My DIY Automatic Chicken Door

[JakeCpuNut]

I have everything ordered and got a 12" actuator but won't have enough room to do an up and down door. The coop currently has a side slide but I'm going to redo it to have an up and down. Then I will mount the actuator horizontally and use para-cord and 1 pulley over the door so I'll have room to go up and down!

 

[Mouthpear]

I have everything ordered and got a 12" actuator but won't have enough room to do an up and down door. The coop currently has a side slide but I'm going to redo it to have an up and down. Then I will mount the actuator horizontally and use para-cord and 1 pulley over the door so I'll have room to go up and down!

Read my posts #66, #68 and #69 You don't need to do all that with the string and pulley. Besides it's a waste of capabilities of the actuator. Mount the actuator vertically and to one side but in front of the door. Pushing the door up instead of pulling the door up. You will need some good non binding slides or track. The use of drawer slides or keyboard slides are good and often found cheap.

 

[JakeCpuNut]

Read my posts #66, #68 and #69 You don't need to do all that with the string and pulley. Besides it's a waste of capabilities of the actuator. Mount the actuator vertically and to one side but in front of the door. Pushing the door up instead of pulling the door up. You will need some good non binding slides or track. The use of drawer slides or keyboard slides are good and often found cheap.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "in front of the door" ?

 

[Mouthpear]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "in front of the door" ?

Imagine the door opening. Now imagine the door just 2 to 4 inches wider. The door is offset so that it covers the opening. The rest of the door width (the 2 to 4 inches) is where the actuator goes. In front of but to the side of the door. The motor end down mounted to the bottom. The push rod end is mounted to the top of the door.

 

[Mouthpear]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "in front of the door" ?

Put this together in a hurry to post. You can trim out the sides to hide/protect the drawer slides and box in the actuator. A 12" Actuator takes up about 31 inches while setting it up like this is 27 inches. Only 4 inches but it is less.

 

[Mouthpear]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "in front of the door" ?

Does it make sense now?

 

[Mouthpear]

OOPS! Do I have egg on my face.... My calculations were wrong. I forgot to add the 4"s of the barrel/housing. So even tho It would definitely save space compared to the OP's setup.

You really should attach the actuator at the bottom of the door not top.
When I was referring to savige space I was talking about not mounting the actuator on top and mounting it in front and offset to the side. like this

FYI the first two are 12" actuators. Fully extended, they take up the same amount of room vertically. The three actuators that extend down, are being controlled (open and close) by just the one timer (top left pix 1 and 2).

The example door on the left (first two pictures still) Is the one I created to post here and show the "In front of the door" option. Controlled by the two Astronomical timers at bottom left.

The third and fourth pictures are the same one I created to post here and show the "In front of the door" option, but before I switched out the 8" Actuator to the 12".

 

[JakeCpuNut]

OOPS! Do I have egg on my face.... My calculations were wrong. I forgot to add the 4"s of the barrel/housing. So even tho It would definitely save space compared to the OP's setup. View attachment 2126787

You really should attach the actuator at the bottom of the door not top.
When I was referring to savige space I was talking about not mounting the actuator on top and mounting it in front and offset to the side. like this

View attachment 2126789 View attachment 2126790 View attachment 2126791 View attachment 2126792

FYI the first two are 12" actuators. Fully extended, they take up the same amount of room vertically. The three actuators that extend down, are being controlled (open and close) by just the one timer (top left pix 1 and 2).

The example door on the left (first two pictures still) Is the one I created to post here and show the "In front of the door" option. Controlled by the two Astronomical timers at bottom left.

The third and fourth pictures are the same one I created to post here and show the "In front of the door" option, but before I switched out the 8" Actuator to the 12".

Ahhh ok, that makes sense now. The only thing I would have to do using this option is redo the ladder from the current door to the ground which wouldn't be a big deal. I'm supposed to have all my goodies tomorrow so hopefully I can play with everything and figure something out.

The only other thing of concern for me, and the reason I liked the idea of a pulley rope scenario is just in case one of the birds tried to get out/in while it was closing. I know they move super slow but my thoughts were if it were being let down by small rope there wouldn't be a "push" from the actuator, only the weight of the door.

 

[Mouthpear]

I tried a photocell on mine and the first thunderstorm that came up had my chickens locked out in the rain... then there is the issue of trying to get a photocell to close at dusk and not before. On an overcast day the door will close too early.

JT

Buy a photocell Module with time delay takes care of that. As to the storm and cloudy days just adjust the module to very sensitive but with a long time delay. Very simple.

 

[Mouthpear]

So what is the "secret" in eliminating the 2nd timer? How do you program the timer? Is there a tutorial in using the timer/dpdt relay? Thank you!

The secret is to not eliminate the timer but to use the RIGHT timers. With the right timers you eliminate the relay and conserve power, since the timers will be on ONLY a minimum of TWO minutes for the ENTIRE day.