Diy rotary cleaning machine

[Neverenoughwatches]

32 minutes ago, valleyguy said:

Do you have a link for the stand, it could be easier if i stuff up.

I've had an idea, i'll weld or braze a small 1 inch long square bar to the back of the bracket, this will push into the hollow arm of the stand then a bolt through it to keep in place, doing it this way makes it less likely i'll knacker the stand.

That stand is just a cheap one, an ebay search of lab stand will provide a better option.  I thought soldering the rod into a hole might be a little easier. I nearly made up the same set up as you, but for the same cost buying the one i posted earlier i thought not worth my effort. Then i made something much simpler,  my cost for it came to £25.

[Malocchio]

I posted this to some other thread earlier but here's that lab stirrer again connected to an Elma basket. My timer doesn't work but I wouldn't use it anyway. I also made a jar holder out of a wood plank.

[Neverenoughwatches]

49 minutes ago, Malocchio said:

I posted this to some other thread earlier but here's that lab stirrer again connected to an Elma basket. My timer doesn't work but I wouldn't use it anyway. I also made a jar holder out of a wood plank.

Very quiet and very stable. These lab stirrers cost £85 inc. Shipping here in the UK delivery from Germany. I have even had offers from the seller for less than this. Coupled with the indian copy baskets , all in all a good cleaning solution for around £170. One tip i have, swap the round jars for square kilner jars, the fluid agitation is better.

[swiss2k]

@Neverenoughwatches Hi. Can you tell more about the basket? Looks like a Elma one, or am I mistaking? Thanks

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, swiss2k said:

@Neverenoughwatches Hi. Can you tell more about the basket? Looks like a Elma one, or am I mistaking? Thanks

Hi sorry yes i think you are right.

Just now, Neverenoughwatches said:

Hi sorry yes i think you are right.

This is the indian basket

[Malocchio]

19 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

One tip i have, swap the round jars for square kilner jars, the fluid agitation is better.

I might just do that if I found some tight sealing jars of perfect size. I'd still have to have some kind of lid that the rod goes through for some support. Maybe 3D printed if I had a printer.

[Neverenoughwatches]

3 minutes ago, Malocchio said:

I might just do that if I found some tight sealing jars of perfect size. I'd still have to have some kind of lid that the rod goes through for some support. Maybe 3D printed if I had a printer.

I tried round and square, the square ones could really froth up the cleaner on a quick speed. I actually just leave the jars open at the moment until i make some wooden or cork lids.

[JohnR725]

16 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

I tried round and square, the square ones could really froth up the cleaner on a quick speed. I actually just leave the jars open at the moment until i make some wooden or cork lids.

out of curiosity what sort of speed are we talking about do we have an RPM speed for instance?

[Neverenoughwatches]

32 minutes ago, JohnR725 said:

out of curiosity what sort of speed are we talking about do we have an RPM speed for instance?

No sorry John,  slow medium and fast and lots inbetween. I use a basic voltage regulator with only a voltage input reading to adjust the speed of the drive motor. 

[swiss2k]

Everything aside from the frame is on its way. The frame is the big mystery at the moment. I really like Gert's implementation, would be nice if the jars would also change automatically. The bad side is that it's quite chunky, I don't have that much space. The Kiwi Watch Cleaning machine project is a bit simpler and just works. The good part is that its smaller. 

At this point I started from the software, as I already have the components. I took a board that have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi... meaning you can get a notification when the job is done.  Maybe a bigger display would be nicer, will see... 

The plan is to keep the menu simple, just 3 functions that one could select by going up an down with the buttons. Probably I need one more button to act as a cancel/emergency cancel button, for when any of the jobs is running.

Edited January 11, 2024 by swiss2k

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, swiss2k said:

Everything aside from the frame is on its way. The frame is the big mystery at the moment. I really like Gert's implementation, would be nice if the jars would also change automatically. The bad side is that it's quite chunky, I don't have that much space. The Kiwi Watch Cleaning machine project is a bit simpler and just works. The good part is that its smaller. 

At this point I started from the software, as I already have the components. I took a board that have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi... meaning you can get a notification when the job is done.  Maybe a bigger display would be nicer, will see... 

The plan is to keep the menu simple, just 3 functions that one could select by going up an down with the buttons. Probably I need one more button to act as a cancel/emergency cancel button, for when any of the jobs is running.

Sounds like its coming along just fine. A bit too fandangled for me I'm affraid , I'm not that tech savvy, an electric speed regulated drill and a Janta pearl basket is as far as my electronic knowledge permits me. But cant wait to see the finished version

[swiss2k]

A bit of progress. Got the motor to run. Speed, oscillation timers can be set, but in code for now. Need to combine the menu and buttons with the hardware that actually does something. Frame still is a big question.  

Edited January 24, 2024 by swiss2k

[Waggy]

On 1/8/2024 at 9:29 PM, Neverenoughwatches said:

I tried round and square, the square ones could really froth up the cleaner on a quick speed. I actually just leave the jars open at the moment until i make some wooden or cork lids.

I use the jars below and they are compatible with the Elma and Pearl baskets - just make sure you get the wide mouth version, its a little bit of a tight fit to get them into the jar, but there is more than enough clearance so not a problem. I also made some wave breakers from strip stainless steel which do a great job in causing turbulent flow, see link to thread below. Finally I use the red pressure caps to get a good seal, I found that any evaporated/condensed or splashed cleaning solution would dissolve the glue holding the cork seals in place and they would eventually give up. The read bungs work great and are very cheap.

Edited January 25, 2024 by Waggy

[swiss2k]

 

 

 

Looking for advice. As mentioned in the video (forgive me for my poor English) there are 3 cycles/programs. Now the thing which I'm struggling with, is the time each program should run. How long should the wash, rinse programs be? 
 

P.S.: For anyone who is interested.
 The "Wash" cycle runs 200rpm forward and backwards, then the speed goes up to 500prm for a short period of time, aka different agitation levels. 
 The "Rinse" is 800prm, to directions, w/o any agitation levels (configurable).

Would be nice to add a "Spin" cycle at the end of every program, to get rid of the liquids in the basket. But this probably for the times if or when the motor could be raised up from the water.

Dry is still work in progress. I would imagine, the amount or rotations doesn't matter much? Maybe keep them low and just blow dry warm air?

 

Let me know what you think. Thank you

 

 

Edited January 28, 2024 by swiss2k

[Neverenoughwatches]

This will be my final diy cleaner project that incorporates something along the lines of swiss2k's above. The motor programmer arrived today , just time delay switching for forward and reverse rotations. It can be programmed for stop , start acceleration and deceleration, pause events, motor speed selection from 1-100 % and total run times. A very cheap gadget for only £15, the supply is just a 12 volt switching adapter from a boot sale.Just looking for a suitable 12volt 500rpm motor, pictured is a minicraft drill but this runs at 20,000 rpm, the slowest i can get it down to is around 1000 rpm which too fast really. Almost done..... mk.v will be the last one for me.............probably .

[gpraceman]

1 hour ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

This will be my final diy cleaner project that incorporates something along the lines of swiss2k's above. The motor programmer arrived today , just time delay switching for forward and reverse rotations. It can be programmed for stop , start acceleration and deceleration, pause events, motor speed selection from 1-100 % and total run times. A very cheap gadget for only £15, the supply is just a 12 volt switching adapter from a boot sale.Just looking for a suitable 12volt 500rpm motor, pictured is a minicraft drill but this runs at 20,000 rpm, the slowest i can get it down to is around 1000 rpm which too fast really. Almost done..... mk.v will be the last one for me.............probably .

1000 rpm seems way too high.  I'd been using this chart for the rpms.  Though, my lab stirring motor doesn't have an rpm read out, so mine is more of an eyeball estimation.

[Neverenoughwatches]

On 9/10/2024 at 2:21 AM, gpraceman said:

1000 rpm seems way too high.  I'd been using this chart for the rpms.  Though, my lab stirring motor doesn't have an rpm read out, so mine is more of an eyeball estimation.

It is , i just used this to test the programmer's performance , this will one will be suitable at a max of 3000 rpm. An old brushless motor from a cordless drill or tool could work just fine though, feels better when i recycle something

Edited September 11, 2024 by Neverenoughwatches

[rjenkinsgb]

On 9/11/2024 at 7:35 AM, Neverenoughwatches said:

this will one will be suitable at a max of 3000 rpm. An old brushless motor from a cordless drill or tool could work just fine though, feels better when i recycle something

Those a quite nice motors for the cost - I've used a few; one is running my Van de graaf generator, and another the spindle on my in-progress automatic watch cleaning machine.

I have that running a spindle in double bearings via a belt reduction.

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

33 minutes ago, rjenkinsgb said:

Those a quite nice motors for the cost - I've used a few; one is running my Van de graaf generator, and another the spindle on my in-progress automatic watch cleaning machine.

I have that running a spindle in double bearings via a belt reduction.

 

Nice to know that Rob, i was gonna pinch a motor from an old cordless drill i must have dozens but then realised about the  brushes in the tool body, i would need a brushless motor if its naked. Van de graff generator?  My estimation of you Rob has just doubled.......that machine would raise my hair by............. actually no more than it already is......about half an inch

[Malocchio]

I updated my cleaner with square jars. I think they really are better than the old round ones. Plus the lid mechanism is very odour proof while in storage. In the video the RPM is a lot higher than necessary just for a test run. If I remember correctly the pro machines do like 200 RPM for a cleaning cycle which is very slow.

[swiss2k]

22 hours ago, rjenkinsgb said:

Those a quite nice motors for the cost - I've used a few; one is running my Van de graaf generator, and another the spindle on my in-progress automatic watch cleaning machine.

I have that running a spindle in double bearings via a belt reduction.

 

This looks insane. Are you sure it will not turn on you one day? ))) Do you have a video of how it works? 



Also, some of my progress in the videos below. If i only knew how much time this project would take I would probably buy a vintage cleaner. 
 

 

 

 

21 hours ago, Malocchio said:

I updated my cleaner with square jars. I think they really are better than the old round ones. Plus the lid mechanism is very odour proof while in storage. In the video the RPM is a lot higher than necessary just for a test run. If I remember correctly the pro machines do like 200 RPM for a cleaning cycle which is very slow.

What is the secret behind the design? Looks like a ball bearing. Anything else? Thanks

[Neverenoughwatches]

21 hours ago, Malocchio said:

I updated my cleaner with square jars. I think they really are better than the old round ones. Plus the lid mechanism is very odour proof while in storage. In the video the RPM is a lot higher than necessary just for a test run. If I remember correctly the pro machines do like 200 RPM for a cleaning cycle which is very slow.

Square jars

[JohnR725]

23 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Van de graff generator?  My estimation of you Rob has just doubled.......that machine would raise my hair by............. actually no more than it already is......about half an inch

as this is a watch repair discussion group I wonder if this is the first step for making a watch? Except you'll be competing with another company who is already made a watch the runs on static electricity.

https://www.accutronwatch.com/us/en/collection/spaceview-2020/

1 hour ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Square jars

yes the endless debate which is better square jars or round ones?

 

[Malocchio]

2 hours ago, swiss2k said:

What is the secret behind the design? Looks like a ball bearing. Anything else? Thanks

It's a lab stirrer with an Elma basket. The round lid was part of the old round jars but I decided to recycle it since the diameter was a good match with the new square jars. It is just loosely sitting on top of the glass jar and I also upgraded the old design by gluing a ball bearing on top of the lid. When I do the dry spinning cycle with higher RPM I have to hold the lid and jar down with my hand but that's not a big deal, I don't clean movements that often. Some day I might build a programmable system with a more rigid frame.

Now I'm using a flexible shaft coupler like this between the motor and the shaft so it doesn't matter if the motor axis is not perfectly upright

[rjenkinsgb]

1 hour ago, swiss2k said:

This looks insane. Are you sure it will not turn on you one day? ))) Do you have a video of how it works? 

It's a work in progress, I need to finish off the servo control stuff.

It uses mostly off-the-shelf aluminium extrusions & common parts for 3D printers, plus some 3D printed items. Functionally, it's the same concept a rotary automatic, except the four in a row linear system is easier to get parts for than a turntable system. It's sized to fit 1L Kilner jars, as a standardised container.

The same control system could equally work a rotary turntable. 

It will be published as an open source design when completed.

I have the X motor off it at the moment, to use for testing the servo software.

These are the overall frame & control box:

 

 

The X & Z axis motor drivers are the two small plug-in modules at the right, the one in the middle is an STM32 MCU and the two big lumps at the left are the spindle motor and heater power drivers.

[This is all baby size hobby stuff - I program and repair industrial machine tool & control electronics, from CNC mills & borers, to literal car crushers].

 

On 9/12/2024 at 11:19 AM, Neverenoughwatches said:

Van de graff generator? 

Yep, a bit off topic, but video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u4WZs5tK0U