electric chute

[tom135ca]

Hi everyone,

This is my first fabrication, all comments encouraged as I do not know what I'm doing

The first thing I wanted to tackle was install an electric actuator to operate while in the cab.


Took off the plastic knobs and replaced with 5/16 x 18 locking nuts , they are tightened to allow the chute to operate. Next I decided to drill a 5/16 hole for the top hole, I made sure the bolt head will not hit the stationary part of the chute. stacked about 5 washers on a bolt and temporarily fixed the actuator to the chute. Lol, I cannot figure out how to rotate images.



After measuring the clearance and the washer stacking, I decided to weld a standoff 5/8" long by 5/16 ID to the chute. This gave a max spacing of 1/8th of an inch between the actuator body and the chute.


Lol, hobby welder, standoffs welded and cleaned up.


Actuator mounted, now on to wiring.

 

[tom135ca]

So wiring is something i need help with. My plan is to extend the actuaror wire harness to where the hyd lines for the snow blower plug in, I'll use a weather pak connector, other side of harness will go to a momentary switch. Here is what I got so far;


Motor side


End of harness

If someone on the site could help me with a visual wiring diagram it would be very much appreciated.
Cheers.

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

Looks good so far. I also have an actuator on my chute and am looking forward to using it this winter.

I recommend that you put some plastic washers (like UHMW-PE) on each side of the bolts that go through the chute so it slides a bit easier. I also recommend that you weatherize that actuator motor with something like liquid tape to prevent water ingress.

As for wiring, you should only need 2 of those wires. First, you will want to determine which is up and which is down. When you hook one up to positive and the other to negative, the actuator should extend. Switching the wires reverses the polarity and retracts the actuator.

To control it, you will need either an H-bridge controller (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_bridge) or a dual-pole-dual-throw switch. The DPDT switch approach is easier and faster to hook up but the H-bridge is more elegant and opens up more control options.

I opted for a 4 way joystick and a double H-bridge controller so I can control the chute extension and side to side movement with a single joystick mounted on the dash board.

 

[tom135ca]

Thanks CharlieFoxtrot, The washers are a great idea, I think I will pick up the same ones that are on the manual slide adjustment. the inside diameter is the same.

Lol, I think I will have to stick with a DPDT switch, I can barely keep up with that. I think I will try to see which wires go up and down. I am a little confused though, one of the wires states "5V" o the actuator diagram.

Could you elaborate on sealing the actuator for water ingress, that is definetly one of my concerns.

Cheers

 

[200mph]

I believe the other 3 wires including the +5V is for a controller. If you plan on using a DPDT switch the two wires mentioned earlier is all that is needed.

There are plenty of wiring diagrams on how to wire a DPDT to reverse the polarity.

What actuator did you purchase?

 

[tom135ca]

Thanks for the insight, I will have to google the wiring,
This is the actuator that I bought.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Heavy-Du...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

This is the switch I'm hoping to use;

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Position...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

I believe the other 3 wires including the +5V is for a controller. If you plan on using a DPDT switch the two wires mentioned earlier is all that is needed.

There are plenty of wiring diagrams on how to wire a DPDT to reverse the polarity.

What actuator did you purchase?

My guess is that the red, black, and yellow wires are for a controller -- sort of like a relay. So you send 5v into the red wire to power a controller and it monitors the yellow wire for a signal. When the yellow wire goes high, the controller allows current to flow from the blue and green wires. So you can use a very low current signal (on the order of micro or milli amps) to switch a much higher current signal in the range of 5 amps. You can just clip the red, black, and yellow wires after you confirm that you can extend and retract the actuator with 12v only to the blue and green wires.

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

Thanks for the insight, I will have to google the wiring,
This is the actuator that I bought.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Heavy-Du...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

This is the switch I'm hoping to use;

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Position...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

You will want a different switch unless that one is momentary, which I don't see in the description. A momentary switch only moves the motor while you hold it in.

Just search "momentary dpdt switch" on amazon or ebay or your favorite electronic parts website and pick one you like that can handle at least 10 amps, unless you want to use relays to switch the motor.

 

[100 td]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Position...g-Return-DPDT-16A-250V-Car-Hoist/182752706161
https://www.ebay.com/itm/5pcs-12V-C...-ON-Rocker-Switch-Waterproof-New/371806408144

 

[sagor]

I believe the other 3 wires including the +5V is for a controller. If you plan on using a DPDT switch the two wires mentioned earlier is all that is needed.

There are plenty of wiring diagrams on how to wire a DPDT to reverse the polarity.

What actuator did you purchase?

The other 3 wires are for sensing where the actuator is actually positioned (feedback). You do not need those in this application. All you need is a momentary (or center off) DPDT toggle switch for the main motor leads. Those extra 3 wires are +5V to feed the sensor, GND of course, and a feedback voltage that varies between +5V and ground based on actuator position (I assume...). It is possible the feedback are pulses as well, a certain amount of pulses per mm of movement. Again, you don't need those signals, especially since you do not even know how to read them let alone do anything with it. You have visual feedback just looking at the chute....

 

[tom135ca]

Thanks everyone for the info, great catch on the switch, I'm going to look at the suggestions, looks like I'm on hold for a little bit.

Yesterday I took a 12V battery and tested the wiring and actuator, the blue and green wires are the ones needed. So I will run the wires up to where the switch will be.

Plan today is extend Grn and Blu wires and terminate them with a weatherpak connector near the rear of the tractor, run another short harness from the weatherpak connector to the switch position, then all that is needed is a ground and power from the fuse block.

Here's hoping the switch arrives before the snow definitely something I should have tackled in the summer.

thanks everyone for the help, much appreciated.

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

The other 3 wires are for sensing where the actuator is actually positioned (feedback). You do not need those in this application. All you need is a momentary (or center off) DPDT toggle switch for the main motor leads. Those extra 3 wires are +5V to feed the sensor, GND of course, and a feedback voltage that varies between +5V and ground based on actuator position (I assume...). It is possible the feedback are pulses as well, a certain amount of pulses per mm of movement. Again, you don't need those signals, especially since you do not even know how to read them let alone do anything with it. You have visual feedback just looking at the chute....

Ah - That makes more sense than my guess. That's pretty neat that it has a feedback lead so you can sense position and act on it if desired.

 

[OC455]

Did something similar but different. I bought a DTDP weather protected switch and mounted it. I ran a linear actuator on the back of the chute.

 

[OC455]

http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29135&page=2

Setup for this year. Not pretty, but it works.