old rooster Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 Got bored this afternoon so made myself one of those new fanglin whirlin things. Decided that I wanted something that was compact to carry, lightweight and low on battery power. Already had a sunroof motor from a BMW got off ebay for 8 quid inc P&P, figured that compared to a wiper motor in this country it would have seen very little use due to the poxy climate. Had a rummage round the scrap box and found some aluminium offcuts and an old aluminium vacuum cleaner tube. Made up a foot plate with legs and fitted a spigot in the middle for the tube to fit over, then made the motor plate with corresponding spigot on the underside. All takes apart for easy carrying (will fit in my rucksack) and the arms can fit in the hide pole bag. Cheated a bit as for now I've used an old pair of arms off a whirly thingy my shooting buddy chucked out, will make something a bit better in due course. All up weight less the battery and pigeons is 2.7kg so not too heavy. Ain't painted yet but that's no big job, just need to find some paint that will stick to aluminium. Deffo need a speed control as the thing goes round at about 120rpm at the moment !! So total cost so far 8 quid, anybody know a good place for cheap matt paint :thumbs: Whoops forgot I still have to buy the speed controller. Still going to be a low cost project though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 Another view of the whirly bird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 Whirlin thingy in bits for carryin about. foot section will fit in tall bucket with cammo nets, as will motor head assembly, tube in rucksack, arms in hide pole bag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 9R Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 OR, I have to hand it to you that is a tidy looking bit of kit, out of interest would a house hold light dimmer switch work as a speed controller?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 OR, I have to hand it to you that is a tidy looking bit of kit, out of interest would a house hold light dimmer switch work as a speed controller?? Thanks for the comment 9R, I think there is a speed controller that gives out pulses rather than adding resistance so doesn't draw current and run the battery down. Don't think a mains light dimmer would work as it's designed for AC rather than DC but don't quote me on that cos I ain't a chemist :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 OR, Very good looking machine, you've saved yourself a bit of cash there. Just one question, do those bolts hold the rod arms firm enough when there is a bird on them, there is a lot of torque on them when spinning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel b3 Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 a tidy looking bit of kit mate,it looks better than some of the professional jobs ive seen for sale. if you pm me your address ill send you a bit of matt nato green paint ive got no etching primer left so youll have to source your own im afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 I don't know yet, I've had it running sans pigeons but I take your point, it should be better with a bit less speed as the arms were starting to flatten out when I tried it, would probably be ok for training racing pigeons :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonno 357 Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 Ya can buy the speed controllers on ebay £20. These are Pulse wave modulators to us none chemists Nice looking rotor Will the arms be strong enough ? They look abit weedy ? What are they 6mm? I've put 10mm on my rotor Jonno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 Pulse wave modulators are the way to go, just ordered one in kit form for £13.95 inc P&P. Resistive alternatives drain battery power so waste battery life. I'm looking for the lightest combination so it can be carried if I can't drive right up to where I want to shoot. Hoping to get away with a 7 or 10AH battery. Thanks for the info on the ebay unit, will take a look. Not sure if the arms will be strong enough yet, think it may pay to gut the pigeons before putting them on as it should save a bit of weight. These arms are off an old magnet, I will probably remake them later when I've a bit more time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonno 357 Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 I'm using 12v 7Ah batteries. I get about 3 hours use out of one battery. I've had the speed control for about a year now. What I found is the 3amp fuses kept blowing on the controller. I been using it now with a piece of threaded 6mm bar as the fuse. In effect cancelling out the fuse. Works perfectly fine under these conditions The PWM is a bit blurred but I was trying to illustrate the internal working. Plus hand still shaking from last nights beer As you can see I collect batteries These are free, thanks to contact associate of mine. As the story goes he is a service engineer who services some sort of portable contraption that uses 2x12v 7Ah batteries. When one goes down he replaces both as per service contract agreement. In effect the good one comes Jonno's way, naturally I say cheers mate one yer way Its a Yorkshire thing Jonno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 I'm using 12v 7Ah batteries. I get about 3 hours use out of one battery. I've had the speed control for about a year now. What I found is the 3amp fuses kept blowing on the controller. I been using it now with a piece of threaded 6mm bar as the fuse. In effect cancelling out the fuse. Works perfectly fine under these conditions The PWM is a bit blurred but I was trying to illustrate the internal working. Plus hand still shaking from last nights beer As you can see I collect batteries These are free, thanks to contact associate of mine. As the story goes he is a service engineer who services some sort of portable contraption that uses 2x12v 7Ah batteries. When one goes down he replaces both as per service contract agreement. In effect the good one comes Jonno's way, naturally I say cheers mate one yer way Its a Yorkshire thing Jonno Hmmmm, fuses are usually fitted for a purpose, maybe if you are using up a 7AH battery in 3 hours you are drawing more current than the PWM can comfortably handle ? I'd have been inclined to go 5 amp fuse rather than6mm rod personally. What motor are you running ? looks like its taking about 1.75 amps as you'll not be getting the last bit out of the battery. That's why I'm using a smaller motor from a sun roof, ideally I could use a 2:1 reduction spur gear set up to reduce speed, that way motor load would be nearly halved, allowing for efficiency losses (5th form physics but I didn't listen, too busy looking out the classroom window). How much do you want for a couple of them thar Yuasa batteries ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wanderer Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 How much would you charge to make one mate? Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffs-Shooter Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 OR, I have to hand it to you that is a tidy looking bit of kit, out of interest would a house hold light dimmer switch work as a speed controller?? Thanks for the comment 9R, I think there is a speed controller that gives out pulses rather than adding resistance so doesn't draw current and run the battery down. Don't think a mains light dimmer would work as it's designed for AC rather than DC but don't quote me on that cos I ain't a chemist Obscure comment but i was told you could use a radio volume ****? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 How much would you charge to make one mate? Regards There's loads of people making these things already, I'd have to make a few for it to be worthwhile then there's warranty and all that sort of bosh to deal with. In honesty it would cost you more than one from the guys who advertise on here. Reason I made one is cos I'm a tight ***, have the facilities and just got bored the other afternoon. Couple of big advantages I see with it over what you can buy at the moment: Light to carry. Takes apart for easy carrying. Low current drain so don't need a big battery. Thanks for the vote of confidence though, if you ever need any gas flow measuring equipment or plastic injection mouldings bear me in mind as they are my main areas of business. That and the pervy stuff I sell on Ebay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 OR, I have to hand it to you that is a tidy looking bit of kit, out of interest would a house hold light dimmer switch work as a speed controller?? Thanks for the comment 9R, I think there is a speed controller that gives out pulses rather than adding resistance so doesn't draw current and run the battery down. Don't think a mains light dimmer would work as it's designed for AC rather than DC but don't quote me on that cos I ain't a chemist Obscure comment but i was told you could use a radio volume ****? Radio volume control is a potentiometer, doubt it would like the amount of current you'd be putting through it, mind you it might charm the pigeons in if the whirlygig played some nice soothing music. I know it's one of my things but I don't want to waste any battery power I can avoid, anything that uses resistance to control the motor speed is going to take current. Doesn't matter in a car cos the alternator is there slaving away to charge the battery back up. Wonder if you could make a clockwork one ??, if you had a big enough spring it would last an hour on one wind up. You could have a porkin great spring cos you wouldn't then need to carry a battery. Forgot to mention before that I'm a design engineer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wanderer Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 How much would you charge to make one mate? Regards There's loads of people making these things already, I'd have to make a few for it to be worthwhile then there's warranty and all that sort of bosh to deal with. In honesty it would cost you more than one from the guys who advertise on here. Reason I made one is cos I'm a tight ***, have the facilities and just got bored the other afternoon. Couple of big advantages I see with it over what you can buy at the moment: Light to carry. Takes apart for easy carrying. Low current drain so don't need a big battery. Thanks for the vote of confidence though, if you ever need any gas flow measuring equipment or plastic injection mouldings bear me in mind as they are my main areas of business. That and the pervy stuff I sell on Ebay Don't worry about a warranty mate. Just fancied one because it looked good. I'd take the risk Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 How much would you charge to make one mate? Regards There's loads of people making these things already, I'd have to make a few for it to be worthwhile then there's warranty and all that sort of bosh to deal with. In honesty it would cost you more than one from the guys who advertise on here. Reason I made one is cos I'm a tight ***, have the facilities and just got bored the other afternoon. Couple of big advantages I see with it over what you can buy at the moment: Light to carry. Takes apart for easy carrying. Low current drain so don't need a big battery. Thanks for the vote of confidence though, if you ever need any gas flow measuring equipment or plastic injection mouldings bear me in mind as they are my main areas of business. That and the pervy stuff I sell on Ebay Don't worry about a warranty mate. Just fancied one because it looked good. I'd take the risk Regards If I started making these how would Will and Deako be able to afford their second houses in Spain and the skiing holidays ?? If I got enough interest I'd make up half a dozen to make it worth setting up, would still cost more than on of the standard jobbies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 All finished apart from the speed controller, for anyone interested in making their own controller for a couple of quid here's a link to some details. Do watch out for the current requirements if you are using wiper motors, I've run mine up at around 60 rpm and it draws 400 - 500 mA whereas the commercial ones I've checked seem to be taking around 1.2 amps !!. Have fun http://www.cpemma.co.uk/pwm.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdowns hunter Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Old Rooster No Need for batteries if you made a wind powered one Theres a challenge for the easter break for someone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonno 357 Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Hmmmm, fuses are usually fitted for a purpose, maybe if you are using up a 7AH battery in 3 hours you are drawing more current than the PWM can comfortably handle ? I'd have been inclined to go 5 amp fuse rather than6mm rod personally. What motor are you running ? looks like its taking about 1.75 amps as you'll not be getting the last bit out of the battery. That's why I'm using a smaller motor from a sun roof, ideally I could use a 2:1 reduction spur gear set up to reduce speed, that way motor load would be nearly halved, allowing for efficiency losses (5th form physics but I didn't listen, too busy looking out the classroom window). How much do you want for a couple of them thar Yuasa batteries ?? Yer right about the fuse Rooster. I was just lazy and couldn't be bothered getting a bigger rated fuse. Now using 5amp, and working fine. I'm using a windscreen wiper motor. Some of the batteries seen to last twice as long as the others, suppose thats the chance you take with used batteries Heres a picture of last nights project. This one I made for BIG SIMMO999. Hope you like it ? I made this one at work last night. Its a simple design, but I have made a few now and they are very strong and robust. No rotor arms in the picture. The rotors that will be used are 2 metre lengths of 70% nylon66 /30% glass fibre 10mm rods They are made from 316L stainless steel. The good thing about this design IMO if the motor packs in. It can be easily replaced with another wiper motor. The bolt locations on wiper motors are almost all identical. Quick change over in 5 mins A quick spray with nato paint and then wrapped in camo cloth. Hey presto ! A cheap and very effective pigeon (blue peter) rotor. And heres one I made earlier Jonno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 (edited) http://www.mdsbattery.co.uk/shop/productpr...uctGroupID=1684 Here is a place for very well priced batteries. Went to my local dealer for a new battery for my ST2 and got quoted £85, found this site and for £80 I got my bike battery (£24.99 !!!!) a battery for my whirlin thingy (£11.02) and a charger for the whirlin battery, price includes VAT and delivery. If you use this site you may want one of the £19 batteries if using a bigger motor, I went for the 7.2AH version as I'm running at lower current. Doubt I'd be still awake after 10 hours of watching the thing going round so that will do for me. The other good thing about your wiper motor over my sunroof one is better inbuilt bearings, I've made up an adaptor on mine with a driveshaft through it running in a pair of sealed ball bearings so less drag than the bronze bushes in the wiper motor. Looking forward to trying the little beastie after Easter when the drilling goes in on one of the farms I shoot. Edited March 24, 2005 by old rooster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Old Rooster No Need for batteries if you made a wind powered one Theres a challenge for the easter break for someone You've got a head start on me Jonno !!!, nice whirlies by the way. Anyone know where AV files can be hosted ?, if so will put some of the new machine in action up. Thinking of doing a wind powered flapper, got the idea from looking at one of those garden ornaments where the geezer spends all day winding the bucket up out of a well. Should be an interesting project but Easter is spoken for, I'm taking GF for a romantic trip on the bike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 OR, I wonder if that battery would have the oomph to run my whirly, which I think runs off an old car wiper motor, I currently use a standard car battery I borrowed off an old Ford Escort, but I get a hernia lugging it across muddy fields..What do you think...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonno 357 Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 OR, I wonder if that battery would have the oomph to run my whirly, which I think runs off an old car wiper motor, I currently use a standard car battery I borrowed off an old Ford Escort, but I get a hernia lugging it across muddy fields..What do you think...? Plenty of power in a 12v 7Ah battery to run a wiper motor Jonno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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