One of the common discussions on our printer forum is in regard to the “waste tank” that lies within many inkjet printers.  These “tanks” are actually just ink pads that absorb and then become saturated with ink.   There are a few ways ink becomes deposited on these pads including overspray during borderless printing, printing when paper jams, etc.  Usually the vast majority of ink is from the cleaning cycles when the printer literally sucks ink from the nozzles of the printhead.  You can imagine that after lots of print cycles quite a bit of ink is left inside the printer.   One of two things ends up happening:

1. Your printer throws an error telling you your waste tank is full
2. You end up with a black gooey mess leaking from beneath your printer

A wonderful member of our community, ghwellsjr, shared his experience in dealing with this problem.   I was so impressed with the detail of the images and information that I asked if I could share it on the site and he acquiesced.  Read more

HomeMade Monitor Wall Mount

A week ago I decided to upgrade to a new 23″ flat panel monitor (since I spend about 80% of my waking hours at the computer).  I was thinking about buying a wall mount, but I discovered two problems:

• Most didn’t extend from the wall as far as I needed (about 18 inches)
• The prices for the ones that extended only about 13″ were $60 +

Here is my setup before I started:

Well, once again my overwhelming impatience and desire to do-it-yourself won over.  I did some internet searching and was surprised there weren’t a lot of homemade monitor wall mounts out there on the net (at least few I could find).   I did stumble upon this one, but I didn’t need fancy articulating arms, etc.  Well, while I was laying in bed about to go to sleep I came up with a few ideas (as often happens).

My first idea was to have a two 3″ pieces of 1/2 inch pipe, one for the wall and one mounted to the back of the monitor.  Then I’d bend a 2 ft. piece of rebar into a z shape which would fit into the pieces of pipe.  At the last minute I opted for just going with a bent piece of pipe by itself which would fit into brackets.   Here are the supplies I used:

• 2″ – piece of 1/2 inch electrical conduit
• 4 – 1/2 inch brackets
• 4 – M4 .70 pitch metric screws (about 1.25 inches long)
• 8 washers
• 8 wood screws
• 1/2 pieces of scrap wood

The first thing I needed to do was to find a way to attach the brackets to the monitor.   I created a diagram based on the 100 mm square holes for the VESA mounts.  To the right is the image I created.  I simply printed the sheet at 5″ x 5″ exactly (including the 1″ white border) and taped it to my board.

From there I pre-punched the holes with an awl and drilled all 4 holes with a 3/16 bit.  (I also countersunk the holes on both sides)

This provided a perfect backing for the VESA mount on the back of the monitor where the M4 screws would fit.

The metal Arm:
This was one of the more complex parts of the project.  Fortunately I had a 1/2 ” bender on hand, but I discovered that the bend radius was so long that I was using up much of my pipe.  I ended up doing a mix of using the bender and the vice to get the angles I needed (You’ll see in the pics below).

Working with the metal arm to get it just how I wanted was a bit of work.  Make sure you get 100% level bends or you’ll end up with my problem… when the monitor is rotated it is a bit off center and not level.

Next, the brackets:

The 1/2 inch brackets are meant to hold the conduit very snugly, but I needed at least a tiny bit of play so I could insert & remove the whole thing.   I was able to solve this problem by bending out the brackets ever so slightly and then putting a 1/16″ washer between the bracket and the wood.

I attached one bracket to the wood that would go on the back of the monitor and inserted my metal arm and then attached the other bracket and made sure it had just the right amount of play.

Next I found a stud in my wall (what a pain that turned out to be) and used 3″ screws to mount the other board.   I propped up my monitor to a height I wanted and then put the metal arm in place and fastened the other two 1/2″ brackets with screws and washers just as before.

It took a few adjustments to get my pan and tilt just right, but I’m pretty happy with the results:

(click for larger version)

Here is the monitor swung completely out of the way… I’ve never had so much desk space!! 

It isn’t pretty (as most of my “get it done and make sure it works projects end up) but it works really well!

I’ll keep testing it and make notes of future adjustments I’d like to make including painting everything black.

A few weeks ago I received the following email:

“I’ve written a procedure explaining how to remove a Canon i960 printer from its cover and base and how to prepare it to be operational while out of its case. It’s a 4 page PDF – 1 graphic, 3000 words, 36 paragraphs. Too big for a comment. If interested I’ll email it to you as an attachment.”

Well, I gladly replied that I’d love to see it. Below is the contents of the PDF and hope many find it useful. Thanks David for all your work putting this together!

“I find the Canon i960 printer manual lacking in practical information about inspections, tests and cleaning. This procedure explains how to remove the top cover and base and how to prepare the printer to be operational while out of its case.

Basic tools for this job are a medium size phillips type screwdriver with a 5-6 inch magnetized blade. Most hardware stores sell a simple magnetizing device for this purpose. Two straight blade screwdrivers – medium and small. A regular screwdriver with a sharp tip to pry apart connectors. Letter opener. Flash light. Container for small screws. Newspapers. Paper towels.

To remove the top cover: Turn the printer power on. Let it stabilize. Open the lid. The print head will move to the center. Pull the AC plug AT THE PRINTER. Pull out the USB cable. Remove any paper.

Remove the panel that holds the power/resume buttons – 2 screws. Unplug the cable from the button panel. Pry the connection partially apart, then grasp the conductors and pull with a rocking motion. Set the button panel aside. At the rear of the printer remove the inspection plate. Set it aside.

Look for 5 horizontal slots midway around the perimeter of the case. Use a flat blade like a letter opener to depress the internal plastic release tabs while pulling up on the open top cover. After the top cover is snapped loose, close the lid and rear paper rest. Grasp the top cover by each side and lift it from the base in a rocking motion. Set it aside. A cover over the USB connectors lifts out after removing the top cover. Set it aside.

A push-button switch at the top-center of the logic board senses the top cover lid opened or closed. Its normal state (closed lid) is NOT depressed.

If removal of the printer frame from the base is NOT required, reconnect the button panel and cable connection and temporarily install the panel on the base using the bottom screw. With the cover removed paper is not supported. Make a paper support. Cut a 7×9 inch panel from a corrugated cardboard box and insert it about an inch into the gap behind the rear paper guide. Now normal operations are possible as though the cover was in place.

Before removing the printer frame from the base, preliminary measures should be taken: Arrange a work station

-garage bench, utility table, kitchen table – preferably well lit and at a comfortable height. Prepare two wooden blocks to elevate the printer above the work surface. Lego blocks might work. Have newspapers and paper towels on hand.

For a test lash-up, cables from the power supply module, the button panel and a base test plug must be re- configured. It’s not necessary to disconnect them from the logic board or disturb the wiring runs.

Remove the power supply module and the power cable from beneath the base: Turn the printer around so the rear of the printer overhangs the edge of the work bench 3 inches. The power supply module resides in a recess beneath the rear of the base. At the end of the module towards the AC connector is a 3/4 inch wide plastic tab. Pry it away from the end of the module while grasping it near the AC connector. The module will drop out. At the other end of the module is a 9 wire plug. Pry/pull it out. Set the power supply module aside. Pull the power cable and plug back up to the top side of the base.

A cable of 8 red wires terminates on an open plug at the right rear corner beneath the printer base. It serves no purpose for this operation but must be dealt with because it’s fastened to the base. From above bend some of the red wires facing the rear to mark that side. To disconnect it from the base compress the locking tabs of the plug from below the base and pull it out from above. I used a medium size regular screwdriver and pried against a tab from below on one side while pulling up at a slight angle on the wires. Then I moved the screwdriver to the other side and did the same thing. The plug came out easily despite the tight spot. Leave the plug dangling. Turn the printer around.

At the front of the printer above the paper discharge chute is a 12 inch plastic bar. Removing this bar allows more maneuvering room to install or remove the printer frame from the base, but it’s not necessary to remove it.

It’s held in place by vertical latch tabs at both ends. Grasp the left end of the bar and push firmly to the left and upwards. On the right side on the end near the black purge pump look for a 1/2″ tab that extends downward. The tab must be pried towards the purge pump while lifting upwards on the bar. Set it aside.

The printer frame is held to the base by 2 screws located in the rear and 2 tabs (not visible) in the front. On the right rear corner a screw is located directly downward in line with the slot used to depress an internal plastic tab. Look down over the edge of the base with a flash light and use a magnetized phillips screwdriver to remove the screw. On the left rear corner the screw is located in line with the white fiber gear. It’s visible and easy to remove. Ignore the other screw nearby.

If the button panel was temporarily installed earlier remove it now from the base and unplug the cable. Look for the U-shaped metal bracket at the right side near the purge pump motor. For future reference, make a mark on the vinyl covered button cable at the center of the purge pump motor. Remove the bracket – 2 screws. Arrange the button cable so that it is free from snagging when the print frame is lifted from the base.

Grasp the printer by the metal tabs on either side of the center frame and lift upwards favoring the left side. The front holding tabs are cleared by pushing the frame slightly backwards after the rear clears the base a fraction of an inch. Jiggling the printer frame may be necessary. Avoid handling the frame at any other points. It’s easy to damage fragile parts. Once clear of the front tabs the printer should lift free from the base but watch carefully for any overlooked connection or obstruction. Set it down.

On the printer base look for any foreign objects (screws, clips, springs etc.) and save them. Remove the white plastic bar with teeth from the printer base and set it aside. The printer base and waste ink pads will be cleaned later.

On the printer frame there may be dust/debris in areas that are now accessible. If you have access to compressed air, this is the time to blow it out. Leave the print head away from the purge area. Don’t blast ink from the purge area onto other parts.

Prepare the printer to operate outside of its cover and base: Put down newspapers. Elevate the printer base on blocks. Make sure a folded paper towel is below the black purge pump near the right front corner.

Plug the button cable into the button panel and place it in a convenient location. Plug the 9 wire power supply

cable into the loose power supply module. Plug in the USB cable from the computer. Insert the 7×9 cardboard panel into the gap behind the rear paper guide. Load some paper. Remove the ink cartridges and visually check for ink levels. Reinsert them and move the print head back and forth a few inches by hand. It should move smoothly. Confirm that the print head locking lever is down. Plug the AC cord into the loose power supply module.

Turn the power on. Look for the green light. There will probably be print head movement and purge activity. After the printer stabilizes, depress and hold the open lid button on top of the logic board. The print head should move to the center. Release the button. It should return to the parked position over the purge unit at the right side. There might be ink on the folded paper towel.

Turn the COMPUTER on. After boot-up go to Start/Settings/Printer. Right-click on the i960 printer icon. Go to Properties/Print Test Page. The printer should print the test page. Click on the Maintenance tab. Do a nozzle check.

At this juncture there are many things to check for, depending on conditions and symptoms. It’s beyond the scope of this procedure to list them but if cleaning, lubrication and repairs are to be made, this is the time. If any clips, screws, etc. were found in the bottom of the base, this is the opportunity to determine where they MIGHT belong.

Clean the waste ink pads: In the base are two pads on top of each other running 11 inches along the length of the base. Two small pads are on top of each other near the purge pump area. There’s also a pad at the far left of the base that’s probably not stained. Remove it too. Set it aside. The others are very messy. Take the base to a laundry type utility sink or a bath tub. Put on rubber gloves and remove the pads. Don’t do this on the driveway unless you can live with the stains.

Place them under a running faucet or direct a warm water stream from a hose to flush them out. Using your gloved hands, press the water out, flip them over and press the other side. Repeat this until the ink no longer blackens the water pressed from the pads. Be careful not to damage the small ears on the big pads. The stains can not be removed but the bulk of the ink will be flushed out. Leave them soaked with water so they dry out to maximum thickness. Place them on 4-6 layers of paper towels, preferably outside in the sun. Flip them and change the towels every few hours. It might take 2 days for them to dry.

Flush the base under a stream of warm water to remove the ink. Clean the printer top cover with soap and water. Use a spray bottle of bleach type cleaner to remove stains from the sink or tub.

To re-assemble the printer gather all the parts that were set aside in one location. Keeping an eye on them will guide you what to do next and in what order. Start with the base. After the waste ink pads are dry, install them. Start with the small ones. The bottom pad may be of different material than the top one. Install the single pad previously set aside. Install the big pads. There’s a slight difference between the bottom and top pads. Install the white plastic bar with teeth on the base. It fits only one way.

Disconnect the loose power supply module from the power supply cable and the AC cord. Disconnect the button panel from the button cable. Remove the paper and 7×9 cardboard panel from the rear paper guide.

With the base and printer prepared, lower the printer onto the base: First, position the button cable so that the reference mark is near the center of the purge pump motor. To hold it from flopping, place the button cable above the metal tab that anchors one side of the U-shaped bracket. Tape is optional. Grasp the printer frame by the tabs on either side of the center frame. The rear of the printer has to go slightly back beyond the screw holes so that the 2 front tabs are engaged when the printer is then brought forward. It might require some jiggling. You can tell if the printer frame is seated properly when you can see the rear holes firmly against the bottom case and are lined up. Confirm the button cable is in the slot at the bottom rear of the case. Attempt to lift up the front of the printer frame at both corners. It should be secure under the tabs.

Install the U-shaped metal bracket on the right side – 2 screws. It has a retainer tab for the button cable which should now be positioned correctly with the center of the purge pump motor in line with the mark made earlier. Use the magnetized phillips type screwdriver and install the 2 screws that secure the rear of the printer to the base.

If not already in place, install the 12 inch plastic bar across the front of the printer above the paper exit chute. The thick side is to the left and the 1/2 inch tabs point downward. Push the bar down from the top until it snaps into place.

Turn the printer so the rear of the printer overhangs the edge of the work bench 3 inches. Install the red wire cable plug into the square hole at the right rear corner of the printer base. The bent wires face to the rear. Push the plug down from the top side of the base into the hole until the plastic tabs snap into place.

Route the power supply cable and plug down through the opening in the right rear corner of the base. Plug it into the power supply module. Snap the power supply module into the recess beneath the bottom of the base. Set the USB cover plate in place. Turn the printer around.

Install the top cover loose. Route the button cable and plug up through the opening in front of the clear mist shield. Snap the cover down starting with the left side. Insert the button cable plug into the socket of the button panel. Open the lid. Fasten the button panel – 2 screws. Close the lid. Install the rear inspection plate.

Plug in the AC cord and the USB cable to the computer. Load with paper. Turn on the computer and printer. Wait for everything to stabilize. Open the printer lid. The print head should move to the center. Check the ink cartridges. Make sure they have ink and are seated properly. Confirm that the print head locking bar is down. Close the lid. At the computer, navigate to the printer icon and print a test page. Click the maintenance tab and do a nozzle check. Print a test color bar or photo.”

A HUGE thanks to David for sending this great writeup over!

NOTE: If any visitors give this a go please post your thoughts below and take lots of pics during the process so we can add them!

Cut to the chase?  Go to TouringPlans.com and read then join!  Honestly, it was the only trip planning site we needed.

Back in Febuary of 2008 my family took on the exciting yet daunting task of planning a trip to Walt Disney World.   We knew if we wanted to maximize our trip and have a lot of fun (with relatively few frustrations) we needed to get our ducks in a row.

That trip was quite a while ago and I’m finally going to share some of the ideas and resources we used when planning our trip to DisneyWorld.

Hitting Up Friends:

I knew a friend who recently had taken his family to DisneyWorld and wanted to get his feedback.  I wanted to pull from his experience and asked his thoughts on his trip.  He sent me some absolutely wonderful advice and I felt selfish that I was the only one benefiting, so I thought I’d share his great comments and suggestions: Read more

Over the years since first posting the article on my Homemade Compost Sifter Screen Sieve I’ve received some really amazing comments by some incredibly ingenious site visitors.   A few have even been willing to submit their information for inclusion onto www.Nifty-Stuff.com including:

Automatic Compost Sifter – Screen
Sieve – Screen Shaker for Soil and Compost

Over the past few days I’ve been corresponding with another visitor of the site who has his own design.  He sent over a video (below) which really impressed me and I implored him to send me more information and pictures which he kindly did!   Below is the HomeMade Rotary Trommel Screen by Ken:

  

“I had need for about 6 cubic yards of broken stone to level a steep area on my property.  Because rain water flowed through the area, I wanted just stone, no dirt to impede the water flow.   I have about 1500 cubic yards of broken shale and soil available if I could just screen out the dirt. 

 

To this end I built my rotary screener out of:

 

• a 55-gallon steel drum
• 2-24 inch id bicycle rims bolted to the drum.
• 4 caster wheels
• Four 3 foot long bars of 1-1/4 x ¼ steel bars
• A clothes dryer motor and belt
• Some 2 inch angle iron
• 2-8 foot long 2×4 pt lumber
• ½ inch mesh wire cloth.
• 2 inch angle iron
• Miscellaneous flat and v belt idlers

 

To keep the drum bicycle rims running in the casters, I used the drive belt on the motor/outlet end and a long v-belt bought from home depot for $1.99 on closeout at the inlet end.

 

I found the drum speed was too fast, around 55 rpm, throwing dirt all over the place, so I added a ¼ hp motor driving the washing machine motor at half speed, which worked out well. Both motor mounts are pivoted so the drive belts are tensioned by motor weight and the bungee cord

 

I didn’t want to throw the dirt and stones; I wanted them to slide down the screen as they moved toward the outlet. 

 

I made the screening opening 24 inches long so the dirt would fall down into a wheel barrow or garden tractor trailer and the stone would fall out the end, also into a wheelbarrow or trailer.

 

I installed the 2 side deflectors so the screenings would only drop straight down and not on the casters or frame of the machine.

 

I later added four easily removable wheels for ease of movement.

 

The barrel is tilted by having the inlet end casters raised on a 2×4. 

 

The barrel is 35 inches long, the machine is 48 inches long.  I originally cut 4 windows in the barrel for the screenings to fall through, added the steel bars and cut out the spaces between the windows to get a full circumference for screening. 

 

As soon as I get an other barrel, I’ll simply cut it in half and use the bars to space the halves 24 inches apart, making it 59 inches long.  That way I’ll have more space to toss the material in and more overhang on the outlet end to make it easier to position the trailer or wheelbarrow.

 

The screen wire permanently attached to the barrel can be of a larger opening size, for larger screening and a smaller mesh liner can be laid in and attached with twisted wire ties to the main screen for finer screening.  I used this process with window screen to separate pea gravel from sand. “

 

A big thanks to Ken for sharing this with us!  If you have any questions or comments please post them below.  Also, if you want to make an article submission for our site please comment below.

Years ago I posted my thought on The BEST LED Flashlights.   Unfortunately a few things have happened since publishing that post:

1. Costco stopped carrying the Luxeon LED flashlights.
2. A couple of the Costco lights started to have intermittent problems.
3. I needed something brighter than the Dorcy AAA light, but still wanted to stick with a single or double AA design.

A few months ago I received a post on that older article from Nick at http://www.workflashlight.com.   I asked him if I could test a couple of his lights and he sent me two single AA models to try:

• 5W Super Duty 30 Lumens 1xAA Pocket LED Flashlight
• 1W 32 Lumens 1xAA LED Flashlight

Here are the two lights along side of the Dorcy AAA LED flashlight:

As you can see the beam of the 5w had a bit more of a yellow coloring while the 1w has more of a blue color similar to the Dorcy.   Both of these test lights had a much stronger and tighter beam than the Dorcy.  Pretty amazing when you consider the batteries in each are more or less the same (1.5 volts).

Next I setup my camera and each light to shine on a target picture 16 feet away.   I’ve found that while I’m outside checking on the chickens that this distance is usually the max distance of what I expect to see with a small form factor light light this.

	Here is the baseline shot of the wall and picture with the lights on.The image is cropped and zoomed to get better detail.Click any of the thumbnails to see a larger image.
	This is the 5W Super Duty 30 Lumens 1xAA Pocket LED Flashlight.Again, you can see that the color is a little bit on the yellow side, but could be considered more like “actual light” color. This light produced a good balance between the main beam with a decent amount of “side spill” for peripheral viewing.I prefer the feel of this light over the 1W below.  It seemed more solid and I liked the anti-roll notching into the body.
	This is the 1W 32 Lumens 1xAA LED Flashlight.  It has a more “blue” color and a tighter main beam with less side spill.While I preferred the feel of the 5W light above, this light fit more smoothly into my pocket.  I also liked the light color better.The tail cap button felt a little less solid on this light and the optics were loose (could have simply been this model).
	Here is the Dorcy AAA LED.  The light setting was fixed on the camera to provide for a relative display of how much light each of the flashlights produced.    The Dorcy was almost useless at this distance.

 Overall I was very pleased with the lights.   I’m not sure if it was an optical illusion produced by the different color light, but I honestly had a hard time determining which one was brighter.   After going outside in the dark and testing the lights on a plethora of different areas I decided I liked the brightness, color, and beam of the 1W 32 Lumens 1xAA LED Flashlight best.    While I like both lights, I think the 5W body with the 1W circuit / LED would be a perfect combo.

A big thanks to Nick at http://www.workflashlight.com for letting me test his lights.  Maybe someday he’ll be able to talk me into testing some of his brighter non AA based LED lights. 

We’ve had a lot of interest in the Automatic Compost Sifter – Screen post. One visitor of the site, Richard Buxton, posted a comment and sent a picture. I was so impressed I asked him to submit some more details so I could post it up as its own article. So, below we present the “Son of Sid”:

A sieve-box moves backwards and forwards by means of an electric motor. Sifted material falls through a mesh base and a guide chute into a wheelbarrow below. The sieve-box is hinged to allow debris to be tipped out.

Two open boxes; similar to kitchen drawers but without bases, are nested inside one another and arranged so that the inner box may be tipped up on a piano hinge for clearing any material that does not fall through the mesh.

The two nested boxes have four small, in-line castors underneath to allow lateral movement along two rails. These full-length rails are supported on six anti-vibration mounts (Elasto Mount – AT type) that attach through angle brackets to the inside faces of the long-rails of a supporting table-frame.

Movement is provided by a reciprocating saw clamped to a board and firmly anchored across the running rails. The Saw mechanism is connected by means of a push-pull bar fixed to the outer of the two nested boxes with a gate latch and 10mm bolt.

The reciprocating saw has been modified to disable the original power switch and the simple speed control electronics have been removed and adapted to provide a slower rate of reciprocation. A watertight enclosure fixed to the saw mounting board contains the removed speed controller circuit together with an illuminated on/off switch and a speed adjustment knob as operator controls.

The running rails are joined together by cross batons in the manner of railway sleepers so that all moving components and all anti-vibration mounts act in unison. As the reciprocating mechanism moves so does the sieve-box assembly.

The fitted mesh is ½ inch square but a finer mesh of ¼ inch may be dropped in on a sub frame for a finer particle size.

• Overall dimensions of table-frame: Length1340 – Width 560 – Height 950
• Sieve box: Length 610 – Width 455 – Depth 120
• Original speed 300 – 3000 cycles/min. Modified speed 0 – 200 cycles/min.
• Power consumption estimated to be in the order of 100W

In motion for the first time

Rail with castor & A / V mount

This view shows the sifting box tipped up.

You can also see a rudimentary mudguard covering the castor wheel but some
sifted compost is visible on the running rail so I think I will need to fit full length
mudguards instead of these boy-racer ones.

Son of Sid has a very smooth action
The speed controller is subject to variation due to ambient temperature but luckily the purely
accidental selection of components I used (potentiometer and two resistors) allows me to adjust the speed accordingly.

If I load it too heavily I need to turn the wick up a little to get him running properly and as he empties I can turn it down.

The concept idea came from Sid the Sifter and my motivation was nothing more than laziness.

People often say, “Here’s something I made form bits I had lying around.”
True I did use a few lying around bits but I bought most of it – the most sexpensive of course being the saw
which cost £36 ($52)

This picture shows motor, control box and combined tool store and cup holder. (I am NOT responsible for the brickwork in the background).
Three quarter view. Notice tipping hinge and strain relief bracket on table frame – slotted into carrier box to reduce tipping strain
The Design
Speed controller: The Red Wheel is a combined switch and speed potentiometer - on the full speed setting the switch bypasses the speed control. I removed this control completely – five soldered connections
Speed controller reverse: You can easily see the five joints all in a circle that hold the potientiometer on the circuit board. The new control potentiometer connects to the two pads on the left. I used a 120K linear pot and added ballast resistors by trial and error to get the speed range I wanted. I think the total resistance was close to 850k – up from 500k on the original

A huge thanks to Richard for all the great pictures and information!

I’ve been fascinated with automatic chicken coop doors.   My current auto coop door closer has been working like a champ for months.  I received a lot of great replies to that thread, and one of them was from a visitor named Bob.    I was so impressed with his design and pictures I asked him if I could post his comments and pictures as an article here.   I’m SUPER glad he agreed.   So, below are his words:

Here is the automatic door I built with an automatic car antenna (click the image to see it in action). I chose the antenna method because it has a built in stop when it reaches its end in both directions. This eliminates the need of more circuitry to control “run time”.

Mine runs off a little 12v lawn tractor battery. The battery is kept up to charge with a “float” charger. The door opens and closes with a photo light sensor. The reason for the battery is so that a power failure will not cause a problem. The reason for the light sensor is so that the length of daylight does not need to be constantly adjusted on a timer. BUT, you can simplify things and use an ordinary appliance timer plugged into an AC outlet, and then use a 12v DC power supply to power the antenna.

This is just one way to use an automatic car antenna. With some imagination you could probably come up with many more designs.
As you can see the antenna is mounted upside down. The door is made from an 1\8″ ALUMINUM panel. It is light in weight but very strong. The door channels are 1/4″. I have a 3″ spacer connected to the tip of the antenna to the door. You can measure the distance you need to determine the spacing length. I used a piece of aluminum stock and tapped each side to mount it. The side on the antenna tip has a hole for the tip to set in, and then I used the tapped hole as a “set screw” to keep the tip in place. I have my tip connected towards the bottom of the door. This makes the length of the door channel a bit shorter in order to match the up and down stroke of the antenna.

Be sure to carefully measure the lengths and travel distances needed for the antenna to move up and down freely. I have heard of some discussion that the travel distance does not need to be exact because the antenna’s “auto stop” feature will sense the end travel and the motor will time out. But that will be up to you.

If you do not have some aluminum sheeting lying around, you can find some at Lowe’s or etc. Aluminum can be easily cut with your skill saw. Just make sure you have a carbide blade and wear safety goggles. Even some type of plastic sheet would work. Just keep it light and strong.

The door channels can be purchased also at Lowe’s or Home Depot.

The best price for the antenna was on-line at Beachaudio.com, but they may be out of stock. Just search the web for the least expensive “automatic antenna”. Mine was about $35.00. The antenna MUST only have three wires. (Beware of the non automatic antennas that require the user to “toggle” the antenna up and down manually). Two wires connect directly to your power source. The other wire that is not black or red, is the “up down” trigger. That is the wire that you connect to the timer or sensor circuit.

If you go with the 12V battery, the float charger can be bought at Harbor Freight Tools for under $10.00.

I have updated this article to mention that the there may be a better control system other than the night/daylight sensor that is described below. I have used this sensor for about a year. However, just recently I noticed that the control unit was sometimes “confused” in the mornings and would make the antenna move up and down erratically.  Not fun for the chickens. It was mainly due to setting the photocell too sensitive in order to stay open at night as long as possible. Please be sure to read the later posts regarding an Intermatic ST01C timer. This timer is very unique because it does not rely on household current to operate. It is also very unique because it has an “astronomical” feature which updates the internal clock when dusk and dawn occurs in your region. It is powered by a 2 year lithium battery. Below is the night/daylight photocell circuit, if you decide to want to experiment with it.

Here is the circuit.  Its pretty simple and self explanatory and would require someone that has done a little soldering in the past.

The only thing that is really not explained is the CDS photocell. One could try different types to see which works best. The one I ended up using was from a photocell variety package purchased from Radio Shack.

If you decide to go with the photocell circuit, the antenna’s power wires (red and black) must be always connected to the 12vdc power source and not be controlled by the photocell circuit.

A few thumbnails you can click on for the control box, door channel, battery / charger, photocell

On the other side of the box I have a little slider switch that makes the door close manually.

The tip spacer/connector will probably be the hardest part for a lot of people to figure out to. There plenty of ways to get that done. I had a piece of an aluminum rod that was solid. I drilled and tapped each side of it. There is a screw going through the outside of the door to one side of the rod. I drilled a hole in the rod for the antenna tip to sit in. The screw on that side of the rod is a set screw that keeps the tip in place.

(Rob Note:  A huge thanks to Bob for this great design, pics and wrtieup and for letting me post it on the site.   I know we are both looking forward to reading some of your comments!)

Rest In Peace Ming-Ming Duck

After years of thinking about this, and after 2 separate raccoon attacks I finally found some time to create a prototype / proof of concept of my auto chicken coop door closer.    You can read the details of the initial design here: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/automatic-chicken-coop-door.php.   The most recent coon attack was 3 weeks ago when a gang of 4 coons came into the coop just an hour after sunset.   They were able to kill a hen and our only duck before I got out there to scare them away.

It is a terrible feeling knowing that if you had only gone out a few moments earlier that everybody would be fine.  It only takes a single night of forgetting, or not getting home in time to lock up the coop and an entire flock could be destroyed.

As stated in my original auto chicken coop door plans, I only needed a design that would close the door in case we forgot or couldn’t make it home in time.   We’ll still try to manually close the coop up, but this will give us the extra safety net we need to make sure everyone sleeps safe!

Here is the BETA Version 1.0 Open & Close

Here is how the auto coop door works:
(click on image for labels)

1. The digital timer (110 volt AC powered) triggers at a predetermined time (6:30 pm, 15 mins after sunset) and sends power for 1 minute through an AC to DC adapter (12v 200mA) which powers the car door lock actuator.
2. The actuator receives power and pulls, with a good amount of force, the pin which releases the door.
3. The door falls swiftly to the closed position and stops on a piece of rubber bike tire for cushioning.
4. A pivoting piece of wood with a reflector falls down.  This allows us to shine a flashlight from the house, about 150 feet away, to see if the door has closed without walking to the coop.
5. A spring loaded pin / latch falls and locks into place preventing any would be killers from lifting the door.
6. Resetting the system is simple:  Pull on the spring loaded pin while raising the door.  Hook the door onto the top release pin.

Here is a video of the auto coop door closing (narrated by my 5 year old Alana using a rotary timer):

Here are some notes and changes to the original plan:

The Actuator, Pin, & Brackets:
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the actuator has two holes that allowed for easy mounting onto my door.  It also has a nice swivel ring to which I could connect my pin.   The pin and brackets were just some old pieces I found around the house.  I wanted the left most bracket to push against the door hanger to ensure a clean release.  The bracket to the right is there to guide the pull pin and to make sure the pull pin didn’t fall with every release.
Cutting Power:
I was very concerned about the actuator motor burning out during the 1-3 minutes that power was being sent to it.  These aren’t designed to continue to run.  I had two ideas on how to solve this, either:  1) Install a limit switch at the bottom or the top of the unit to cut power once the door fell, or use relays or a circuit to provide power to the actuator just long enough to pull the pin.  

While staring at my design it hit me, “Everything is made out of metal… metal conducts electricity!”   I stuck my alligator clips to the bracket and to the pin and voila, once the door falls the circuit is broken and power is cut to the actuator!    To the right is a closeup of the bracket and the pin (click for a larger version).  You’ll see that the pin rests on the bottom hold of the bracket.  The weight of the door pulls the pin down to make firm contact with the bracket which ensures good current flow.

Securing The Chicken Door:
Gravity was really good at helping me drop the door into position, but not so good at keeping the door closed from prying little claws.  I needed a way to lock / latch the door into place once it fell.  I played around with the swivel latch in my original design, but couldn’t get it to work reliably with the thin door I was using.    I ended up with what I felt was a wonderful idea:   Have a pressure / spring loaded pin push against the door so when the door falls past it, it snaps into place.   After a few tests with a paper clip I upgraded to some heavier gauge wire and now nothing is lifting that door.   If two coons can work together, one of them somehow climbing up to pull on the pin while the other raises the door, then they deserve to get at my flock!

Flagging A Successful Close:
This was just for fun.   As long as I had all these chain reactions going on, I decided to add one more.   Our back door sits parallel to this auto coop door.   We’re far enough out that we’d have to walk outside of the house about 150 feet to see if the door successfully closed.   I added a piece of wood with a pre-drilled hole and a screw as a swivel point.   When the door is up, the block of wood with a reflector attached, points toward our door.  A quick shot with a flashlight shows bright red reflection and that the door is still open.   Once the door falls, so does the block of wood and reflector.   At that point the reflector is lying down and can’t be seen by our flashlight which means the door has successfully and completely closed!

Sunset Calculator & Setting Door Close Time:
I found a great tool to determine my sunset time on a calnedar.  I noticed that for 10/26 my sunset time was 6:17 pm.   Of course, it is still pretty light outside at sunset so I watched my girls.  Then all were in the coop by 6:23 pm so I set the door to close at 6:30 pm.   I’ll watch it again tonight, and if all is well, I expect that I’ll be able to maintain 15 minutes past “sunset” as my time to close the door.

Parts:

• Car door lock actuator:  a pair on ebay for $11 (included shipping).
• Digital Timer: $8.00.  You can get the cheapo rotary ones for $4
• AC Adapter: 12 volt, 200 mA.  I have tons of adapters lying around.  This one came from an old portable phone charging base.
• Pins, brackets, wood - All were around the house.  A bit of cutting, drilling and bending got me what I needed.

Next Steps:

• Slow down the door descent:   It doesn’t seem to really bother the girls when the door falls, but I’d like to have a slower fall just to be sure.
• Decide if the current design of cutting power by breaking the circuit is a good way to go.  I’d like to use a circuit that gives a quick 0.5 second shot of power.
• Make the system portable: I’m powering this with an extension cord from the house.  I’d like to find a way to make everything battery powered.  Potentially using a cheap battery powered alarm clock, some relays, and a circuit or two.  One issue is if I call charge something like a capacitor from batteries to shoot enough current into the actuator to do its job.
• Clean everything up:  It would be cool to resolve all the bullet points above and create a self contained, battery powered, easy to mount and easy to set auto chicken coop door closer!

I’m anxious to hear your thoughts and suggestions on this design.   So far I’ve been watching it work for 3 days and I’m pretty happy with it!    What do you think?   What would you change or add to the design?

UPDATE 11/7/08 – Wow, this thing is working like a CHAMP!  It is such a good feeling to not have to always be wondering “Did we remember to lock up the chickens!?!?”    Also, it really helps out at times like tonight:  We went out for a date night with another couple before sunset.   We stayed out for a few hours past dark and didn’t worry one bit about our girl’s safety!    Woot!

There’s a great discussion at http://www.backyardchickens.com/ about improving this design and some really great ideas about a new design using linear actuators and circuits!  Check it out: http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=99668

UPDATE 12/11/08 – You know how people say something / someone was a “life saver”?  Well, I wanted to let everyone know that this simple auto coop door closing system has literally been a life saver for my remaining hens!

Last night we didn’t get out to the coop until late.   When I opened the door to go outside I heard scurrying from 2 directions and then I saw them… 1 coon up in a tree and 2 over in the bushes (the 3 remaining ones from the group of 4 that killed our duck and hen a month ago).    I’m almost certain our whole flock would have been dead had the auto door not done its job.

UPDATE 8/11/09 – I’ve had a couple times over the last few months where I found the coop open in the morning (i.e., it didn’t close the night before).   For details see:  Pin didn’t pull and door didn’t fall

Bottom line:   Automated door closers are fantastic!  I know ours has saved our hens on multiple occasions, but be careful not to get a false sense of 100% security.

I’m sure you guys know about that “middle button” that is hiding underneath your scroll wheel on your mouse, right?  Usually it is set to some useless feature like “auto scroll”…  I mean, come on… who uses auto scroll anyway?   Well, the very first time I discovered that button (and how useless it truly was) I opted to change the default behavior.  Instantly I fell in love with the “minimize all” command and mapped that to my middle mouse button.   Just like many of you reading this, I’m a desktop icon junkie.  I drop anything and everything onto my XP desktop (downloads, new images, stuff I’m working on, etc.) to the point it looks like this:

Well, I’m also one of those guys that has about 15 windows open at any given time… browsers, spreadsheets, Dreamweaver, Outlook, Explorer, etc.   I find that I often need to quickly get access to my desktop to edit, move, or upload a file.    Hitting the minimize button on each window isn’t an option, and the “Windows Key + D” command just isn’t comfortable to me.   So, having the ability to hit a single button where my finger is already hanging out is just super convenient!

Up until a year ago my software allowed me to easily set this middle button, via a pull down option, to one of many things.  Minimize All was there and so mapping that function to the button was just super simple… well, that changed and so this is why I’m writing this post!

A while ago I got a new wireless keyboard mouse combo (a Logitech Cordless Desktop LX500).  I was super happy with it… but wait, what’s this:

NO OPTION FOR MINIMIZE ALL?    Oh my gosh you’ve got to be kidding me!  

Well, I wasn’t going to trash my keyboard for the lack of minimize all, so I resigned myself to simply using the “Minimize” option which just minimizes one at a time.

I can hear you geeky types now, “Just assign the keyboard command “WindowsKey + D” as a “Keystroke Assignment”!  Yeah, well, I tried that about 20 times and the software doesn’t recognize the WindowsKey!

Well, today my combo went looking on the net for an upgrade to the software during a periodic update check and found one.   I downloaded and installed with my fingers crossed hoping for an answer to my prayers… but alas, I was left with the same boring options as before.   But this time, there was a difference… I was determined to find an answer, so here’s what I did:

First Step:
Find or create the application that minimizes all called “Show Desktop” (instructions on how to create a minimize all shortcut here).

Second Step:
My keyboard allows me to map to a program of file, but of course my mouse does not.   I read the instructions on how to create a keyboard shortcut (bottom of page) to a program.

Third Step:
After some trial and error I realized I had to create a regular desktop shortcut to the “Show Desktop” application (copy it and paste as shortcut) to my desktop.  I then clicked “properties” on this shortcut and assigned ctrl+alt+9 to that shortcut.

Final Step:
Finally, into the Logitech software I went and assigned my Middle Button to the new key command, which triggers a shortcut, that triggers the “Show Desktop” command that actually minimizes all the windows…. PHEW!

If you know of a better way to do this (other then “Hey stupid, get a different keyboard”) then please let me know.