Automatic Chicken Coop Door - Auto Closes Coop - Beta Version 1.0

[Peepthis541]

Quote:
It works!!! Wow. That was a lot of re-wiring. But I am happy. I will finalize all the connections and set it up tomorrow.

Thanks Lyndon! Whew!

 

[CedarLake]

Glad I could help. I was worried that I made a mistake in all that text! I do better with drawings

 

[Peepthis541]

I installed the door today, wired everything up and set up the timers. I ran a few tests and altered the door frame slightly by putting a couple of pieces of wood between the frame and the coop to get the lower part of the frame slightly slanting out. This was because when the spool rod lowered the door, the door kind of hung open slightly and didn't even catch on the magnets. This would cause a big complication if it happened because the spool would unwind, then wind back up and pull the door open again. The motor would not shut off when the door reached the other switch because it is not wired to shut of that particular motor direction.
This kind of unveiled a potential weakness in the design. Now I have the door frame at an angle where the door flap should meet the magnets always. But the potential weakness is that if dirt, or even a chicken's backside prevents the door from closing, it may wind back up, as I described previously.

I had to help a friend move this evening, so I couldn't take photos in the daylight of the finished product. But tomorrow, I plan to take photos of the installed door, and video of the door in action.

Now that I've finished this project, I kind of want to revisit the threaded rod design. I may order another motor, but perhaps a faster low torque one, just to speed up the opening and closing.

Feels great to have finished this challenging project. I hope my progress can be helpful to others. Maybe with Rob's help, I can consolidate the design and construction steps in order to make a "do-it-yourself" page for this particular auto open/close design.

Thanks again to all the electricians out there. I would still be stuck if you hadn't offered your much needed expertise!

Dave

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

If you wound another cord around your spool the opiset way you could ether run it up to pull on a spring of bungy cord an move your closed presure switch up there or run it down to the door frame threw a pully an to the door to pull the door closed.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Anybody know of any threaded rod systems that has a larger thread (bore?) and would therefore be less prone to getting stuck by dirt, etc?

 

[Peepthis541]

Quote:
Yep. I thought of this. I think I am gonna sit back for now and let the thing work as is. But I will consider modifications to prevent a major meltdown.
I like the "pull the door closed" with a pulley idea because it keeps the door from being opened by the craftiest raccoon.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Not building one first I have a hard time seeing how it could clog up. 3/8th allthread (biggest that fits in a drill) is pretty big. I use it all the time an never had it clog up bad enough that I couldn't turn it by hand even after years in the weather so a drill motor shouldn't have a problem. But if ya think it will, you could always use the threaded parts from large "C" clamps, bar stools or a press.

 

[aiwetir]

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i have some 3/4 inch threaded rod, maybe a bit heavy for this, but you should be able to find threaded rod of all sizes up to at least 1/2 " at any big box store

 

[Peepthis541]

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I found a piece of hollow metal rod at the local recycling place, same place I found the threaded rod. The thread rod fits in it with some room to spare. I figured I could hack it to a size that would fit over the thread rod in between the two fixed nuts (refer to my photos). It wouldn't cover the thread rod on the the outsides of the fixed nuts, but it would still keep a majority of the thread rod covered and protected.

When I think of a way to protect the other sides, I think of a flexible plastic/rubber slinky type accordion sheath that would fit over the thread rod sections that move outside of the fixed nuts. I don't know if this type of thing exists anywhere but in my imagination though!

Maybe the easiest way would be to just make a double walled door housing so that the system exists inside of two panels. The width of all the gear inside might be able to fit inside panels framed by a 1" piece of wood. I'll take some measurements on my thread rod design mock up tomorrow.

 

[CedarLake]

There's Acme threaded rod which has a larger gap, but it's more expensive.
As far as protecting the threads, I have seen designs that have an accordion tube over the thread to keep dirt, etc off. I've also seen some industrial systems that have a built-in 3/4 tube that goes over the rod, but they are complicated and very expensive: like 6" for $100!