Linear actuator

**BobL** · 23rd November 2014, 08:25 PM

I've been playing around with the 5 linear actuators I picked up for nicks from a recent treasure hunt.
4 of them are 24V DC and one is a 220V AC
All the motors are working but one 24V actuator has an shredded motor to internal gear coupling so it's not going anywhere.
It looks like it would be possible to fix it with a bit of fiddling.
2 of the other 24V units are working fine in both directions but the 4th one is stuck in the "in" position and as its a sealed unit its going to be hard to fix.

The 220V unit was interesting - just a 3 pin plug/cord (no obvious switch) so after checking it wasn't short circuiting to ground I plugged it in and nothing happened.
Checking it over I noticed a small rubber nipple with small two holes in it. On opening up the connection box I found the nipple was connected via two lengths of silicone tubing to a pair of microswitches which were clearly the fwd and rev switches. To test the unit out I pushed two plastic pipettes into the holes in the rubber nipple and found that the unit would switching by applying a slight pressure to either pipette. This unit has 200 mm travel at 6.3 mm/s and a max lift capacity of 60kg.

Now what can I use them for?

Linear actuator-actuator1-jpg

**Michael G** · 23rd November 2014, 08:52 PM

How about opening or closing vents on your shed ventilation/ dust control system?

Michael

**jatt** · 23rd November 2014, 09:02 PM

Seen em used to lift up the roof in place of cables in windup campers (caravans).

Of course having 4 working units helps

**BobL** · 23rd November 2014, 09:33 PM

Originally Posted by Michael G

How about opening or closing vents on your shed ventilation/ dust control system?

Michael

Good idea for the shed vents, but they'd be to slow for ducting blast gates - I was going to have a crack some time at doing those pneumatically.

**Glenn.Visca** · 24th November 2014, 08:22 AM

A super accurate fine adjustment mech on a fence ? (Table saw, router table etc.)

**BobL** · 24th November 2014, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by Glenn.Visca

A super accurate fine adjustment mech on a fence ? (Table saw, router table etc.)

That's what I first thought off, but they quite slow and are not easily able to be as finely adjusted because when thy are turned off they continue to move for a fraction of a second so you have to sort guess where they will stop. The 24V DC units can be controlled by varying the V so they could be more rapidly moved approximately into place using a high V and then the V reduced so the arm travels much slower thereby controlling the final stopping position. It would be interesting to hook a set of digital position measurement arms up to them to see what sort of control, backlash and reproducibility could be obtained.

**RayG** · 24th November 2014, 10:35 AM

Hi Bob,

I've got a few linear actuators, and one job I was planning to use them for is a small workshop lifting system. up to 100 Kg or so, a bit like a die trolley.. Sorry, no plans or details, just general ideas..

Ray

**simonl** · 24th November 2014, 03:25 PM

Hi there
I've got about 5 similar units. They are all 220v and came out of treadmills. They are used to raise/lower the deck to walk/run on incline. Still wondering what to use them for myself. They overheat if used continuously and have a duty cycle of about 1/10.

Cheers

Simon

**BobL** · 24th November 2014, 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by simonl

I've got about 5 similar units. They are all 220v and came out of treadmills. They are used to raise/lower the deck to walk/run on incline. Still wondering what to use them for myself. They overheat if used continuously and have a duty cycle of about 1/10.

I have a couple of actuators from treadmills and they do indeed get hot pretty quickly.
The ones I have are; 1/20 HP, 1/8 duty cycle and a throw of a about 100 mm.

The 220V unit I described above is 300W and has a throw of 200 mm.

**Steamwhisperer** · 24th November 2014, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by simonl

Hi there
I've got about 5 similar units. They are all 220v and came out of treadmills. They are used to raise/lower the deck to walk/run on incline. Still wondering what to use them for myself. They overheat if used continuously and have a duty cycle of about 1/10.

Cheers

Simon

Hi Simon,
What about using one as a belt tensioner when changing speeds on the pedestal drill

Phil

**KBs PensNmore** · 29th November 2014, 01:59 AM

You could use them to make an adjustable height bench, using a scissor type action.
Kryn

**simonl** · 29th November 2014, 07:45 AM

Hi phil. That sounds like a novel idea. With all the other projects on my "to do" list, I cant ever see it happening!

One thinfs for sure, the minute I throw them away I'll find a need for them!

Simon

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