Mill motorization

[shoengine]

My grain mill is outside, and the dust is not a big problem; an opening in the front vents a lot of the dust outside.
My simple mill has been a hard worker for over thirty years.
The mill has several sensors to ensure a steady flow of grain delivery to the mash tun when requested by the brewery, located approximately fifty feet away.

Requested... please explain

 

[day_trippr]

Automation. @ClaudiusB is heavily into it

Cheers!

 

[ClaudiusB]

Requested... please explain

What would you like to know?

 

[shoengine]

The mill has several sensors to ensure a steady flow of grain delivery to the mash tun when requested by the brewery

This part

 

[ClaudiusB]

This part

Here are the functions of the mill sensors. I won't go into the details of the grain flow under different operational modes.
#1 is the grain hopper full sensor. Should the hopper fill up, the grain processing system will stop the grain delivery from the silos until the level drops.
This is a capacitive type of sensor.

#2 & 2-a is the milled grain hopper full sensor. Should the hopper fill up, the grain processing system will stop milling until the level drops again.
This is an ultrasonic sensor.

#3 is the mill motor rotation sensor. This sensor sends a motor in motion signal to the grain processing system if enabled to do so. The RPM of the motor can also be determined at the same time.
Should the motor stop rotating or lock up, the grain processing system tries to unlock the motor by switching the rotation between forward and reverse multiple times. Should the recovery fail, the grain processing system sends a warning message to the control room for the operator to take action.
This is an inductive type sensor.

 

[Hunky]

That’s some solid DIY ingenuity! Using a garage door opener motor was a clever starting point—too bad about that plastic gear giving out. You’re right, a stronger-grade gear might’ve made it last much longer. And props for thinking outside the box with the treadmill motor—that’s a great source for high-torque, reversible movement. Sometimes, the most unconventional solutions are the most effective. Curious, did you have to rig a custom mount or controller for the treadmill motor, or did it fit in pretty cleanly? Residential Garage Door Repair Santa Clarita

Ah shucks.. thanks!
Pretty crude mount.. basically just a wood cradle with strap, and a bolt in the back that goes thru a piece of copper pipe (to resist the torque) and the table top. I cover it with a wood box to give me a working surface and protect against anything untoward, not like it is high speed to catch a sleeve or something... The switch is a 2-way toggle just to the right and out of the pic.. a piece of flat aluminum partially visible was the mount for the switch.

 

[greg.vinyard915]

I went with the same model/specs motor as @shoengine, crushed about 42lbs of grain so far. I used a universal power supply (the kind that ships with a bunch of barrel jacks, 24V 3amp) and a spare motor coupling from a CNC build from a few years ago. Mounting and spacers drawn in Fusion in about an hour and then 3d printed. Total Cost 34.00. Forgive the crude mounting.

 

[sibelman]

it failed -- apparently a broken gear tooth, though hard to be sure what happened. Motor spins but output shaft only works with low or no load at this point

fwiw, the gears themselves are fine - but the gear on the actual motor shaft is press-fit. Apparently, high load weakened that joint. I lack the ability to weld it. Oh well.

 

[shoengine]

fwiw, the gears themselves are fine - but the gear on the actual motor shaft is press-fit. Apparently, high load weakened that joint. I lack the ability to weld it. Oh well.

Wonder what load those are rated for. Still going strong on mine. Still no rye yet!

 

[sibelman]

Still no rye yet!

YMMV, but I recommend you crush any tough grains another way.

what load those are rated for

Torque of what seems to be the same unit as mine (24V, 50rpm) iis rated at "16.04 kgf.cm" on aliexpress, whatever that means. I haven't seen an exact match for yours, but the higher rpm corresponds linearly to considerably lower torque on the charts I've seen, perhaps only about 6 kgf.cm. I'm not sure this tells us when the unit will break; probably, when it will stop turning if it doesn't break.