Need help making an electric motorized geocache please!

[+mikendo]

okay so i attempted to make a motor powered geocache where a conatiner is lowered and then highered back up into a pvc pipe tube by a AA battery and heres what stopped me...

 

i got a pvc pipe tube, a hobby motor, some string, a spool, wire, a container, and etc. now when i eventually got it all together, my problem was that the weight of the container would spin the rod thus unrolling the string on the spool thus lowering the cache out the tube before anyone even put a battery to it. my idea did work in that it raised up fine, but i dont know how to make this work how i wanted it... do i need a gear or specific motor of some sort? any help would be appreciated...

 

heres what i wanted to achieve:

 

how do i do this?

[g_o_caching]

okay so i attempted to make a motor powered geocache where a conatiner is lowered and then highered back up into a pvc pipe tube by a AA battery and heres what stopped me...

 

i got a pvc pipe tube, a hobby motor, some string, a spool, wire, a container, and etc. now when i eventually got it all together, my problem was that the weight of the container would spin the rod thus unrolling the string on the spool thus lowering the cache out the tube before anyone even put a battery to it. my idea did work in that it raised up fine, but i dont know how to make this work how i wanted it... do i need a gear or specific motor of some sort? any help would be appreciated...

 

heres what i wanted to achieve:

 

how do i do this?

I have seen a cache where they used a car antennae motor. Edited January 5, 2014 by g_o_caching

[+The_Incredibles_]

I don't really have an answer to your question, but I'd be very interested to find out as I'm thinking of doing something similar, but with a heavier cache. Maybe email the owner of the youtube video? Or talk to the hobby shop where you bought your motor.

 

Some details from the youtube page:

 

Mechanical Battery Powered Geo Cache. It uses a 1.5 volt electric motor from a discarded cd player to raise and lower the cache. The motor has a gear reduction system that slows the lift/lowering spool. It is powered by one AA battery which the user connects to the two bolts. This completes the circuit and lowers the film canister with the "goods". The next step is to paint it and secure camo to the outside. Then hide it and log it on c:geo

 

Check out this link:

 

Edited January 6, 2014 by The_Incredibles_

[+K13]

You could use a worm-drive gear set, with the worm gear on the motor shaft.

[7rxc]

Yes, the solution is some sort of gear reduction system, just need to add some friction loss in there to prevent the output shaft from turning the motor.

 

We used to 'mine' old VCR units that almost worked. Lots of low voltage motor/gear units in those, and most VCR's are disposed of due to recording problems or playback, simply cheaper to buy new than repair. Much of the time it was just stretched or broken drive belts or simply dirt in the things... Hardly ever saw one that didn't have lots or working bits... later ones tended to be direct drives though... older ones are better in my book.

 

Check out an online robotics website for sources for DIY parts sources.

I used to get all mine from local electronic repair shops. Haven't tried since the advent of CD/DVD players, but they are around.

 

Doug 7rxc

[+popokiiti]

We did a cache where water was required to lower the cache. You had to be quick, and two people were better than one would be. Good luck - yours sounds like a neat idea!