DIY Jobo/Bessler/Cibacrome style roller motor base?

[l2oBiN]

After seeing my second Cibacrome motor base die, (probably due to overloading of motor), I am deciding that its time to try and build something more robust myself.

In addition to just having a more robust rotation, I would like to also add some features which I wish the roller base always had. These include;

1. The ability to choose speed of rotation
2. The ability to alternate direction of spin every set time interval
3. The ability to vary the spacing of rollers in order to accommodate various sized drums


Buying a motor and connecting it to a roller is not a problem. However, I am wondering how I could achieve the speed of spin control, and the alternating direction of spin for a set time interval? Would anyone electrically/mechanically minded be able to help direct me to the right type of parts needed to achieve this?


Marko

[pound]

this guy has a few videos on his DIY film processor so maybe there is a few ideas to draw out from there : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jY5oe9ULjQ

There are a few ways to control the DC motor but I am testing out using an Arduino board and a motor shield. The motor shield has output pins to connect to the DC motors. You can use software code to control the speed & rotation direction quite easily or even program it to have different timings for different films.

Here is a quick tutorial http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Motor-Shield-Tutorial/

[l2oBiN]

Any ideas for AC (220-250)? I would prefer for it not to be software driven. The old turn knob for rotational speed, switch for on/of change of pin direction, turn knob for frequency of change in spin direction.

[pound]

you can use a power adapter to supply 220AC to whatever DC voltage yr DC motor is. Then you can use something (Pulse Wave Modulation (PWM) controller like this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reversible-DC-Motor-Speed-Control-PWM-Controller-80W-/160927059012?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2578000c44 to control speed and direction. in this case the changing of direction is done manually by pressing a push button.

Hope to see suggestions/ideas from others as I am looking at doing something similar.

[Brian C. Miller]

Nah, what you need is a Rube Goldberg processor. So the first thing is you need live animals, and maybe helium baloons. Then you need a lengthy control mechanism, which of course should use film.

Let's see, how about a rat with a string tied around his middle, chasing cheese? The cheese is swinging around, kind of out of reach of the rat. The cheese's string has a disk on it, so it stays out of the rat's reach. The string on the rat goes through some pulleys to the drum. As the rat runs around, the drum spins. Random agitation!

[Steven Tribe]

One source of belt driving small motors is a canabilised sewing machine. These are quite robust and available at the thrift/red cross shops I know - they have solid mounting flanges. The foot speed adjuster (rheostat) could be altered to become a hand/table device. Reversing would require some thinking, though!

[l2oBiN]

One source of belt driving small motors is a canabilised sewing machine. These are quite robust and available at the thrift/red cross shops I know - they have solid mounting flanges. The foot speed adjuster (rheostat) could be altered to become a hand/table device. Reversing would require some thinking, though!

Sounds like a good idea. I was thinking of a electrical light dimmer switch yo control the power output.. But I am not sure how a motor will respond to that. Perhaps the motor also needs to be of certain type?

Perhaps a time delay relay switch would be suitable for reversing the spin direction?

[Noah B]

I would be interested in building a motor base myself, but am not savvy in building electronics. Would love to see the results!

[jon.oman]

I need to keep this in mind for the future.......

[Steven Tribe]

I have checked an old sewing machine motor. The mount has a system so that tension on the drive belt can be adjusted. Wattage is 90, Gives about 0.4amp on a 220/240 volt AC supply.
The Ilfo/Cibachrome base motor is 24W at 0.1A on the same voltage.

[thomas ciulei]

Sounds like a good idea. I was thinking of a electrical light dimmer switch yo control the power output.. But I am not sure how a motor will respond to that. Perhaps the motor also needs to be of certain type?


seems to me that the spin direction can only be changed within the 12v DC current driving the motor,
and not within the main 110/220V circuit.

I got an old Simaroller, spinning only in one direction.
It was designed for Paper, hence its size for 12x16in/30x40cm.
Id love to make it spin both ways. i usually lift the drum up every 30 sec and switch directions manually.
lovering the imput voltage makes motor suddenly stop.

good thread

[WayneStevenson]

I have an old AC/DC controller for toy train sets that I had when I was a child. I still use it from time to time on DC motors. I can set the voltage / speed with a little dial, and with the flick of a switch, the polarity changes to reverse the direction of the motor.

Perhaps that may give you ideas.

[koh303]

There are already a plethora of products already in existence that do all you want and more.

The CPE2+ not only rotates and reversed via an electronic IC board, but also has a built in heater with .01 degree accurate thermostat to help maintain higher temps needed for c-41\E-6. When coupled with a lift this machine makes for a very clean and dry work area. Another neat thing is that the motor in that machine is commonly used auto industry motor that can be found used for 50-60$, and new ones are not much more, though these motors die fairly rarely...
With enough silicone\glue you can adapt a magnet base to pretty much any type of drum out there if you are not one for Jobo system tanks.

[domaz]

Any ideas for AC (220-250)? I would prefer for it not to be software driven. The old turn knob for rotational speed, switch for on/of change of pin direction, turn knob for frequency of change in spin direction.

I would stay with DC if water is involved. Less chance of deadly shock.

[jcoldslabs]

Which motor base did you burn out? I've been using a Uniroller 352 reversing base for years with no issues. To be fair I'm not using huge drums with it, but it has been a solid performer.

Jonathan

[ic-racer]

If you want a more robust motor you could rig up something like this with a belt drive.

84523

[polyglot]

If you want electrically reversible, DC is the simplest option by far. For reversing, you just need a DPDT relay that will allow you to flip the contacts around to reverse the polarity of the motor.

Easiest source of grunty DC gearmotors is probably windscreen wiper motors from the wreckers - designed to run on 12V, so you can use an old PC power supply ($5?) to drive it.

For speed control, the easiest way is to buy an off-the-shelf radio-control speed controller - look for "ESC" on eBay ($15) but not for a brushless motor, they're very different. ESCs typically have a pulse-width-modulated servo input, which means they can be controlled with a 555 oscillator, with motor speed (servo duty cycle) set with a potentiometer/knob. Google for "555 servo" to get some schematics.

[pjbc]

Why don't you use an electric screwdriver, something like this:
84548
(http://www.blackanddecker.com/power-tools/PD400LG.aspx)

You already have speed and rotation control!

[patrickjames]

I have a Beseler color base that I rewired so the secondary switch in front controls the direction instead of just switching between continuous and reverse. I use a Jobo 3010 on top of it. Works fine. I think it spins a little slower than a Jobo processor, maybe something like 25-30 revs/minute. I am just throwing it out there for anyone who wants something like it. It was easy to do.

[l2oBiN]

Has anyone made any progress on this?

[Jac@stafford.net]

Another feature to include is the 'wobble' or eccentric wheel that drives the tank and sloshes the chemistry just a bit. With the slosh you don't really need to reverse direction during processing.

[l2oBiN]

Not share if this would help. Perhaps if it was random?