Thread: dash cover/ door idea

yeah, i just replaced my power window motor last weekend, thats how i got the idea.

Originally Posted by eugenen

The power door lock/power window motor would work but be overkill. Find an old CD-ROM drive, either one that is old a slow or one that won't read cd's well and use the tray mechanism from them.

hmmmmmm

You could use a cd rom but I never thougth of that. The only problem I see with the using a cd rom is can't control the length or how long the motor spins for.
Would you be able to open the door when turning on the car or close it when turning it off?

A cd-rom tray motor works by either having limit switches at either end of the travel or by detecting the stall current of the motor (when you stall an electric motor the current draw goes way up). If you hit eject on the drive and then stop the tray mid cycle and the motor then reverses and pulls the drive back in its probably detecting the stall current. Next step if to remove the tray from the drive then hit eject and see if the motor keeps running, some will stop after a few seconds assuming something is wrong. If so then you either make your door work fully within the timeout or use the gear molded into the cd tray (dremel/hacksaw it out) and hook some mechanical linkages up to it to move the door, or you could just use the motor and gears and build your own circuit.
hook a relay up to the eject button then use the lamp test pin on the cars key switch to cause the relay to pulse the eject, or hook the relay up to the dome light switches in the doors, get creative.

Umm, why not a stepper motor? You can control that precisely.

heck, we used to do this all the time, use broken power antenna motors to push up CD changers and stuff out of areas like the passenger air bag, anywhere you could fit anything neat.

If I were you, I wouldnt worry about motorization. remember the good old K.I.S.S. rule, and keep it simple, stupid!

the simplest solutions are always the most elegant. and the fact is, you dont drive a 1980's suburban, its not like you have tons of space in your dash to put all these stepper motors, mechanics, actuators, and what not!

gotta ask yourself, why does it need a cover? and if it does, why does it need to be motorized?

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

gotta ask yourself, why does it need a cover? and if it does, why does it need to be motorized?

When you live in NY the main reason for the cover is security. I don't want to finish installing my system and then have someone rip it out.

Why motorized, mainly for the cool factor, but I don't want to open and close the cover every time I get in and out of the car. It would be much more convenient if it closes and opens by itself, then you don't have to worry if you left the cover open.

Has anyone attempted to use a cd drive to something like this. I believe there were some attempts of making a indash folding screen with the motor of a cd drive. If anyone has pictures of the actual motor and track of the drive, could you please post the pics so I could visualize if and how I would be able to use it for the door. I have tried searching google for pics but didn't find any, except for one site, but those pictures were not close enough nor clear.

I actually have the Scion tC on order right now. Should be getting it in a few weeks, and I plan on doing just that. Installing a screen behind there and setting up a nice carputer.