My water tower gears jammed. In attempting to free the gears, I took the gearbox apart. A spring popped out and I'm not sure how it and the one gear go back together.
I called MTH and they said no one was around to help until Tuesday. Does anyone have a schematic or picture they could share with me? I'm sure that tab on the large gear works with the spring somehow to stop the water spout.
Thanks!
Ron
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Ok... Fixed the problem. Would love to show you, but there is no way I'm taking that apart again.
There is a black tab which is hard to see. The spring straddles that. The white tab on the gear sits to the right of the spring.
Actuating the motor makes for a gentle stop when the water spout goes down. A larger spring in the tower, forces the spout back up when you stop pushing the button.
Seems like a simpler design would have just been a switch that could move the motor in fwd and reverse.
Also, there is another thread that recommends putting a drop of CA glue on the motor shaft and gear. That worked well too.
Ron
All's well that ends well.
Necessity is the mother of repair
After pulling my gear-train apart and understanding where the spring goes and why... I got the spout to move some but... I gave up and based upon comments throughout OGR, I decided to upgrade the mechanism which solves the motion problem. I am using a little Arduino micro computer that sits in the tank and drives a servo motor. The simple software watches the switch and lowers the spout when pressed and held, then raises it once released. This simple project cost me less than US$40. I think it works a treat.
Check out my YouTube video showing it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3CEOZuMguk
My next job is to link it into the AIU, with the TIU, then run from my iPhone via the WiFi module... easy.
Cheers Pete
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