Sorry to keep you waiting!!! DUMPER UPDATE!!!
Hi Guys,
Sorry - It's been awhile since I've checked on here - I haven't been getting an messages saying there were replies to the posts!
Firstly, Elliot... Your question about the cars and on the tracks. The dumper barrel has a couple of plastic lips on it, which a piece of HO rail sits in-between. So I just used a couple of excess pieces of rail, and super-glued them onto the barrel platform - and then have lined up the tracks at either end so the cars go from one to the other. Then I've soldered a power hookup wire on each rail, that runs back to my DCC feed - to give the locos power as they go across the platform (the platform length was just long enough for them to lose power...) So I've painted the cables, and they come off a post (build out of hollow plastic tubing) - to look like hydraulic lines or the likes, and yet have enough slack for when the dumper inverts.
My 810:1 motor has arrived, and it's a monster. It's a lot noiser than the old one - being as it's about 5x the size... but moves the conveyor well. I'll just have to find a way of deadening the sound a bit before building scenery over it!!
I've also done my modifications on the coal mine to accept the conveyor belt, and I will be posting a video soon of the improved coal mine working - and the mechanics of it, for those of you who like the "behind the scenes" action! I have also painted the main building of the coal mine, and varnished it so the paint stays on nicely. It has the well used look now, and you'll be able to see it in the video.. but I do have some pictures, which I will try and add to my website at some stage!
Also the latest update on news for the dumper... It's failed!!! well.. not totally.. there's been a build up of coal in the plastic runners of the kit, which has been causing havoc with the motor trying to spin the barrel. the plastic gears that do drive the barrel end up spinning on the metal shaft. which is preferable over stripping the teeth off the dumper, as that would be a lot more work to rectify. So my fix is going to be (hopefully this week) using some V-notch pulleys that will cradle the dumper for the most part, and thus will roll with it as the barrel rotates - and any coal that gets in there will fall out as it rotates around. I've also had issues with the clamp mechanism - getting coal in it too, so I'm hoping to surround the bolts in some plastic tubing or something where they go through the bottom of the dumper, to help stop coal getting in the actuator.
As this maintenance is fairly heavy-duty (the problems started just after fitting the new conveyor motor and getting that going) - so I've had to take the conveyor back out again to remove the dumper from the layout for the work to be carried out.
I've also taken the opportunity to upgrade the electrics a bit, as the control was just a bundle of wires all soldered together, and the relay taped under the dumper. Now I've actually put headers on the motors and limit switches, and made a circuit board to hold the relay and the likes. I've also built into this a power supply circuit, to take up to 35V AC or DC power, and regulate that to both 12VDC for the relay (to reverse things) and 6V DC for the motors.
Also as the trigger, I've made it able to take 15VAC, and convert it into 12VDC to trigger the relay to start the process - so I can hook it up to a DCC accessory decoder I have - so I can start the dump process using my DCC throttle.
Also, the vibration device is run through this, and will be able to be controlled on and off via another accessory output from the decoder, and will once again be able to take the AC input trigger, and convert it to 12VDC to switch the relay on or off, and supply 3V to the shaker, via a couple of resistors, to drop the 6VDC enough.
So keep tuned for some photos, and updates of the Rotary Dumper Version 2!!!
Cheers also for your continued support - I wouldn't be still doing this otherwise - I would have lost patience with it, and gone and done something else - but the fact that I know I have other people interested in my project, and how it will all work together keeps me going, to make it better, and work more reliably!
Thanks for all your comments and questions!
Cheers,
Martin
Hi Guys,
Sorry - It's been awhile since I've checked on here - I haven't been getting an messages saying there were replies to the posts!
Firstly, Elliot... Your question about the cars and on the tracks. The dumper barrel has a couple of plastic lips on it, which a piece of HO rail sits in-between. So I just used a couple of excess pieces of rail, and super-glued them onto the barrel platform - and then have lined up the tracks at either end so the cars go from one to the other. Then I've soldered a power hookup wire on each rail, that runs back to my DCC feed - to give the locos power as they go across the platform (the platform length was just long enough for them to lose power...) So I've painted the cables, and they come off a post (build out of hollow plastic tubing) - to look like hydraulic lines or the likes, and yet have enough slack for when the dumper inverts.
My 810:1 motor has arrived, and it's a monster. It's a lot noiser than the old one - being as it's about 5x the size... but moves the conveyor well. I'll just have to find a way of deadening the sound a bit before building scenery over it!!
I've also done my modifications on the coal mine to accept the conveyor belt, and I will be posting a video soon of the improved coal mine working - and the mechanics of it, for those of you who like the "behind the scenes" action! I have also painted the main building of the coal mine, and varnished it so the paint stays on nicely. It has the well used look now, and you'll be able to see it in the video.. but I do have some pictures, which I will try and add to my website at some stage!
Also the latest update on news for the dumper... It's failed!!! well.. not totally.. there's been a build up of coal in the plastic runners of the kit, which has been causing havoc with the motor trying to spin the barrel. the plastic gears that do drive the barrel end up spinning on the metal shaft. which is preferable over stripping the teeth off the dumper, as that would be a lot more work to rectify. So my fix is going to be (hopefully this week) using some V-notch pulleys that will cradle the dumper for the most part, and thus will roll with it as the barrel rotates - and any coal that gets in there will fall out as it rotates around. I've also had issues with the clamp mechanism - getting coal in it too, so I'm hoping to surround the bolts in some plastic tubing or something where they go through the bottom of the dumper, to help stop coal getting in the actuator.
As this maintenance is fairly heavy-duty (the problems started just after fitting the new conveyor motor and getting that going) - so I've had to take the conveyor back out again to remove the dumper from the layout for the work to be carried out.
I've also taken the opportunity to upgrade the electrics a bit, as the control was just a bundle of wires all soldered together, and the relay taped under the dumper. Now I've actually put headers on the motors and limit switches, and made a circuit board to hold the relay and the likes. I've also built into this a power supply circuit, to take up to 35V AC or DC power, and regulate that to both 12VDC for the relay (to reverse things) and 6V DC for the motors.
Also as the trigger, I've made it able to take 15VAC, and convert it into 12VDC to trigger the relay to start the process - so I can hook it up to a DCC accessory decoder I have - so I can start the dump process using my DCC throttle.
Also, the vibration device is run through this, and will be able to be controlled on and off via another accessory output from the decoder, and will once again be able to take the AC input trigger, and convert it to 12VDC to switch the relay on or off, and supply 3V to the shaker, via a couple of resistors, to drop the 6VDC enough.
So keep tuned for some photos, and updates of the Rotary Dumper Version 2!!!
Cheers also for your continued support - I wouldn't be still doing this otherwise - I would have lost patience with it, and gone and done something else - but the fact that I know I have other people interested in my project, and how it will all work together keeps me going, to make it better, and work more reliably!
Thanks for all your comments and questions!
Cheers,
Martin