Okay guys...the Idex Micropump project was looking too cool
to pass up this weekend so gave her a try. Didn't have the right motor but went ahead and put it together with a stock Tamiya can motor to see what she would do.
These pumps are designed to have mag drive motors so in that configuration there is no shaft to seal...but these pumps are missing the motor. Mag drives for these can be had but for big bucks. So challenge here is to make a plate that lets the oil flow internal for press relief but seals the drive shaft.
Drive and I/O side of the pump...the mag motor would be bolted on these three holes....
Business side, broke in half...cavity plate slides right off the pins too...
So here is the "conversion kit" I fabricated to adapt the can motor....
O-ring sits in a pocket. Idea was to be able to add washer shims as needed on the pump side to add compression and tighten up. The test run leaked - just a little - so we'll have to see if stacking a shim and compressing the o-ring a bit more will stop it. The outside seal didn't leak...I milled a raised lip about .005 to sit down in the teflon pocket. Seemed to do the trick (even though the Taig is struggling to cut a round circle...need to do some backlash maintenance!!)
Made some standoff spacers and put it all together...
Plumbed into my old backhoe test board...
She works!! My test battery was about dead before I thought to grab the camera...pic shows 70 psi but she was pegged at 80 for the first few minutes...which is what the specs say for the internal pressure relief. The can motor didn't have power needed but I was able run the cylinders in and out a few times. It does work.
A few things before any videos... Fix the leak. Get a real motor and try to find a stronger spring for the press relief. And hopefully that will do it. Joe
