I'm designing "flip down driving lights" for my car; but every design I come up with has one flaw:

1) Where can I find an electric motor that doesn't spin at 10,000 RPM?
2) How the blip can I attach the motor shaft to the design?

I'd love to use some kind of gearset, or belt/pulley, or cog/chain setup to connect the motor shaft to the rest of the project. I'm hoping any motor source you guys can give me will also sell those type of parts?

Thanks!

[edited for spelling mistake]
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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

[This message has been edited by TomP (edited December 14, 2000).]

How about the same motor / mechanism that is used for the head lights.

Tim

Music to my ears "...I'm designing..."

I would get a used surplus motor. Much better quality and at a fraction of the cost of a new motor.

Try some surplus outlets if you can find any.

I would begin with www.allelectronics.com which is out of Los Angeles and Van Nuys. They sell quality new and surplus electronic parts and supplies. If it's new, it'll probably be a factory over-run or buy out or similar. They have hard-to-find parts that I believe are commercial or industrial quality.

Their Fall 2000 (catalot #600) has several low rpm (gear) 12VDC motors with high torque. As an example:

CAT # DCM-112, 10:1 12-24VDC, motor speed 450 RPM, output shaft speed: 30 RPM; $17/ea

CAT #DCM-164; 6 RPM, 12VDC; $12/ea

CAT #DCM-158; 8 RPM, 12VDC; $14/ea

CAT #DCM-110; 22-45 RPM, 3-6VDC; $6/ea., with built in circuits to operate in either pulsed or continuous mode. In the pulsed mode, the final drive gear turns one revolution each time the controller is momentarily pulsed.

CAT #DCM-96; 120RPM @ 12VDC (no load), replacable brushes; $3.50/ea

CAT #DCM-135; 40 RPM @ 19.1VDC, 24 RPM @ 12VDC; $15/ea.

They also have a fair assortment of belts, pulleys, roller chains, sprockets and gears (surplus type).

Edmound Scientific, if memory serves, had a fair selecton of gears and cog belts.

You may find military suplus will have more items to your liking, especially from aircraft, like flap motors, which operate at low RPM's and high torque, and often at 24 or 48 VDC, but will work well at 12VDC, albeit at a lower RPM.

Have you consider pneumatic? A possible source may be a high end audio sound shop that sometimes uses these to open lids and covers for their installations. I would imagine that this would be an ideal way to open/close the cover, just like they do for stereo installations. Perhaps in back of an audio magazine would have some sources for this type of device.

That 40RPM (24rpm @ 12vdc) motor sounds like it would do the job nicely (or the 36 RPM one, DCM-147), but I'm still left with the Q of "how to hook a motor to anything". Nothing at All Electronics looked like it had set screws in it. Maybe I'll have to order one and just fiddle with it.

I remember one Surplus catalog I used to get electronics stuff from; everything was hand-drawn, and they always drew a robot on the front cover. I can't remember the name, though...

And yeah, I forgot about Edmund! I think there was one in South Jersey; maybe I'll have to go for a ride. Thanks!


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

Aren't Corvettes flip down?

Or you could try Firebird flip up motors and just mount them backwards (upside down?).

I just thought of another possibility. I would use a door lock motor (not a solenoid) to move the light(s) up and down. One motor may be strong enough for both lights. Otherwise, use one per light.

J.C. Whitney sells a pair for $60 that I bought years ago to adapt to an FJ-40. I would guess the output was strong enough to lift at least five pounds an inch or so. Depending on where you connect it to move the lights, it should be strong enough to do the job. The connection is made with easily bendable 1/8” rod. Simply reverse the positive/negative leads to reverse direction of the motor.

The Whitney set comes with switches and relays. Hookup is straightforward. Just touch the switch one way or another to move the lights. The hardest problem would seem to be to design the brackets so that the light(s) will lock in either the up or down positions. Once the motor is turned off, it can be moved (just as a door can be locked or unlocked mechanically in addition to electrically). You would have to come up with something that would latch it into place. Perhaps a well placed spring that would hold it in either position.

[This message has been edited by Stuart Moss (edited December 23, 2000).]