DIY Squirt
 

After fighting with my PVC SCWD mod and it quits switching all of the time, I am going to be going another direction. I was looking at the Ocean Motions site, and noticed that the name of the motors on the Squirt is Autotrol. I did some searching around their site and found that the 700 series is probably the one that they are using. I did more searching and found this one on ebay. [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250112703790&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=015[/url]

I bought 2 of them to mess with and see of I can get some good results. For a $5 little motor, they sure charge a lot for their products. I bet that the motor on the 4 way isn't much more. Now I just need to figure out how to connect it to the drum and make it water proof. That will be the hardest part. Any suggestions? I won't actually get started until I have the motors in hand Thanks in advance, Joe.

do you have access to a mill and lathe?if so you can make one.the motor from the 8 way isnt the same,it is a hurst 1rpm gearmotor and it runs around $90 from grainger.i made my own 6 way OM copy using the hurst motor and magnets from united nuclear.to make the drum water tight you need to make the unit magdrive driven and have a plate that separates the wet and dry sides.LMK if you want some pics of mine.

I think I am going to try and make it non-magnetic driven. There should be some way to seal the shaft. If you could post some pics up in here, it would help though since I might have to go magnetic. I don't have a mill, but I am pretty skilled with a dremel.

I would also like a frag of your avatar. :D

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11466682#post11466682 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by checkinhawk [/i]
[B]do you have access to a mill and lathe?if so you can make one.the motor from the 8 way isnt the same,it is a hurst 1rpm gearmotor and it runs around $90 from grainger.i made my own 6 way OM copy using the hurst motor and magnets from united nuclear.to make the drum water tight you need to make the unit magdrive driven and have a plate that separates the wet and dry sides.LMK if you want some pics of mine. [/B][/QUOTE]

Please post pics of your build. I would love to attempt this!

checkinhawk,

Yes please post your pics!!! this sounds great!

I will be following this one
Aaron

to make it nonmag drive may be a problem.im not sure how you could seal it properly but i guess if you look hard enough you can find a way.here are some pics of mine.
left side is the top of the magdrive,the right is the drum
[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/checkinhawk/Project%20150%20gallon/Picture076.jpg[/IMG]

here is the drum before i cut the outlets in it
[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/checkinhawk/Project%20150%20gallon/Picture078.jpg[/IMG]

top of magdrive,the motor shaft gets set screwed into this.
[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/checkinhawk/Project%20150%20gallon/Picture077.jpg[/IMG]

main body(uncompleted in pics)
[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/checkinhawk/Project%20150%20gallon/Picture070.jpg[/IMG]

lid for unit(magnets werent installed yet in the pics)
[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/checkinhawk/Project%20150%20gallon/Picture072.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/checkinhawk/Project%20150%20gallon/Picture073.jpg[/IMG]

ready to go together(minus the wet/dry isolator plate)i used a piece of 1/8" thick HDPE
[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/checkinhawk/Project%20150%20gallon/Picture075.jpg[/IMG]

the isolator plate goes on top of the drum then the lid bolts down and seals the unit
[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/checkinhawk/Project%20150%20gallon/Picture074.jpg[/IMG]

all hooked up
[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/checkinhawk/Project%20150%20gallon/Picture086.jpg[/IMG]

I can't view the pics here at work, but I will look at them when I get home. I am thinking that I am going to need magnets at least 1" by 1/8" diametrically polarized to get it to work correctly unless I used like 3 on each side?

No response to the avatar?

the avatar is just two different caps growing together,a green/blue polyp and a purple/blue polyp.they were sadly lost in a tank crash 6 months ago :(

What did it cost you to DIY the entire thing?

motor was $90ish,magnets were $20ish,the 6" diameter solid pvc bar stock for the body was free to me cause of my job but i believe it costs about $20/ft.the drum and top drive are made from polypropylene and it is cheap(probably $5/ft)so id say about $135 and several hours of machine time.

checkinhawk. Sorry to hear about the montis. :( Do you have a link to the magnets? Also, would you be interested in doing some of the machine work for this on the side?

I just got home and looked at the pics. Great job man. Mine will only have 2 outlets and 1 inlet. I think that will make it much easier to build.

Since I've discussed it before with him and he hasn't responded, I will.

These are the magnets checkinhawk used.
[url]http://www.unitednuclear.com/magnets.htm[/url]
1/2" Dia x 1/8th" Thick

And here are the same size but a different grade for much cheaper. And although they're stated to be a lower grade (N42 instead of N45) they're stated to provide a stronger pull.
[url]http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D82[/url]

And you need axially magnetized discs, not diametrically.

You CAN build it without magnets, and that's how Oceans Motions used to build them. But over time, it will leak.

I believe this, [url]http://www.autotrol.com/specsheets/html/M700.asp[/url] , is the motor you bought. At only 14 oz-in, it may not be strong enough to turn your drum. But if it is, and plenty so, that's a good thing since they're available other places than ebay (not always a reliable source for multiple parts), [url]http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/m2001p.html[/url]

what's the point of the outer o-ring?
how are the magnets arranged? you don't have the right number to have them N-S-N-S-...
how did you seal the magnets in the drum?

sorry i havent responded back yet.siffy has linked all the stuff that was asked.the outer oring was just a safety thing for me,2 seals better than one.all the magnets on the drum are placed with the poles in one direction,the upper magdrive has the poles opposite.i am not able to do the machine work at the moment,if you have to pay for the machine work the cost gets high.this is really only cheap to make if you can machine it yourself.

i forgot to mention that i used 1/4"x20 helicoils in the top of the body.these are installed into the body(between the 2 orings) then the lid can be bolted down.[url]http://www.emhart.com/products/helicoil.asp?gclid=CPSSneOoy5ACFQUalgodVzvSWg[/url]

these provide great gripping power without stripping the plastic body.

Oh how it must be nice to have access to those machining tools :D

Siffy, that is the same motor I got. It is the same one Ocean Motions uses on the Super Squirt so I think it should be plenty of torque. The reason I was thinking to use diametrically polarized magnets is if I was to use 2 total; 1 for the wet side and 1 for the dry side. It would be nice to have thoses tools. I am going to start checking craigslist for a small lathe. I think it could be done with a lathe and some other small hand tools. I don't really need it to be threaded, so that is not a problem. It would be nice though. Checkinhawk, so does the drum just drag on the seperator plate? Would it possibly be better to have the drum mounted on a shaft with a little bit of clearance between the 2?

the drum does drag on the plate but the plate is made from a lower friction plactic(HDPE).i think the most common problem making this,is making sure to leave enough space for the drum to turn in the body.if you machine it too tight,it can bind up and not turn properly.i made one of these about a year ago and use pvc for the drum and body,problem i had was the pvc rubbing on pvc tends to stick.so i eliminated that problem by using polypro for the drum.

That is a great design. I’m amazed that you can let the two sets of magnets (or is it just the wet ones?) drag across the separator plate without it having to be replaced often. How long has yours been running, and do you know how much wear you are getting on that plate?

actually the wet end magnets are covered with a thin layer of polypro.i took a hot paddle used for socket fussion of polypro fittings and heated the surface of the top of the drum.then i placed a 1/8" thick plate of polypro on the paddle and heated it as well.once both pieces were ready i pushed them together fusing the pieces together and sealing the wetend magnets in.then i machined the excess material away to leave a 1/32" layer over the magnets.the plate doesnt wear much at all,the old one i made with the pvc drum wore on the plate much worse than the new drums material.plus the plate cost so little to replace even if it lasted a year it is worth it.this is my second attemp and it has been running 100% with no down time for almost 6 months now.i havent cleaned it once since turning it on.

Checkinhawk, where did you get all of the different plastics, or should I say, where can I get them?

[quote]the outer oring was just a safety thing for me,2 seals better than one[/quote]
assuming you tapped in between the o-rings, anything that makes it past the first o-ring will go through the screws, making the second o-ring pointless.


[quote]all the magnets on the drum are placed with the poles in one direction[/quote]
anyone making a copy will get a *much* stronger link from the attraction to the current opposite magnet plus the repulsion from the neighboring opposite magnets.

well im not an engineer but it works,doesnt slip at the magdrive,doesnt leak,and cost me less than 1/2 to make.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11474898#post11474898 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GrandeGixxer [/i]
[B]Checkinhawk, where did you get all of the different plastics, or should I say, where can I get them? [/B][/QUOTE]

I guess you might have missed it?