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Kimjon builds a South African compound


Kimjon

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9 hours ago, kempy said:

Having installed many expensive motor controlled gates myself I feel compelled to say that this rocks!, love it.

Thanks.

It's working great, holds about 70% air pressure in the tank overnight (for 15hrs its turned off, on an automatic timer from 7:00pm to 10:00am the following morning). That's heaps of air to open/close the gates many times.

The cylinders are choked right down, this has resulted in the gates staying put even with no air, which wasn't planned...but a cool spin off. I was thinking about locking cylinders, but they really aren't required as the gates don't move.

I painted the cylinders in 2K paint to try hide them as the silver contrast stuck out. I think they look much better now.

IMG_20170925_071432.thumb.jpg.48a8c94352bfc96e91af6105907879a1.jpg

Overall I'm stoked with them.

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On 08/10/2017 at 13:56, tortron said:

dont let the door hit you on the way out

Dont know if you get mormons or power company reps where you are but some pnuematic gates on crack would be sweet where i am to backhand them the fuck out of my afternoon would be mint.

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2 hours ago, Muncie said:

Dont know if you get mormons or power company reps where you are but some pnuematic gates on crack would be sweet where i am to backhand them the fuck out of my afternoon would be mint.

Fit a waste gate bypass eh? Liking your style!

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  • 1 year later...
  • 5 months later...

Funny how this topic comes up, but a year or two on these are still working sweet, opening and closing several times daily.

They are near impossible to move against the air pressure, and if you do, they will slam on you as you try. No locks needed, the air pressure even when low holds them tight as a mofo!

I still use the timer overnight to stop the compressor from running at nighttime. In the morning it usually drops to about 100psi which is still plenty enough to open and close the gates all day long even if there was a power cut. It really is a cool system with no real issues.

I've adjusted it to open or close in about 5 seconds now. The gate moves fast, then hits the air cushions and soft closes the last part of the stroke. Kind of like a kitchen draw... a lot faster than in that YouTube clip.

Overall I'd definitely do it again. The only negative is if you leave it open all day and night it can flatten the battery. I always have a second one ready charged to swap over. If you're careful and only open close as you need to, the battery lasts about 6 months without needing a change.

Another possible thing I'd do differently next time would be to use steel posts. The timber swells and shrinks with the seasonal changes. This lifts or lowers the gates about 20mm at the non hinged end. It fucks with my OCD and I find myself adjusting them about 3 times a year to line them up again to meet perfectly in the middle. The joys of OCD ;)

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On 16/11/2019 at 15:22, flyingbrick said:

Is it the solenoid coil that drains the power when open?

Yes, it's only very small drainage on the battery...but if left turned on (open position) it can drain battery in a day or so. Batteries are probably getting old too, so that doesn't help.

I can disconnect the air lines to leave open without having solenoids turned on.

But if used correctly the battery lasts months without thinking about it.

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