Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion motorized computer

has anyone motorized the computor and sight glass unit and how did you do it?

Wolf, as an experiment i once motorized a southwest pump i have. The procedure i used was a bit complex but it worked. First I have a push button on/off switch from home depot,i drilled a small hole in the nozzle and inserted the switch right under the release handle. then I ran all the wires through the hose into the pump. I found a small elecrtic rotary motor(i think it was used for those old mirror ball set ups)I wired it up and installed it under the veeder root, so in essence when you removed the nozzle and squeezed the handle the the veeder root would roll, ding and calculate. I did have a excellent condition veeder root to work with and i think that makes all the difference. As for sight glass you can get a small motor from radio shack and attach it Im shure. Good Luck

Thats what I was going to do, I am looking for a source for a motor that turns in reverse and is slow enough in RPM

Hey Eric, let me know where you finally end up getting your motor. I've been looking for a small, very slow turning motor for quite awhile. My wife has a christmas scene that is suppose to turn very slowly. The motor burned out, and I can't seem to locate a replacement. I tried Grangers, who everyone reccommended, but even they didn't have one.


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Don "oltoydoc" Sherwood
Vintage Gas

Hi Eric

I used a gearmotor. It is basicly a phono motor with a gearbox attached to it. They are fairly cheap.(5 to 10 dollars at your local electronic's store. They come in several speeds and because of the gear box they have alot of stork. Radio shack is a good source for the spinner motor, You can mount it right in the sight glass. I made a plate that mounts under the veederroot for the gear motor. Good Luck

Craig

Try a rotisserie motor, Home Depot about 12.00. These turn slowly, about 6 rpm which is a good speed and have good torque. That is if the computers aren't too stiff.

Be sure you get one that turns the proper direction or at least is reversible.



[This message has been edited by Morgan (edited 08-12-2003).]

For the spinner you might try hooking both to a small shaft, with a pully on it then run a rubber band or o-ring to the other motor, i think you can buy the o-ring by the foot and glue it. Would work like the old dentist drills..............dodogas
Princess Auto has a lot of motors

If you need orings try a pool store. I have tons of small orings that are pretty long, they would work great for a pully. There are tons of sizes and they would be easy to get replacements.
Make it and sell them in kit form to all of us!

OK, I have two ideas that I've been moving around in my head. One is to attach the pump to a water supply outside the hose. The water could travel through the gas manifold to make the spinners work as you use the nozzle to wash your car. But that only works as water flows through it. Another third idea is to use the pump as an enclosure for a compressed air tank and use the nozzle for filling tires. Unique, I guess.

I wanted to make my wheels and dials spin too. I thought I'd find a single phase electric motor for that to be just like the original. My computer is tough to turn after the years of sitting.

Another way to make the spinners spin would be to use a fluid and a water pump. The gas manifold (that the spinners are mounted in) would be transformed into a closed system. I was thinking about a water pump for a fish tank. Low flow, but enough to make things move.

Hey, maybe a computer fan blows enough air to move the spinners. It could be mounted at the front of the manifold or below where gas first enters. Maybe I'll ry that!

I tried a hair dryer but it doesn't move enough air, a small automotive heater fan might work, i'm not crazy about running fluids throught the system.

Air doesn't work. I tried and the volume needed was just too much. I even necked down the spinner and added a blade, but it didn't work. The small micro motors work best and easy to get at radio shack. Only problem is you need to add a DC power supply to your pump. No big deal.

Good luck
Craig

I just finished doin a meter on Saturday. I used a 25 RPM motor from Grainger, part# 3M257. Give me a day or two, and I'll post a picture of the set-up. Richard

Wow, I just checked out the 3M257 motor in Grainger's catalog. Looks like just the unit to turn the computer and for around $50 is a bargain.

That motor looks good.
Is the 25 rpm fast enough or would a 50rpm be better?
Does it rotate in the correct direction?
Eric.

I'm thinking something slower would be better. The 3M099 is 18 rpm. This would give you a "ding" about every 3-4 sec. Which I believe is somewhat faster than the pumps actually ran. All these motors turn cw.