Electric slip ring construction?

[Black Forest]

I am building a hydraulic rotary union and it needs to have an electric slip ring included.

Has anyone on here built a rotary electric slip ring? Mine will need to carry 24 volts and maximum 1.5 amps per wire. Six lines.

[MaxHeadRoom]

Do you have auto wreckers near you?
If so, maybe salvage an alternator and use the pair off of it?
Oops, I see you need 6 lines, that would be 3 alternators!!
You could always strip one and get an idea of construction?
Max.

[Weston Bye]

Search the BBS. John Stevenson had several threads on building & repair of slip rings.

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/thr...-Christmas-yet

[Mike Nash]

Or you could just use 2 rings to get power there then a wireless I/O device to do the uh, I/O.

[MaxHeadRoom]

Also scrap alternators would be a good source of brushes and brush gear for the app.
Max.

[TGTool]

Should be pretty straightforward, I'd think. Do a little envelop scratching on the minimum spacing and design of the pickup contacts. The rings themselves can be brass rings slid onto an insulating sleeve with appropriate spacers and the whole thing solidified with epoxy. The inner sleeve has 6 grooves and as the rings are assembled onto it their attached wires are nested in the groove before the next spacer and contact ring. Etc. For low speed rotation brass contact slippers should also be satisfactory though phosphor bronze has better spring characteristics.

Actually sounds like a fun project.

[Lew Hartswick]

When anyone mentions slip rings I think back to the CPS 6B Radar set that had 5 one megawatt and one 2 megawatt transmitters on a rotating
platform with all the attendant video etc going through a slip ring assembly that must have been close to 4 ft tall. (maybe only 3 ft') :-)
...lew...

[MaxHeadRoom]

Balance also a concern, depending on the maximum rpm?
Max.

[Black Forest]

RPM will be very slow. As in one revolution in two minutes.

[MaxHeadRoom]

You could also design a single disc with the brushes making contact axially instead of radial?
Similar to the cable drum reels.
Max.

[darryl]

I've done that a few times using ordinary copper pipe. Cut rings from it, solder a few wires inside each one, then bring the wires together into one for the lead-out. You would dress the wires according to how you would mount the rings. One of my applications needed several rotating contacts, seven or nine- don't recall exactly. Doesn't take much width of ring to handle a couple amps with a brush. The more rings, the wider they would be so you can pass all the wiring through.

For one pair of rings it should be straightforward. 1/2 inch copper pipe would be lots.

[ikdor]

Depending on whether you need continuous rotation or just two revolutions back and forth you could also use a clockspring like in a steering wheel.
Igor

[Black Forest]

Depending on whether you need continuous rotation or just two revolutions back and forth you could also use a clockspring like in a steering wheel.
Igor

Continuous rotation.

[The Artful Bodger]

I have used these..



..for things like rotating Christmas decorations but I dont fancy your chances of finding a six way one!

[MrSleepy]

Ebay has lots of the types used in cctv cameras

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Capsu...-/121399721219



Rob