DIY Light Mover

ckoral

ckoral

Premium Member
I am looking for some simple plans for a DIY light mover.

Most movers seem really expensive. There does not seem to be a lot of technology invested in them, yet they cost a lot. I am sure someone has built one, but I cannot seem to find any threads on it. Anyone???
 
Yeah and they seem so simple.... motor on some type of track with a switch that changes motor direction. I would guess I could build one on my own, but if someone already has experience, I would like to draw on that.
 
I was thinking about making one of these for the fun of it (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1512772). My tank is a cube...a full light rail wouldn't really necessary for my application.

I'm definitely interested in a DIY light rail though in case I ever need one. McMaster-Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/) sells strut channels that would be perfect for a DIY rail.

How would you make the motor go in reverse? I can imagine a momentary switch, but what kind of motor/circuitry would you need to make sure it reversed directions?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13962198#post13962198 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ckoral
oh boy... that is a silly link....
Click to expand...

Makes me dizzy looking at the gif.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13962929#post13962929 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ckoral
I can't believe this is not already a tried and true DIY RC project
Click to expand...

There was a thread I saw here once and can't find, the guy used a gear motor and a metal closet pole. The motor was connected with a belt to a wheel and the light fixture was moved with wire attached to the belt. Wish I had bookmarked it, it worked very well.

RandalB
 
I know it would take some money, and be somewhat involved, but what about using a stepper motor and a screw actuator?

Ive had this idea in my head for a while, but no practical use, or need for it.
 
ive made one that works very well just didnt log it because it was all trial and some boo boos. well its ben running 24hours aday(checking how long it runs befor something goes wrong with it) and sofar its ben going 1 month now with no real problems. i will be doing a build on a nother one with some minor changes to it. that will have to wait till the new year cuz xmas has all my cash right now.

and yes i figured out how to get it to go back and forth for almost any distance you make it at. the one i have now is like 32" travle and 20min one way! and its very slim (1.5" tall)


by the way it only costed me like $50 to build
 
For the stepper motor idea, remember those old printers that had the tear off strips on the edge of the paper...you know, with all the holes? Well, those printers (dot matrix I believe) have 3 stepper motors in them. I can pretty much guarantee you that someone you know has one sitting in their closet or garage or something and wants it gone....super cheap access to a totally controllable motor.......then just build a lead screw and lead nut out of a piece of stainless all-thread and an all-thread connector nut....you could even get crazy with it and make your rails out of some sort of pvc conduit and use roller skate bearings on the mover to keep friction to a minimum....man this has really got me thinking...hmmmmm....I'm wondering if some sort of polarity reversing switch could be employed to make the stepper change directions at a given distance......
 
building the stepper controle would not be worth the cash. granted the motor would be cheep out of the printer but you need a controler for that type of motor. a stepper only goes a certan distance (let say 11 degrees) when power is sent to 2 of the wires and then stops. then you need to stop the power and give it to the next 2 wires to make it go another 11 degrees. next you stop the power again and go back to the first set of wires ...and so forth..........i found that out by getting a HURST stepper motor just to play with.
so you need a cercut board made to do the switching for ya or it will go way to slow having you sit there moving wires back and forth :)
 
Actually, you can get a "Stepper Motor Speed Pulse Controller and Driver Board" for about $26 bucks shipped on that one big auction site....I think with some thought, it wouldn't cost all that much to get up and running..
 
i spent $50 total on mine and that includes a latching dpdt relay, 6v power suply(i had but i could get for like $5 extra), small unprinted pc board, 60rpm@12v motor, 2 berrings, a few nuts,3' of 1/4-20 treaded rod, micro switches, and the 6' alum, and some plastic from my job. i could ad a pot so i could slow it down even farther if i wanted to but 20 min just to go 32" is fine by me.

if you didnt get the stepper motors for free it wouldnt be worth it in my eyes doing it your way.
 
search for linear actuator on ebay and you will find all sorts of interesting stuff. they come in all lengths, are typicaly 12v operated. There is a website out there that sells a control unit as well. You would probably need to pulse it for some time in one direction then reverse.

mike...
 
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