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Hey guys been reading through this thread. Really interesting read. The worm motor and controller look like a great addition to a mill. I just purchased a mashmaster mini mill so will be looking at doing something like this soon. Just wondering any chance someone could post a video of it in operation with the motor or is there already one on the thread that i missed?
 
After buying the last of the Millmasters, I finally welded up a stand and mounted the motor/gearbox. One holiday project almost complete!!

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1419293320.245194.jpgImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1419293350.164218.jpgImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1419293362.782142.jpg
 
After taking inspiration from the previous post I have almost finished my mill project.
Scored the steel from work which just gets chucked in the scrap bin. Got a friend to weld up the frame for me.
Made the hopper out of mdf and decided to spray it lime green.
Still have a couple of things to do to finish it but love it when a project nears completion.

1420458366002.jpg
 
Clever mounting idea for the drill.
 
MODERATION.

Although this topic has been running for four years it is a Retail thread for Motion Dynamics so in fairness to the retailer can you keep all posts related to that mill motor.

Thanks.
 
Hi Guys
Just a quick update!

As of late there's been sellers who are selling high current power suppliers that are a little dodgy. Some Chinese sellers are selling 15A and 20A units as 30A and in some cases higher just by changing the labels.
Something to be aware of as we've been getting calls from customers that have under-performing mills from power supplies, that are OK on batteries. Make sure you pay by PayPal so you can make claims!

Rock shutdown reset feature is not far away!
I'm really sorry for the time its taken.

When we first started here it was just me and John working and we weren't very busy. We'd be lucky to get 1 to 3 calls on a good day! So there was always plenty of design time!
We had way more controllers and other cool electronics gizmos I'd designed because I always had spare time....!
Nowadays, the phone rings almost constantly and we've just gotten busier and busier and my design time has been seriously cut into by technical phone inquiries and emails that never seem to stop!

But now we have a new worker to help out and hopefully free me up a little, so its onward and upwards for 2015!

Thanks for all your support and kind words, you guys are pretty awesome.
 
Always great to hear a business is growing!

motiondynamics said:
Hi Guys
Just a quick update!

As of late there's been sellers who are selling high current power suppliers that are a little dodgy. Some Chinese sellers are selling 15A and 20A units as 30A and in some cases higher just by changing the labels.
Something to be aware of as we've been getting calls from customers that have under-performing mills from power supplies, that are OK on batteries. Make sure you pay by PayPal so you can make claims!

Rock shutdown reset feature is not far away!
I'm really sorry for the time its taken.

When we first started here it was just me and John working and we weren't very busy. We'd be lucky to get 1 to 3 calls on a good day! So there was always plenty of design time!
We had way more controllers and other cool electronics gizmos I'd designed because I always had spare time....!
Nowadays, the phone rings almost constantly and we've just gotten busier and busier and my design time has been seriously cut into by technical phone inquiries and emails that never seem to stop!

But now we have a new worker to help out and hopefully free me up a little, so its onward and upwards for 2015!

Thanks for all your support and kind words, you guys are pretty awesome.
 
I got the motor and controller recently, have to say its pretty awesome, much better then my old 12v Ryobi drill hooked up to the boat battery, which used to jam every 30 secs or so as I slowly tipped the grain into my hopper :)

Now I put the grain into the hopper, get one of the kiddies to flick the switch (cause I don't want to overtax myself), and its virtually done

No affiliation, discounts etc, just gotta credit a good product solution (although you have to pay for these, but that's the way it is - I usually fark around with other means, which may or may not end up better than a retail product)

Thanks for developing and catering to the homebrew market
 
Gotta agree with that - here is when I had it set up to test the power supply and the PWM controller:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpcYSUJY2Kk
 
180rpm is the speed my 2" rollers run at with .9mm gap. Gives up to 30% flour.

I have used a Falcon wiper motor on it as well and that worked well

Currently got a big old CMG 240v motor with belt driving my mill....well I would if I can get the main pulley back from kids tree house/fort/chamber of minecraft secrets...No...I dont know why they need it more than me

Just looking at the output shaft length.....any chance of a bit of viagra and making it a bit longer..?

Could it be made with a slot or pin drive...or even a keyway...
 
Hi guys,
thanks for the kind words!

Ducatiboy, wiper motors are too slow. If it was that easy we could have done this much cheaper! The most you get out of ANY wiper is about 65 RPM.
It just isn't fast enough (although in saying that, we do get people who want to drop the rpm for different brews which is why we include the speed controller)

The optimal speed seems to be about 150 RPM with ridiculous amounts of torque!

If it had a slot or a key-way it would make it difficult for people without proper tools to fit the motor to the mill !
As it is right now, all you need is a 12mm length of shaft (however long you want) a drill, split pin and a coupling and you're in business!

It was all put together in such a way that its easy for even a complete novice to work out!
And on top of that, the way it's setup now with a split pin protects both the motor and mill from damage if you ever get a rock in your grain!
So there's a good reason why it's setup the way it is!

We're looking into ways to make it more of a complete kit, but its difficult because there's so many different shaft sizes out there on different mills.
It is however something we are currently working on!

MattSR, I like your setup, its pretty cool! Just make sure you put the 240v power supply in a box (even a lunch box is OK) or something to stop prying fingers touching those 240v mains leads!

Again, just to remind you guys about the power supplies floating around from dodgy sellers, here's another email I received today!
This guy purchased a 25A power supply, but going from his description I'm going to guess its maximum output is only around 10A-12.5A!
We are beginning to see more of these emails now. So its obvious the problem is becoming more widespread. Just remember, you can always use eBay's "Product not as described" to get your money back or have them ship the correct one. Its their mistake and their cost if they want you to ship the goods back!

The problem is (talking from first-hand experience here) most people don't know how much current their product draws, or they'll buy the bigger PSU figuring they may be able to use it for something else down the track.
So most people will never know they've been shafted until they go to use the current the supply is supposed to be capable of doing!


Subject:

Torque on the Home Brewer Special

Body:

Hi there,

I bought the "Home Brewer Special" motor/controller and wired it up over the xmas break. I've been really excited to see it in action.

I finally got a chance to check it out today and was having a lot of trouble getting the mill to crack any grain: it wouldn't start up with any level of grain in the hopper, and the only way to get it to crack the grain was to run it at full speed and sprinkle grain into the moving rollers. If I got too eager, it would grind to a halt.

Currently, I've got it set to slow start. I also have to run the motor positive/negative reversed (as the mill I use is driven clockwise.)

Does this sound like I have wired up something wrong, or can torque be adjusted somehow? It's powered by a 12V 25A switching power supply.

Thanks for your help
One last thing!
I'm trying to get a list of ALL the shaft sizes for the different milling machines!
Is there any sort of definitive list where I can get all of the information I need? or has anyone compiled one ?

Thanks !
 
Hi Motion,

Yep - that was a temporary setup to check wiring and calibrate the PWM freq. I made sure the kids were well away and I have a metal project box to mount it all in.

As for the shaft sizes, I'm sure all the info is on this forum as plenty of people have used your combo on various mills... Maybe we could compile a list of the shaft sizes here, as well as the types of couplers people have used.. To get the ball rolling, I'll go over and confirm my details and report back later today.
 
Just a quick warning, this seller shown in the image below is selling falsely labeled power supplies.
If you are going to purchase a eBay PSU then DO NOT BUY FROM HERE, as it is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to overload a mislabeled supply!

dodgy_psu_seller.jpg
 
motiondynamics said:
Hi guys,
thanks for the kind words!

Ducatiboy, wiper motors are too slow. If it was that easy we could have done this much cheaper! The most you get out of ANY wiper is about 65 RPM.
It just isn't fast enough (although in saying that, we do get people who want to drop the rpm for different brews which is why we include the speed controller)

Thanks !
Which is why I had an ugly looking bike sprocket and chain setup to gear it up.

Wouldnt recommend thought...
 
Yep it's solid SS. I had a custom shaft made up by http://www.kocustomengineering.com.au/ - Ken cut a standard 4mm metric keyway into the shaft and drilled a 4mm hole so I could lock it to the gearbox output.

Give Ken a call, he's very friendly and should be able to help out.
 
Thanks for the quick reply! Apologies for being lazy. I just started reading back through the thread which I should have done first... :unsure:
 
You can get 12mm aluminium (allooominum in American) shaft quite cheaply. Most alloy fabrication places should give you an offcut for a couple of bucks. I think its about $16 for 4m from a supply place (if I remember correctly, which I may not be, maybe it was $30 - but its not much, and you don't need much so an offcut is better).

Suits a coupler, using a shallow hole for the allen bolt.

Edit - Or drilling right through for a pin, much easier than SS
 
Cheers Mr B. Found a foot of 12mm alloy rod on ebay for about $12. Probably cheaper to stop by a supplier somewhere but time is tight atm. Found a semi cheap power supply from China that is labelled 20 amp. Now just need to get me one of these motors.
 

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