If you didn’t need to drive the ears using the shaft on the dome, you could cut that shaft pretty low, flush with the bearing even.
That would be awesome and is what I plan to do on my next kit…If you would be willing to sell me just the dome, shaft, bearing and laser cut pieces I would love to try that now?
At the moment everything is pretty permanently affixed in place on this build, I did cut down the shaft as much as I could before installing but since the audio jack set up adds over an inch the clearance is still at a minimum and isn’t removable with out risking serious damage.
This diagram made more sense for me then the Facebook pictures for the dome lights. Maybe it’ll help others.
I also like the idea of using a slip-ring instead of the audio jack. I’m not at that point yet and the one I have is rated at only 250 RPM’s so I’ll let you guys know how it works out.
The slip ring seems to work fine. I’ve ran it for 30 minutes straight with no problems.
The issue I’m having is the motor spinning the dome. It’s too noisy and the amperage draw is 500ma which is killing the battery and run times.
That would be fine.
Good to know about the slip ring. Did you already link the one you used? It sounds like the noise might be from the white gears chattering away. With the faceplate off try pushing or pulling on the gear bridge to see if it changes anything; That might give you an idea of what you need to tweak to help reduce that noise. What are you powering it with? I’ve been making 9V battery packs out of rechargeable AA Batteries and I can get those to run for 3-4 hours straight before I need to recharge them.
I’m running it with an 11.1 volt 1000 mAh LiPo battery. I get about 15 minutes out of it before you can noticeably hear it starting to slow down. I like the battery; it fit really well in the case, which is why I’m trying what I can to get the amperage draw down. With everything running, leds and motor, I’m pulling a little over 600 ma.
The majority of the noise I’m experiencing is definitely from the gears. I’m going to try and eliminate them and run the black ear pulley off of the spinning aluminum tube. The ratio seems pretty much 1-1, so I’ll see how fast it’ll move the ears.
When I run the motor alone, just letting it spin the dome by itself, I’m pulling 500ma. I going to try different motors, maybe a brush-less one, to see if I can get the amp draw down. I’m curious to find out what other guys motors are pulling amp wise, maybe my motor is tight and just harder to operate.
The slip-ring was purchased from Ebay. It has 6 wires/circuits. I just combined 3 of the wires for the ground and the other 3 for the power. (See link)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171247673889?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Hey so how did everybody deal with the amount of wires coming out of the ears? And keep the audio jack stationary?
Hey mate do you still make these? Interested in one sent to Australia. James
Hey Logan I would really like to talk about your slip ring idea… I think that would solve a few problems Im having myself.
Where did you order it… and with that many wires could you post how to connected it into the kit?
I also installed the volt meter and it looks bad ass under the face plate… my problem is I dont know how to connect it so tje digital display runs on ams off the main power switch. What should I try to avoid me burning something out?
I appreciate the help guys… so close to done and this would be great at the con end of thia month.
The slip-ring was purchased from Ebay. It has 6 wires/circuits. I just combined 3 of the wires for the ground and the other 3 for the power and hooked it up just like the audio jack.
The one I bought came from China so expect to wait 4-6 weeks for it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171247673889?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I don’t recall the voltmeter. Are you talking about the Arduino powered digital display for the Gigameter?
It was a display yes… TC recomended it on facebook. Its not on an arduino i just have it measure the battery charge for show… i just dont know to fix it into circuit so it works with power switch. I have to manually remove battery.
Once the slip ring is in do you still allow the motor to spin in the giga meter?
I’d need to see the display and how you have it hooked up to know for sure, but it sounds like you need to attach one of the wires from the display that is going to the battery, to the switch first and the other side of the switch to the battery. This way it turns on and off with the switch
The slip ring just replaces the audio jack that was originally used, all else stays the same. Basically, Instead of spinning an audio jack, the slip ring does the spinning.
Hey guys
Im having a problem right now trying to find suitable power source for the board.
A 9 volt doesnt give it enough juice and the blue brick I have causes the power regulator to over heat very fast and very hot.
Does anybody have advice as to what I should do or how to address the power problem.
Also TC I sent ya a message on Facebook for a few extra replacement pieces.
Thanks a lot guys
If you leave the motor disconnected and just run all the lights, does it still get hot?
Well it would appear that the board is no longer functioning.
Im not quite sure how to test the board now but it doesnt seem to work at all now that Ive changed out the regulator…
Have I fries the board like a tool??
What kind of PCB Motor is used ?
Hey TC
I was wondering if you could clarify where you are connecting the motor wires? So you are bypassing the board all together with the motor?
Hi, are these kits still available?
TC has one up on his Etsy store. Just search Giga Meter.
I wired it so that the motor turned on with the switch and ran off the same power source as the circuit board, but it isn’t getting power from the circuit, it’s getting power directly from the battery. I found that this reduced the heat on the board, and the motor spun faster.
I’ve been using 6 2400mAh AA batteries in my builds, which adds up to 9 volts. It has been a while since I tested one but it took me a few hours to run it down, from what I remember.