Hey,
I have a 18 volt electric battery operated drill that I would like to take apart and use the motor and battery as a drive source for a project. I want to be able to use a simple wireless (car door style) or similar key chain push button style transmitter to operate the motor. The range needs to be about 50 ft.
Supply power will be from the 18 v battery. I can change to 12 if it makes it any easier. The control only needs to be able to provide a single on off function. So when the fob button is depressed it turn the drill motor on when released the motor is stopped.
this should be pretty straight forward. I would like to keep it fairly small if possible.
Thanks
That looks almost perfect. Thanks for that.
Is there any thing I can wire in between the controller and the drill motor switch to regulate power supply, or just step the power supply down to 6 volt from the controller to the motor so it turns at a slower speed. The drill is going to see around 5 amps so I think the relay is a must.
Do you have any suggestions for hooking up a small solar panel to the battery to allow a constant trickle charge.
Thanks
I ordered the Firgelli controller yesterday. Looks perfect.
I did so looking around and I am thinking of trying a new Bosch lithium series 12 volt screw driver for the motor and battery.It would be the 12 volt plus has benefits of lithium. The screwdriver will draw way less amps.
So I have the control sorted, motor and battery shortlisted now just need the charging, so based on that do you know any solar systems that might work for that?
Since you wish to keep it simple, an off-the-shelf solution is suggested (otherwise it would require programming). Something such as the Firgelli Automations 2-4 Channel Remote Control System (Product code : RB-Fra-53) along with a relay, for handling the motor’s load and turning it on/off, would be a good start. If the motors draws less than 5A, then the relay may not even be required. The manufacturer suggests a 5A fuse in this case! This woul be plug-and-play assuming the motor and battery are operating at 12VDC.
You may require a 12VDC regulator to power the controller (place it between the battery and controller once you adjust it for 12VDC output), and then pass the raw 18VDC through the relay to the motor. This will isolate the controller from the 18VDC and allow a single battery system.
As for solar trickle charging, depending on the battery chemistry, this can be easy or complicated. Simply plugging a solar cell or array of cells (to get 18VDC) to the battery pack could damage it unless you have a small charge circuit to prevent overcharging it (not to mention other chemistry dependant safety features). If you are feeling gutsy, 3 6VDC cells with very low amperage might work, with a diode to prevent current from feeding back into the cell from the battery pack. More research would be required to prevent battery damage. :rolleyes: As a general rule, you should never leave a charging battery unnatended due to fire hazards.
That is a very interesting problem. Charging a 12V lithium battery is not trivial, especially when done with a solar source.
You will need for sure a lithium battery charger. You can get the Multiplex LN-5014 Battery Charger or you could try to reuse the charger that comes with the drill. Then you will simply need to make sure that teh solar panels are producing the chargers input voltage in order for the batteries to be charged. Also keep in ming that the time it takes to charge a battery will be longer id you provide less current.
