Options for automated blast gates

[John C Bush]

I've had the Ecogate system for 15 yrs and has been well worth the investment. Most machine DC outlets are way out of reach
and I knew that I wouldn't make the effort to open and close the gates manually when scurrying from machine to machine when
milling for small projects. One gate motor failed early on and they repaired it at a nominal cost and I bought an additional 4" gate
for a total of five. No problems since. I'm not sure if they have small systems now or if the Green Box is significantly different than
my version 4. My duct pipe is ceiling mounted with flex pipe drops to the machines and I strap the sensor and low voltage wire to that. Way simple. It would be fun to engineer and build a controlled gate system but couldn't be happier with the function and simplicity of the Ecogates.

Anthony-- would love to follow your design/build of your system--Thanks, JCB

[George Yetka]

Has anyone seen an option to open when powered with a spring return to close? My plan is to run a 4" gate up high to cover a wall mount cnc. I energize a power strip which powers controller, display, and water cooling. If I plug a gate into this strip it could open when energized and close when I shut it down.

[Ron Selzer]

Has anyone seen an option to open when powered with a spring return to close? My plan is to run a 4" gate up high to cover a wall mount cnc. I energize a power strip which powers controller, display, and water cooling. If I plug a gate into this strip it could open when energized and close when I shut it down.

George you could build something using a Johnson Controls M9208-BAC-3 with a remote mount kit M9209-100 buying it off of eBay. This actuator has aux switches that could be used to start/stop the equipment based on gate open/closed. Spring return when powered off, 120v input, two position, would not need remote mount kit if you could utilize rotary motion instead of linear action. Shuts off when stalled so doesn't burn motor up. Designed as an actuator for HVAC damper/ valve operation.

[George Yetka]

George you could build something using a Johnson Controls M9208-BAC-3 with a remote mount kit M9209-100 buying it off of eBay. This actuator has aux switches that could be used to start/stop the equipment based on gate open/closed. Spring return when powered off, 120v input, two position, would not need remote mount kit if you could utilize rotary motion instead of linear action. Shuts off when stalled so doesn't burn motor up. Designed as an actuator for HVAC damper/ valve operation.

Thats not a bad option and I have a few dozen actuators lying around. I spent some time thinking about it in the middle of the night last night and I was thinking I may try an IVAC gate with the wired remote and instead of the switch I'll put a dry contact on it. I watched a video on youtube a couple weeks ago about a power strip that has a contact built in. Ive been searching for it for the past hour trying to find it. So basically my operation would be to turn on the power strip that energizes everything but the spindle vfd and would open the gate. Im thinking this may be easier than fabricating