watch cleaning machine Simple and Inexpensive watch cleaning machine

[WaveyDavey]

Hey everyone,

I have seen loads of fantastic projects online and here on the forum for cool DIY watch cleaning machines. The one thing that has put me off though is the complexity of these, they use arduino and Raspberry pi boards and code that I dont have the patients to learn. 

I am aslo a firm believer in the KISS approach (Keep It Simple Stupid) :-). So, With an entire world of electronics boards on Aliexpress I thought that there has to be one that will do everything I need and that wont bankrupt me. 

I also don’t want any code to deal with, this board can run in both directions (just haven't figured out a simple solution for that yet). It only spins in one direction for now, but that is ok for my applications. 

So, the attached video is my prototype of a small form watch cleaner. Mostly a proof of concept to make sure the main components play nice together. I also had a very firm gaol, to make it as cheap as possible. I want to keep it sub €200. 

Below are the electronics I used and I also had some Aluminium extrusion laying around around and some mechanical pasts for the slide etc. But these are problem about €30 - €50 in total. 

The basket I got from EBay but is far to small for the final version (always read the fine print).

What do you think of my first attempt? I have no interest in trying to build a product and instead would rather collaborate with any electronic engineers out there on you to simply allow this board to alternate direction. 

 

Electronics 

The board was €18 - https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005002120012963.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.458.4fad79d2RNQWU6&gatewayAdapt=glo2nld

Motor was €16 - https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005002820843944.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.26.4fad79d2RNQWU6&gatewayAdapt=glo2nld

 

My channel on YT

https://youtube.com/@watch-this-official?si=yGn8AoiWxRdbFvG_

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

Try 30 quid

[WaveyDavey]

2 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Try 30 quid

I love it, simple and effective. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

I wanted to see how fast and cheap I could throw one together, including the coffee brewer basket holder, I managed it in just over 2 hours. It does have a 12 volt motor programmer not shown here, I think that was 16 quid, the dearest bit.

59 minutes ago, WaveyDavey said:

Hey everyone,

I have seen loads of fantastic projects online and here on the forum for cool DIY watch cleaning machines. The one thing that has put me off though is the complexity of these, they use arduino and Raspberry pi boards and code that I dont have the patients to learn. 

I am aslo a firm believer in the KISS approach (Keep It Simple Stupid) :-). So, With an entire world of electronics boards on Aliexpress I thought that there has to be one that will do everything I need and that wont bankrupt me. 

I also don’t want any code to deal with, this board can run in both directions (just haven't figured out a simple solution for that yet). It only spins in one direction for now, but that is ok for my applications. 

So, the attached video is my prototype of a small form watch cleaner. Mostly a proof of concept to make sure the main components play nice together. I also had a very firm gaol, to make it as cheap as possible. I want to keep it sub €200. 

Below are the electronics I used and I also had some Aluminium extrusion laying around around and some mechanical pasts for the slide etc. But these are problem about €30 - €50 in total. 

The basket I got from EBay but is far to small for the final version (always read the fine print).

What do you think of my first attempt? I have no interest in trying to build a product and instead would rather collaborate with any electronic engineers out there on you to simply allow this board to alternate direction. 

 

Electronics 

The board was €18 - https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005002120012963.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.458.4fad79d2RNQWU6&gatewayAdapt=glo2nld

Motor was €16 - https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005002820843944.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.26.4fad79d2RNQWU6&gatewayAdapt=glo2nld

 

My channel on YT

https://youtube.com/@watch-this-official?si=yGn8AoiWxRdbFvG_

 

Most folk try everything to get the wobble out, I spend time putting one in . Agitation is the name of the game lol.

[WaveyDavey]

28 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

I wanted to see how fast and cheap I could throw one together, including the coffee brewer basket holder, I managed it in just over 2 hours. It does have a 12 volt motor programmer not shown here, I think that was 16 quid, the dearest bit.

Most folk try everything to get the wobble out, I spend time putting one in . Agitation is the name of the game lol.

The wobbel is not on purpose, in the final version it will be more controlled. Hopefully. 

[oldhippy]

I was waiting for it to take off. 

[valleyguy]

It's good to see so many homebrew cleaning machines being made, if you want to add an inexpensive auto forward reverse  control module to your cleaner these are available off ebay and ali for around £4.

I added one of these to mine  set at 10 seconds forward and reverse, they are easy to program once set there's no need to touch it again.

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

44 minutes ago, WaveyDavey said:

The wobbel is not on purpose, in the final version it will be more controlled. Hopefully. 

Haha I admit It did cross my mind  " that wobble is so bad it must have been intentionally added  "

20 minutes ago, valleyguy said:

It's good to see so many homebrew cleaning machines being made, if you want to add an inexpensive auto forward reverse  control module to your cleaner these are available off ebay and ali for around £4.

I added one of these to mine  set at 10 seconds forward and reverse, they are easy to program once set there's no need to touch it again.

 

Aww darn...I could have made mine so much more rustic looking and cheaper.

24 minutes ago, valleyguy said:

It's good to see so many homebrew cleaning machines being made, if you want to add an inexpensive auto forward reverse  control module to your cleaner these are available off ebay and ali for around £4.

I added one of these to mine  set at 10 seconds forward and reverse, they are easy to program once set there's no need to touch it again.

 

We need Link please Valley

[valleyguy]

51 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

We need Link please Valley

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193754159385

I got mine off ebay from a chinese seller as the item/seller had good reviews, delivery about a week.

If you add an on/off switch to turn turn the 12v supply voltage on to power the module, this will be for the wash / rinse cycles 10 secs forward 10 secs reverse, turn the power switch off, the voltage from the motor controller will still flow through the relay to power the motor in one direction only forwards so can be used for the spin cylce to remove excess fluids.

ali also have them even cheaper.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33047036994.html?spm=a2g0o.imagesearchproductlist.main.5.494dxFmGxFmGJy&algo_pvid=0f312fc7-e51e-40cf-825c-1c6d3e0cc96d&algo_exp_id=0f312fc7-e51e-40cf-825c-1c6d3e0cc96d&pdp_ext_f={"order"%3A"37"}&pdp_npi=4%40dis!GBP!3.01!0.80!!!3.70!0.98!%40211b441e17404265287781362ecf32!67373171443!sea!UK!0!ABX&curPageLogUid=bpHiOVAN3bbn&utparam-url=scene%3Aimage_search|query_from%3Apc_web_image_search

Edited February 24 by valleyguy

[Neverenoughwatches]

Thanks Valley, I also found this speed controller to add in.

[valleyguy]

If you add a countdown timer module to switch the 12v power on and off to the auto forward/reverse module each wash/rinse cycle can be set for whatever time you want it to run for 3, 4, 5 minutes, if you use a momentary switch with module below as soon as you press the timer will start to countdown powering the auto forward/reverse module then switch off.

I got one off these off ali, wait for it for an eye watering 72p + vat.  I don't know if there still available on ali but probably will be.