Jebao doser.

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Has anyone tried replacing the motors in a jebao doser with a kamoer motor?

I've got a 3-head slave (3-DPS) unit I've been using with ML's adapter and it works OK, but the slowest I could get it to go without stalling out is about 0.5/sec.

Found this guy on amazon:

Looks like it should be able to get down to 5ml/min. Is there any reason why one couldn't just swap the motors out? Is the dosing "resolution" a motor or a controller board limitation.... Or both? Basically even if I swap the motor out, will it still only be dispensing original amounts due to the controller board?

Hopefully makes sense.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Not sure if they are interchangeable , but for the cost of replacement head, it would be a good gamble. If you know someone with a kamoer, see you if you can bring your unit over and see if it fits

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Not sure if they are interchangeable , but for the cost of replacement head, it would be a good gamble. If you know someone with a kamoer, see you if you can bring your unit over and see if it fits

I took a gamble and ordered one motor with head, for $10 I figured might as well give it a shot.

Looking at the pictures, for what's it worth, they seem very similar if not identical in shape, power rating and mounting holes. I guess my concern is, oje: that the pictures aren't necessarily representative of the actual product and two: that the motor isn't the lowest common denominator. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

At the end of the day, I'm sure there are worse ways to spend $10.

 

[dmolavi]

Following. I have a Jebao doser (4 head) unit, and was wondering how/if the heads can be replaced for more precise control.

 

[ReeferLou]

For controlling are you using a PWM signal or just straight 12V? I would think by varying the PWM frequency the speed and output could be reliable controlled. I have a reef-pi and I am waiting on the DP-4S for my system - maybe someone in the DIY threads has done this already. May be worth a search. I will have 2 PWW and 2 direct 12V outputs for mine. So I can test when I get it.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

For controlling are you using a PWM signal or just straight 12V? I would think by varying the PWM frequency the speed and output could be reliable controlled. I have a reef-pi and I am waiting on the DP-4S for my system - maybe someone in the DIY threads has done this already. May be worth a search. I will have 2 PWW and 2 direct 12V outputs for mine. So I can test when I get it.

Sounds good. Yeah I'm using RoboTank with Michael Lanes Jebao slave doser adapter.

https://www.tindie.com/products/ranthalion/dosing-pump-adapter/

Using PWM signal from the PCA9685 to the adapter which is then talks to the doser. After opening the doser up, I don't think it has any "controller" components in it, just routing power and is relying on the reefpi/adapter.

 

[ReeferLou]

Sounds good. Yeah I'm using RoboTank with Michael Lanes Jebao slave doser adapter.

https://www.tindie.com/products/ranthalion/dosing-pump-adapter/

Using PWM signal from the PCA9685 to the adapter which is then talks to the doser. After opening the doser up, I don't think it has any "controller" components in it, just routing power and is relying on the reefpi/adapter.

Nice pics. This is the same one I ordered, but the 4 motor version. You have the DP-3S. If you change the PWM frequency in robotank you should see a flow difference. Can you set at 100% and compare to 50% setting? The motors will stop working with lower settings like 20% I heard.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Nice pics. This is the same one I ordered, but the 4 motor version. You have the DP-3S. If you change the PWM frequency in robotank you should see a flow difference. Can you set at 100% and compare to 50% setting? The motors will stop working with lower settings like 20% I heard.

I will try later today or tomorrow. I was able to play with calibration a bit and get the speed to 40% as the lowest setting before the motor would no longer operate the head; which resulted in ~1ml/3 sec.

Current frequency for PCA is 800. I will try 1000 after I try the new motor at 800.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Got the new motor installed.

Good news, it fits and runs. Not so good news, is that it stalls out at roughly the same. Point as the old pumps. Some better news, it seems to have a bit of a higher resolution (ie at 40 speed it dispenses 20ml/min vs 23ml of the jebao). Lowest I could get it to consistently fire is speed of 35 which dispensed about 18ml/min.

I upped the PWM freq of the PCA driver to 1000 from 800 but there was no change.

 

[ReeferLou]

try going to a low setting for PWM frequency like 100 or 50 if that is possible.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

try going to a low setting for PWM frequency like 100 or 50 if that is possible.

I'll give it a go tomorrow.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

So, I played around with PWM freq. With 100 down from 800, I was able to get the motors to rotate down to 20% on the kamoer (jebao motors couldn't hack it below 30).

Probab just going to leave it there. At this speed it drops 1ml/4sec so that's about as low as I'd need it to be. I'm just dosing nopox for now at 4-5ml/day split between 3 dosings.

 

[ReeferLou]

So, I played around with PWM freq. With 100 down from 800, I was able to get the motors to rotate down to 20% on the kamoer (jebao motors couldn't hack it below 30).

Probab just going to leave it there. At this speed it drops 1ml/4sec so that's about as low as I'd need it to be. I'm just dosing nopox for now at 4-5ml/day split between 3 dosings.

Good to know the limits of those motors. Thanks.

 

[robsworld78]

Have you tried connecting the pump directly to a DC port? Those are controlled via the pca9685 so you can drop speed, I've run pumps really slow and LED strips dim extremely low.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Have you tried connecting the pump directly to a DC port? Those are controlled via the pca9685 so you can drop speed, I've run pumps really slow and LED strips dim extremely low.

I haven't tried go direct to DC, I may at some point. Do you just use the same pin for both thr outlet and the jack? Or just make a jack and point it to the DC port pin?

Also, on an related note, I just wired up an eheim auto feeder; is the correct method of use you just toggle the DC port on and off in equipment tab (doing this seems to do a force feed rotation)?

 

[ReeferLou]

Have you tried connecting the pump directly to a DC port? Those are controlled via the pca9685 so you can drop speed, I've run pumps really slow and LED strips dim extremely low.

I think the pwm frequency and pwm duty cycle are the only ways to control speed or output power.

 

[robsworld78]

I haven't tried go direct to DC, I may at some point. Do you just use the same pin for both thr outlet and the jack? Or just make a jack and point it to the DC port pin?

Also, on an related note, I just wired up an eheim auto feeder; is the correct method of use you just toggle the DC port on and off in equipment tab (doing this seems to do a force feed rotation)?

Yeah you can use the same IO pin for port as a jack or connector. Just connect + to + and - to -. Worth a try to see if you like.

Turning the DC port on for a second is the same as pressing the auto feed button for 1 second. In reality it only needs 100ms but 1 second is no problem either as it takes longer to spin.

 

[robsworld78]

I think the pwm frequency and pwm duty cycle are the only ways to control speed or output power.

I agree that's better but a lot of DC motors are ok with lower voltage which is what happens when adjusting the speed of a DC port. It works best with motors that work at 3-12v, with only 12v motors you can tell it's working harder at low speeds so could affect long term reliability of motor.

 

[robsworld78]

Just did some testing with a cheapo dosing pump like this.

https://alexnld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/61650.jpg

I think the controller DC ports are the basically the same as the ML adapter. That has darlington pairs which is two BJT's working together, I think the end result is the same. If you look at Design #1 on this page you'll see how controller DC ports are setup, the PWM from pca9685 controls the mosfet though.

5 Simple DC Motor Speed Controller Circuits Explained – Homemade Circuit Projects

www.homemade-circuits.com

At full speed (12v) changing the pca9685 frequency from 50 - 1000 has no visual or audio affect.

With freq set to 1000 the speed can be turned down to 47 which was 5.8v, the pump was running ok, left for 5 minutes no heat.

With freq set to 50 the speed could go down to 28 but that resulted in the same 5.8v. I think I could hear I high pitched squeal but barely.

If I went lower in speed (voltage) the pump would run but not enough juice to start up. So 6v for a 12v pump, sounds good.

Then I tried a 12v LED strip light with similar results but could see more effect with frequency changes.

At 1000hz, speed 1 it was 6.67v so light was quiet bright.

At 50hz, speed 1 it was 2.4v but light was flickering quite badly.

Finally settled at 60hz and it's 2.6v no visual flicker but I'm sure it's there and light is very dim.

 

[robsworld78]

A video to go along with it.