Homemade light mover ideas?

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Plebscrubber

Active Member
I dont think a light mover is what you need for your situation, I think you need to focus on cooling with upgrading your ventilation setup

I dont think you have the level of engineering skill to build your own light mover from scrap parts... its not an easy task


Personally I just move the lights manually, I just slide my 400 HPS forward or back along the rails that support it, it takes 10 seconds

its not as effective as constant movement because it dosnt reduce the heat, but it still boosts yeild because more of the canopy is getting light from different angles
 
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T.H.Cammo

Well-Known Member
I see shmoop has resurrected this thread from the dead. But it's still a valid idea/question - so here goes:

LEAVE THE LIGHTS ALONE - MOVE THE PLANTS! Build yourself a large, heavy-duty, "Lazy-Susan" (you can get a ball-bearing swivel base at Home Depot for about $7., or strip one from an old swivel chair or bar stool). The actual "Turntable" part of the Lazy Susan needs to be strong enough to support all the wieght of the plants, containers and "Wet Soil". Turn the Lazy Susan with a B-B-Q Rotisserie Motor hooked up to a "Rubber Drivewheel" that turns, at right angles, against the bottom of the Lazy Susan (to form a sort of "Rim Drive"). The size of the Rubber Drivewheel (and where you place it along the turntable radius), will determine the overall RPM of the Lazy Susan.
 
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ginnzy

Active Member
a buddy wants to build his own mover as well... we are looking for a cheap used bbq rotisserie motor as suggested earlier. he has a bed approx 48" x 48", and a 1000w with a batwing refector, he doesnt want the light to move allot, just about 6", in a circular motion, this will enhance the light exposure, by changing the angle of emitted light constantly. I believe it would work well for him. Now all we need is to find the bbq thing.
 
Mazer

Mazer

Well-Known Member
Ok, I moved on from the oscillating fan. I am thinking of a system based on a threaded rod and a motor. I need a stepper motor as I do not want the light to move back and forth too quickly. I am struggling with the motor controller. anyone arduino savy in here? this is very low cost and sturdy (around 3$ so far). I still got to couple the rod with the motor ( another 10$) and find out what the controller is going to be. So once finished this device will be one of the cheapest light movers on planet earth. Help me Please....
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Mazer

Mazer

Well-Known Member
yardy said:
what about the mechanism in a printer that moves the print cartridge? - thats all i can think of
Click to expand...
Dear yardy,
Thanks you for your interest and suggestion. Your idea is sound. Unfortunately, the weight of an ink cartridge is nowhere close to the weight of the light fixtures we use. Hence it is should be hard to retrofit a printer into a light mover. My final ideas where stepper motor to be able to control speed controlled by an arduino board. I got discouraged by the necessary lines of code on which I have very little knowledge.
Since my grow space ended up being a tiny little tent a light mover was not a priority. So I spent my extra time building a worm compost bin instead. Which is absolutely fantastic!
Should you be interested in more details on the arduino/stepper motor setup let me know I will gladly share the content of my research with any curious DIYer.

SpreadTheKnwoledgingly yours,
M
 
charface

charface

Well-Known Member
I went with lightrail 4.0 but not from their Original site, they charge like 50 more than I purchased it fir on amazon.

If you want to turn the hood dont forget the robostick.

Each kit comes with two rails so.
Buy one complete kit then purchase an extra motor and you will have two complete setups.

Just in case you decide to not build one

IMG_20180211_164403.jpg
 
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