New winder needing help with counter wiring

[stbailey]

Is conncecting a battery powered counter to a reed switch as easy as just attaching the two wires from the switch?

I know this is an easy question but I have little experience in electronic wiring.

Thanks for your help.

[Stratz]

It depends which counter you have.
If it's self powered (internal battery like a CUB4) then yes, just hook up the reed switch to the proper lugs.

[stbailey]

Thanks. Would you suggest a cub3 or cub4? Other like these?

[David King]

I think the Cub3 has been discontinued. Both have impossibly small digits and no backlighting. I'd recommend a counter/totalizer with larger digits and more abilities such as counting down and preset relay to turn your winder off at the end of a wind. Several very inexpensive counter kits have been posted around here recently. Lots of discussion on the worthlessness of reed switches in this application as well.

[Stratz]

I would stay away from the CUB3, the display is very small. The CUB4 is a nice unit and it's what I use but there are a lot of nice counters with a back-light for less money.

As a side note, I would stay away from the reed switch if you want accuracy at higher speeds. Optical sensors are much more accurate and they don't wear out. Theres a little more work involved but in my opinion the optical it's well worth it.


I used an optical sensor from a dead Epson C-60 printer and the clear disc (with 1/2 of it blacked out) that comes on the top of a spool of CDR discs.




Optical sensors are cheap and very accurate.
Rob.

[gdmart]

Hello rob , Im really interested in the optical switch idea .I know nada about them or how to set them up. Is there an existing thread on this ? where did you get the switch. How does the cd work ,I dont get it . I have a magnetic reed switch and will only turn up to 1000 rpms , probably more like 5-600 is that to fast for a reed switch? I have a cub I NIb and thought Id use it. All suggestions and links appreciated.

[David King]

Start with dwell. Dwell is the time "on" compared to the time "off" for a given switching gadget. The closer you get your dwell time to 50% the more reliable your counting will be at higher speeds. If you look at Stratz's photo above you'll see that 1/2 of his CD is blacked out for a 50% on time and a 50% off time. That's the ideal
As your current winder goes through a complete revolution, what proportion of that time is your reed switch staying on?

Look below this active section of you browser page to where is says " Similar Threads". You'll often find the good links down there (provided your original title was relevant and the software didn't select useless keywords to search for -words like "amazing" "greatest" etc.)

Just use the search function at the top of the page and search for "counter" and "sensor" and you'll be on your way.

[Stratz]

Hello rob , Im really interested in the optical switch idea .I know nada about them or how to set them up. Is there an existing thread on this ? where did you get the switch. How does the cd work ,I dont get it . I have a magnetic reed switch and will only turn up to 1000 rpms , probably more like 5-600 is that to fast for a reed switch? I have a cub I NIb and thought Id use it. All suggestions and links appreciated.

I used an optical sensor that I took out of a dead Epson C60 printer. I believe it is an EE-SX1137 Photomicrosensor (Transmissive) that was mounted on a small board with leads on it inside the printer. There are many optical sensors that will work. I would recommend one that has leads coming from it rather than a PCB mount style so you can wire it up to your counter. Some counters have an external supply for powering the optical sensor.

You will need to refer to the data sheets from the model of the sensor and the counter that you plan on using.
I gather that you have a CUB 1 counter which requires no external power to operate with a reed switch (it has internal batteries) but the optical sensor will require an external power source. In my case I used a spare Nokia wall wart cell phone charger that I had lying around. I know all of this seems really involved but it's very simple once you chose a sensor. You will at the most have to solder a resistor in series depending on the voltage and amperage of the power supply and optical sensor you use.

As for the CD portion of your question, David has covered it in general above. The sensor has a dwell time or duty cycle which in my case was 50% (1/2) so the optical sensor needs to have it's signal interrupted for a certain amount of time per every turn of the winder. It's basically the same as turning a light switch on and off once per turn.

I mounted the clear disc that comes on the very top of a spindle of CD-RW's to the main shaft of my winder. I blacked out 1/2 of it with craft paper (you can use flat black paint) and wired it to my CUB 4 counter.

There is one optional step that I took which was only to make the disc smaller in diameter so it would fit inside of my winder. It has no effect on it's performance. You can use any diameter disc you chose.

I mounted the clear disc on the smooth part of a 1/2" drill bit (I used a rubber grommet that just happened to fit inside the disc and over the drill bit and a couple of collar stops to hold it in place) and spun it in my drill press. While it was spinning I simply held a piece of sand paper on the edge of the disc and sanded it down to about 3"

I know it sounds very complicated and confusing but it's really easy. The hardest part for me was mounting the disc to the main shaft. If you can use a soldering iron you can do the rest with a little help from the forum members.

The first thing to do is find an optical sensor that has leads coming from it and come up with a way to mount a clear disc somewhere on your winders main shaft.

Don't be intimidated by the sensor stuff, it's really a simple setup and most Transmissive Optical Sensors will probably work. I just don't know which one to tell you to get. I just happened to have one laying around that came on a little board with the leads on it so that's what I used.

I'm sure that you can find that information either by searching this forum or keeping this thread going. There are a lot of members on these forums that are very willing to help with this simple mod.

If I can be of anymore help just post here and I'll see it.
Rob.