particular about what she wants, which is essentially as similar to what she had before as possible. Since the sensors are 99p on ebay I'll look into it but I'm intrigued by this 555 timer idea that dreamcast suggested

[Cyantist]

The fridge works perfectly well so she'll not be replacing it. Not like they're free is it.

Lucky. A bit of plastic snaps off on one of our appliances and I have to school her on why it's still a functional product and we don't need a new one.

[Twimfy]

I have to say this is pretty weird. Never known anyone worry about such a thing. Surely there are more important things in life to stress about?

[Hedgeyourbets]

So you're saying my grandmother is a weirdo for not wanting her fridge motor to blow and her food to get spoilt?