Electric headlamp kit from Matty

[stugilmour]

…and with the addition of a motor speed controller I had a reliable system that worked well.

Can someone with more electrical knowledge provide an eBay link or similar for a suitable speed controller? Thinking it should be easy to add to my existing setup to slow the motor speed down a bit. I see several listings on eBay for 2A and 3A pulse width modulated controllers, but not sure if I am on the right track? I wonder if the ‘black box’ that I saw in some donor car wiring diagrams included this sort of controller?

Also thinking the wiring for the controller should be pretty straightforward as the motor only turns in one direction. Is the speed controller placed in line with the main motor power and seeing full motor load, or perhaps wired to a make and break relay trigger so it hardly sees any load?

Here is where I am at in my search…

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... =0&_sop=15

Interestingly, mine have developed a minor issue lately where the lights are not retracting right now. Pretty sure I will find a wire knocked off during some recent fiddling about under the dash. Other than this recent development the pod motor setup has worked well for years, although I agree they do go a bit fast and I do have a small crack at top corner of the refit side pod aperture.

Thx

Stu

[Darek Brewin]

The speed controller goes in on the power supply to the motor + and -. I have studied the wiring diagrams a bit for these type motors and most have 5 wires, the one I got out of the junk yard has 6. The extra wires are for turning relays on and off establishing the up and down position of the motor. The black box you refer to may have the up position and down position relays inside it as well as the speed controller.

I purchased an expensive speed controller with reverse before I had the actual motor in hand and understood how it worked.

Stu, you are on the right track with the ones in the link. Mine came off of Amazon, but same idea. I made sure min had a high current capacity because I was guessing. not sure if 2-3 amps is enough for this type of motor. I can run a test to see if mine draws les than 5 amps.

I have a hand sketch wiring diagram I made while bench testing my motor which I can upload if anyone is interested.

Darek

[sabbot]

I’m sure I must be missing something but with the exception of not being able to do a “quick flash”, and let’s face it the vacuum systems are not particularity good at that task, would a short 12v linear actuator not be a practical alternative that could easily be configured to operate precisely with a couple of micro switch limit switches?
Something akin to
https://www.amazon.com/ECO-LLC-Stroke-A ... 219&sr=8-3

[oldelanman]

I’m sure I must be missing something but with the exception of not being able to do a “quick flash”, and let’s face it the vacuum systems are not particularity good at that task, would a short 12v linear actuator not be a practical alternative that could easily be configured to operate precisely with a couple of micro switch limit switches?
Something akin to
https://www.amazon.com/ECO-LLC-Stroke-A ... 219&sr=8-3

Yes that has been done. See here .......viewtopic.php?f=36&t=36805&start=

[Andy8421]

…and with the addition of a motor speed controller I had a reliable system that worked well.

Can someone with more electrical knowledge provide an eBay link or similar for a suitable speed controller? Thinking it should be easy to add to my existing setup to slow the motor speed down a bit. I see several listings on eBay for 2A and 3A pulse width modulated controllers, but not sure if I am on the right track?

Thx

Stu

PWM controllers are the way to go, but aim to give yourself plenty of headroom with the current rating. From the perspective of the controller, a motor is a horrible inductive load, with high current draw on startup. I would allow at least 3x the steady state current draw, perhaps more if I could find it. Some of the controllers you linked to are rated at 10A which might be a good place to start.

A keen enthusiast could adapt the controller to slow the motor as it approached the stop, either by using a microswitch or a timer, but it would involve work, and is of course something else to go wrong.

[Spyder fan]

…and with the addition of a motor speed controller I had a reliable system that worked well.

Can someone with more electrical knowledge provide an eBay link or similar for a suitable speed controller? Thinking it should be easy to add to my existing setup to slow the motor speed down a bit. I see several listings on eBay for 2A and 3A pulse width modulated controllers, but not sure if I am on the right track? I wonder if the ‘black box’ that I saw in some donor car wiring diagrams included this sort of controller?

SNIP

Thx

Stu

This is very similar to what I used for the prototype, still working nicely, just mount it in a waterproof box and place it where you can turn the knob easily to adjust speed.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Controller-Dri ... 2LBP&psc=1

[Andy8421]

Spyderfan, that controller looks to be a good choice, with plenty of current headroom and a fuse - the price looks good as well.

Completely off topic, but that controller appears to be based on a 555 timer integrated circuit. This was the first IC I ever bought (I think from Maplin) around 1974. The design was launched in 1971, and I believe is one of the oldest integrated circuit designs (along with the 78xx series voltage regulators) still in general production. It is quite possible that the IC design is older than the Lotus it is going be fitted to.

[stugilmour]

Thanks guys. Gosh this site is great! Reminds me to send my donation to Jeff!

Here is the one I settled on from eBay in the Far East. For reference the wiring looks dead simple, as long as I can read my old wiring diagram.

[stugilmour]

Quick update on the PWM controller wiring. I had a bit of difficulty getting things working.

Turned out that the PWM works on the ground side of the main pod motor power. As I had originally used a common ground when I wired my pod motor (without this device), the motor speed would not change by moving the control knob.

Advice would be to make sure both your 12v + and ground run to the motor are packaged up together and the ground is not common to any other device or grounded independently along the run. Might want to use a different colour from black for this ground run to make sure it stays separate.

Still have a bit of lurching in the pod motion going down. Got to check the bolts and linkage. Can't smooth things out by just lowering the motor speed, as if put too low on the control knob the pods won't raise without stalling. I will report back when I get that separate issue figured out.

Cheers!

[Spyder fan]

Stu,
Are you using one of the original springs to assist in damping the action?

If not you will find that there is slack in the system which results in the jerkiness you describe.

[stugilmour]

Yes, I have one spring in the system. I don't recall the jerkiness from operating the system for a few years, although the pods were going too fast for sure. Going to check the pod bolts, alignment. Unfortunately, I have mislaid the second spring in some box in the shed. Hoping I can figure something out without wearing out the patience of my loyal assistant running the dash knob! Thank goodness the garage is heated!

[stugilmour]

Alan, I took another look and the spring is missing. I will have a look around for the darned thing. I must have removed it for a different job, as the pod bolt where it attaches was still slack.

Thanks for the picture. Sure shows this job is a ton easier with the engine out.

[Spyder fan]

Hi Stu,

Been there, done that or similar. Good luck, hope you find it and it cures the issue.

[stugilmour]

Finally got sorted. I couldn’t find my original spring, but this one from SJ Sports Cars did the trick. I had to adjust the spring a bit to fit the non-stock lift motor mount.

Listing at SJ Sports Cars for the Plus 2 light pod spring.

The controller works great. I have it adjusted about mid-range.

Thanks for the help.

[Spyder fan]

Well done Stu! Thanks for letting us know you have solved it