I've motorized my rear blinds! ; link to pics now
Moderator: RichardW
My first car - a 1946 Austin 8 had a rear window blind operated by a cord which ran on pulleys and could be reached easily from the drivers seat. I was never sure if it was intended for sun or headlight dazzle - which must have been an extreme problem as the bulb size was about 25 watt and the dipping achieved by turning off the off side lamp and tilting the near side one with an electromagnet. The blind itself was alike a domestic rollerblind with a dark loose weave thin cloth. (ie semi transparent)
JEREMY
JEREMY
Thats interesting Jeremy- When a friend of mine saw it he said he'd seen some old Bently or something with a cord operated one.
Vanny, the motor is reversable, it wires upto a two way switch, probably like an electric window switch-these would be even better i think, as they spring to the middle when you let go. The wire doesnt get tangled as the blinds keep it all under tension. As for using an old RC motor, i think thats what it is! Its a 540 size. You just need some way of gearing it down to at leat a 50:1 ratio I would guess.
My MSN details are adam_bx@hotmail.com - think thats all you need. I do use it a lot- even communicate within the house on it sometimes!!
Vanny, the motor is reversable, it wires upto a two way switch, probably like an electric window switch-these would be even better i think, as they spring to the middle when you let go. The wire doesnt get tangled as the blinds keep it all under tension. As for using an old RC motor, i think thats what it is! Its a 540 size. You just need some way of gearing it down to at leat a 50:1 ratio I would guess.
My MSN details are adam_bx@hotmail.com - think thats all you need. I do use it a lot- even communicate within the house on it sometimes!!
My Maplins (paper) catalogue in fact lists a number of different specs for these motors, and indeed a number of different but similar motors/gearboxes. The specs mainly seem to be different gearing so it may be possible to reach a satisfactory speed/reliability compromise.
The motors with gearboxes are not very expensive (£18.99 if I recall)
jeremy
The motors with gearboxes are not very expensive (£18.99 if I recall)
jeremy
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- Posts: 650
- Joined: 20 Nov 2003, 16:51
- Location: United Kingdom
- My Cars: C5 X7 2.7 hdi
Past cars
Activa, silver MK1 (221bhp stock) stripped out with twin sparcos Evo seats. 95
Activa, light met red MK1 98
Activa, dark met red MK1 98
Activa, dark met blue MK1 (202bhp stock) 96
Xantia exclusive V6 auto 3l 98
Xantia 2l 8v auto
BX 4x4 GTi dark met silver
BX 4x4 GTi white
BX GTi 16v white fibre bumpers
BX GTi 16v black fibre bumpers
BX GTi 16v hurricane (doa)
BX DTR estate
Thats right Jeremy they are £18. Ive looked at the box mine came in and its a 148:1! So id guess a 100:1 would be ideal. Its slightly slower pulling the blinds up so I wouldnt go for too much speed. Ideally you need a sensor that turns the motow off in a given direction when the blind reaches the top or bottom-I currently have to watch until they get there as it would rip itself to bits if I left it running. I thought about a timer circuit but it would have to be different on the way up to the way down.