Hello. My project is to open two doors above my fireplace in order to reveal a TV. Each door is 24" wide (36" high) and each weighs about 4lbs. I need help figuring out what kind of motor to get in order to move a belt driven actuator. I already have this working with a 25" screw-drive linear actuator, which came with a DC motor attached to it. I have a separate actuator for each door. Anyway, I simply apply 12V to the two motor wires and the actuator moves in one direction. When I reverse the polarity, it moves in the other. I also put in a limit switch since I need the actuator to travel a distance shorter than 25". It works quite well but the actuator is insanely loud and I am looking to replace it with a belt-drive linear actuator like this one: V-Slot™ Mini V Linear Actuator Bundle I am assuming that the belt-drive linear actuator will be much quieter than the existing screw-drive one that I have. The v-slot mini-v bundle has an option to include a stepper motor but that seems too complex for my needs. Keeping in mind that I would like something that isn't too noisy, what kind of motor should I get to hook into this bundle? Hopefully there will only be two wires on the motor to supply power to and the motor can move the actuator over a span of 24" in less than 10 seconds. I appreciate any help! Thank you.
Hello @mashme Sounds like a cool project, looking forward to the Build. I do not have much experience using DC motors for actuators so I may not be the right guys to answer, but it seems pretty straight forward. I think the main thing for you to find is what is the best motor to use for the job. You may need to look into using a smaller DC motor with a reduction system to help with torque needed. Here is a link to a guy (Matthew) who build model boats and has tested quite a few of these DC reduction systems for his rigs. I thought the info he came up with in his test notes may be useful for your project as well. Matthews Model Marine All Geared Up Hope this helps to get you pointed in the right direction and maybe some of the guys with more DC motor experience will chime in here as well.
You might take a look at car window motors. They are generally fairly quiet and should be geared to a speed that would be usable with a belt system. Should also be fairly inexpensive if going with either aftermarket or salvage parts.
Thanks for the replies! But don't I need a certain diameter on the motor's spindle to be able to fit into the belt drive system? In other words, wouldn't the size of the hole opening on the belt drive system dictate which motor to use based on the motor's spindle?
It is somewhat unlikely that you will be able to find an off-the-shelf DC motor that will drop right into this system as it is designed for a stepper motor. So you are down to two choices, either adapt a motor to fit the system or add the electronics necessary to run a stepper. The hole is not really the limiting factor as that is something easily drilled out. The limiting factor will be the motor shaft size relative to the pulley gear. Depending on the difference in size however, the pulley may be capable of being drilled out to fit a larger size motor shaft. Also the kit shown above may not be your best option. You may be better off developing a system just from the variety of parts that are available.
Hi. Going back to this thread and my original post, I found the following DC Motor that I would like to use as it is really quiet: 12V Silent DC Motor 146RPM w/Encoder Some questions: 1) Do any of you have an opinion as to whether this motor will work? 2) I am limited by space though as I only have 3" wide 48" long and 48" high for the space where the actuator and motor will be mounted. I won't be able to mount this motor at a right angle to the actuator given these constraints. Can I instead mount the motor above and perpendicular to the actuator? Similar to the second actuator from the left but with the motor above the actuator instead of below it: http://cdn1.bigcommerce.com/server2..._examples__81715.1444311165.1280.1280.jpg?c=2 3) If yes to question 2, can I use either a v-slot or v-slot mini actuator to accomplish this or is this multiple orientation only supported by the v-slot actuator? I don't see a similar picture for the v-slot mini actuator. Thanks again!
The motor seems stout enough so it should work but the mounting holes don't match up with the openbuilds plates so you will need to drill some. As far as perpendicular mounting, why can't you just turn the whole actuator assembly up on its side? It takes up less space that way.
That motor seems to have mounting holes 28mm apart while NEMA17 is 31mm. The holes in the "Linear Actuator End Mount" will not fit. It does use the same M3 bolts. The 6mm shaft instead of 4.5mm will require some drilling. You may ruin the tiny hole for the grub screws in the pulles with shavings while drilling it up to 6mm. You must also be carefull not to deform the pulley when placing it in a vice for drilling. Be careful as your shaft is only 18mm in length while the NEMA17 used here is 24+-0.5mm. Check that you have enough shaft to reach any kind of bearing or hole you have opposide to the pulley. (Obviously a 6mm shaft will also require differently sized ball bearings. So if your design includes any, you should not forget to check them too.) NEMA17 brushless motors exist. They would be a mechanical drop-in replacement. However they require a brushless controller, so that would work against your criteria of keeping things simple.
