teen tiny stepper motors

[diezmon]

Has anyone used this type of stepper for turnout control, crossing gates, or the like?   

Seems pretty doable, with maybe a couple of limit switches? 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000111106606.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.64f83c00SRTDqj&mp=1

I may pick some of and fumble around with them a bit.

[C855B]

Interesting... but you don't do it with limit switches, you count steps with the microcontroller you'll need to run the stepper. Here's an Arduino example: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/StepperSpeedControl

[diezmon]

Interesting... but you don't do it with limit switches, you count steps with the microcontroller you'll need to run the stepper. Here's an Arduino example: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/StepperSpeedControl

ah.. I'm mostly electronics inept.  I assumed if it's not connected to any circuitry, it'd act like a regular 'ol motor.   Interesting

[Mark W]

The (lack of) torque is the biggest issue I found in playing around with these a few years ago.
But they are still quite usable and a great thing for learning or practicing different skills.


https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=40579.0

[peteski]

ah.. I'm mostly electronics inept.  I assumed if it's not connected to any circuitry, it'd act like a regular 'ol motor.   Interesting

Stepper motors have at least 3 (or 4) leads and need special stepper motor driver to make them run.  But they can do things regular hobby DC motors cannot (like move their shaft just fraction of a degree and hold the shaft in that position. With the proper circuitry, then could be very useful for things like crossing gates. But ancillary electronics are needed.

Some basic info (so you know how they work): https://learn.adafruit.com/all-about-stepper-motors/what-is-a-stepper-motor
And more details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepper_motor

[Cajonpassfan]

Hmm, interesting. So would this work to rig a Train Order semaphore? Only a tiny but precise two or three step movement would be required in N scale...and not much torque needed (or desired)?
Otto K.

[peteski]

Hmm, interesting. So would this work to rig a Train Order semaphore? Only a tiny but precise two or three step movement would be required in N scale...and not much torque needed (or desired)?
Otto K.

Sounds like a perfect application for such a motor.  The degrees per step should be specified in the motor's specs.  Or if not, once you have in-hand (with the appropriate driver circuitry), you can easily figure out how many degrees per step it has.

[Hawghead]

Hope you're not in a hurry, the add said 50 days shipping to U.S. 

Scott

[MK]

That's typical for ordering stuff from China.  4-6 weeks or more.  If you get it in 4 weeks it's a pleasant surprise!

[Hawghead]

That's typical for ordering stuff from China.  4-6 weeks or more.  If you get it in 4 weeks it's a pleasant surprise!

I guess it just goes to show how used we are to receiving things overnight or 2-3 day delivery.  I remember, when I was a kid, sending away for something off a cereal box or some such thing, it always said "expect 4-6 weeks for delivery."

Scott

[Steveruger45]

I guess it just goes to show how used we are to receiving things overnight or 2-3 day delivery.  I remember, when I was a kid, sending away for something off a cereal box or some such thing, it always said "expect 4-6 weeks for delivery."

Scott

I remember those days too, “Batteries not included and shipping by Pony Express”

[MK]

I guess it just goes to show how used we are to receiving things overnight or 2-3 day delivery.  I remember, when I was a kid, sending away for something off a cereal box or some such thing, it always said "expect 4-6 weeks for delivery."

Scott

I remember those days too, “Batteries not included and shipping by Pony Express”

I remember those days!  And you have to actually fill out an order form and write (my parents) a check!  Then you really have no confirmation until you receive the package as the receipt was inside the box!

Amazon Prime and Amazon 1-Day make everything so slow and obsolete.  Like floppy disks, 8-track tapes, cassettes, land lines, rotary phones and soon CDs.

[Steveruger45]

The waiting for it to arrive was part of the fun.  Plus you didn’t order something on a whim either,  because of the wait.
Still, time marches on and I must say I do love Amazon 1 day.

[Bill H]

I find it amazing that Amazon continues to lose billions a year on shipping i.e. between what the consumer pays and what the shipping actually costs Amazon. On the other hand, Amazon made 30 billion plus last year in cloud, so I guess they can continue to do it - while convincing consumers that shipping across the US is free. Really a smart move by Bezos, makes most consumers dis-satisfied with the small firms that actually have to charge at least close to the real cost of shipping.

In fact, Amazon just started their own shipping service i.e. pickup and delivery on Nov. 1. Of course they are not doing it for free

[alhoop]

Has anyone used this type of stepper for turnout control, crossing gates, or the like?   

I'm using two of the motor in photo 1(16mm wide) to drive each end of an N scale Schnabel car lifting arm to give about +/- 17 scale inches of lateral movement for lineside clearance.
Photo 2 shows schematic . A programmable  TV remote drives a Picaxe 14M2 microcontroller through  a IR sensor receiver p/n CHQ 1838. a Number 1 selects the "A" end lifting arm control circuit and a number 2 or 3  gives CW/CCW movement. Numbers 7,8 and 9 operate the same for the "B" end. A 0 exits the program.
The 14m2 toggles the IN1 and IN2 of the selected motor driver control board(p/n DC4-6V)with a 20 ms delay between each toggle for 1  step.
BTW the torque on this little motor was enough to chew out threads on the plastic thread block when the motor was driven past the stop. But as Mike said, no limit switches, count steps.
Al
PS I had deleted part of this post and  was going to start a new one so as not to hijack this thread but suffered a computer crash and lost pertinent photos.