Re: automated vent registers?

["Bill Kearney" <wkearney-99@hot-mail-com>]

> Good find!

Thanks, I just stumbled across that at a display in at Strosnider's, a local
'old school' hardware store.  Gotta love the folks that keep these places
going, and who shop there.

> 1) I read you to write that 3 vdc to the motor opens the vent, and 3 vdc
with
> opposite polarity closes.

I haven't measured the voltage but given it's based on a pair of AAA
batteries that's a reasonable assumption.

> 2) What's your reckoning as to how long these might last? My application
> would be primarily to shut rooms ON or OFF for days at a time rather than
> multiple open-close daily to regulate temperature relative to other rooms
> (within the constraints of bypass, loading etc.). But I would want it to
last
> for years -- no fuss no muss. So overly thin metal parts like small coil
> springs that can weaken with corrosion over time and the motor itself
owing
> to thickened lubricants and dirt might be the limiting factors rather than
> rocker/bearing surfaces.

I can't speak for their predicted lifespan but, for being plastic, they
appear to be reasonably well designed.  The gear action when you move them
manually seems to move smoothly, better than how a typical plastic 'toy'
might feel.  I'll have to double check but I don't recall seeing an easy way
to crack one open to get a look-see at the innards.

I don't know how you'd deal with closing them for 'days at a time', at least
not with the programming modules they come with.  The programming is such
that you can program them in just one OR two cycles for M-F and Sat-Sun.
That is, for each set of days, you can set either a single or a pair of
open/close cycles.  I don't see a way to not set any cycle at all.  I guess
you could set it to open one minute and close the next.  But then you'd have
to re-program them manually to start working on a more regular schedule.  I
guess it would depend on the application, but you could just pull the module
and leave them out for the extended times.

> 3) Any obvious reason why they wouldn't be paintable with latex paint?

I don't see why not.  It might not hurt to give them a light sanding to help
the paint bond.  But I've painted regular registers with a similar surface
and it held up fine.  So yeah, paint away.  I'd imagine, however, that it
would be very important to avoid binding up the manual activation slide on
the front.  That slider does move when the motor activates.  So binding that
up with paint would be a 'bad idea'.  This is true of regular registers too
but obviously a bit more important here.