Has anyone devised a way when operating the fill pipe on the water tower to make it return to the up position instead of flying up unrealistically.
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- Z-Stuff DZ-1260 Water Tower Animator (Sound & Control Module).
- Replace your old MTH tower with the new version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mmwo0WZvNo
To be fair, my short answer was not likely the modification you were initially hoping for. So here is the problem. I remember how old school tape cassette decks with slow opening doors used a rotary damper made of nothing more than a plastic gear on a large diameter shaft that was covered in thick viscous silicone grease (similar viscosity and stickiness to clear silicone caulk but never cures or dries out). The problem is, the repair parts I remember like partsexpress no longer have that kind of stuff, I have no idea where to get such grease, in this application we really need it one way on the up stroke and not load the motor and gear mechanism.
Here is an example video showing the gearbox and system return spring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4BlA8BLEpg
Basically, you need to apply friction somehow someway to this gear only in the return direction (the gear being pointed at that drives the larger output gear.
Here is another video showing just such a cassette door and "friction grease" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u94xDe4Eb8
Google Atomic Friction Grease
MSRP USD$6.60 Product No.: OIL006 Product Name: Friction Grease (High Viscosity)
Again, my concern is that we really need a one way bearing or clutch and then the friction grease on a gear sped up by the main drive gear to slow the mechanism down during the up or return stroke only. Adding friction to the motor already fighting the spring is likely to cause excessive current draw from the motor and could damage either the motor or regulator circuit trying to regulate the voltage to the motor.
Hence- using electronics to slowly actuate a servo motor- with bonus added sounds seems more like a sure bet vs experimenting and other problems.
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Thank you Vernon you gave me a lot to check out.The latest version of the water tower definitely is more realistic.In the meantime i am experiminting with my older version by adding weights to the chain on the spout.So far 4ozs. weight makes the spout go up a little slower.
