Garage door grain mill fan

[chrilr]

So I have been using a Craftsman 1/2hp garage door opener to power my 3 roller kegco for about a year. It has been performing adequately for moderate grain bills. Problem is it overheats and cuts out at around 20ish pounds of grain then I have to wait for it to cool before finishing the crush.

Would this duct fan provide sufficient CFM's to keep the motor cool thru a larger grain bill?

Looking to grind about 150# of grain

 

[schematix]

unlikely, garage door motors are extremely low duty.

plus air is a poor conductor. that might buy you an additional minute, but i'd wager real money it only gives minimal more run time before over heating.

 

[chrilr]

So you're telling me I need to glycol chill my grain mill?
Done

 

[schematix]

So you're telling me I need to glycol chill my grain mill?
Done

No. I’m saying get a motor meant for the task at hand.

 

[day_trippr]

So you're telling me I need to glycol chill my grain mill?
Done

 

[chrilr]

No. I’m saying get a motor meant for the task at hand.

Since the task at hand is being cheap, I will ask you to hold my beer while I fly close to the sun.

 

[bleme]

As a fellow cheapskate, I can appreciate the predicament. Personally, I use a drill to power my mill. It has done 28# with no problem but I wouldn't bet on it being able to handle 150#.

I saw a YouTube not long ago about a guy who powered his mill with a PowerWheels motor from a car his kid outgrew. I wouldn't bet on that either, but if you had one on hand it might be worth a shot.

The main problem I have with the duct fan idea is that if it didn't work, I'd be stuck with a duct fan that I have no use for. And I'm cheap...

 

[schematix]

I spent $20 on a refurbished drill for my first grain mill. It milled a lot of grain, although was a bit tedious sitting there holding the trigger.

I bought a bigger/better low speed drill with a speed adjust and trigger lock for my current mill. Wasn't super expensive either...

Duct fan won't do much here... Garage door motors are just too tiny because they only need to turn on a couple times a day and run for 15-30 seconds max.

 

[bruce_the_loon]

Dig out a windshield wiper motor from a junkyard and use that. Geared step-down to high torque, low rpm that can lever all sorts of crud off a windshield, withstand the load of a sticky wiper blade and run for long duration. And the things are normally weatherproof as well.

 

[501irishred]

Your milling 150lbs of grain at a whack, but you lacking funds for a decent motor? Guess I’ll just have to respect your priorities.......