This has been a long time coming project. It still needs some refining but it works for now. It's not cheap nor free but if nothing goes wrong (still in prototype phase) it saves a whole lot of time and labor. This feeder was inspired by watching many videos on YouTube and looking at a gazillions pictures of chickens feeders all over the Web.
This feeder is controlled by 2 limit switches. The first one in the vertical PVC pipe is weighed down by the chicken feed when it's full and allows (12V) power to pass through on to the next limit switch in the horizontal PVC pipe. The second switch will feed the motor 12V power as long as there's no feed at the end of the tube. When there's enough feed in the horizontal pipe, it will make contact with the 2nd limit switch and shutoff the system until the chickens eat enough to bring the levels back down and the cycle begins again. When the feeder is completely empty, the first switch will cut power off to prevent the motor from running continuously with no feed in the feeder and burning itself out.
Here's a diagram of what I did.
And here's the finish product.
This feeder is controlled by 2 limit switches. The first one in the vertical PVC pipe is weighed down by the chicken feed when it's full and allows (12V) power to pass through on to the next limit switch in the horizontal PVC pipe. The second switch will feed the motor 12V power as long as there's no feed at the end of the tube. When there's enough feed in the horizontal pipe, it will make contact with the 2nd limit switch and shutoff the system until the chickens eat enough to bring the levels back down and the cycle begins again. When the feeder is completely empty, the first switch will cut power off to prevent the motor from running continuously with no feed in the feeder and burning itself out.
Here's a diagram of what I did.
And here's the finish product.
