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£160 Top Of The Range CAT FEEDER - Can I FIX it?
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- čas přidán 13. 07. 2024
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In this video I attempt to fix an expensive, interesting cat feeder sent over by Mike. The original fault was on the weighing scales, but I also found the feeding flap is very intermittent. Can it be fixed? What will the inside look like? Let's find out.
Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in these videos.
Many thanks, Vince.
I can’t believe Mike didn’t clean it before sending it in! 😂
I know, David... the shame..😔
😂
@@smikeeI think the cat’s been fed Bisto 🤣😂
I think it’s been too close to the litter tray 🤢
@@wisher21uk 😂
A odd quote, considering it's irony, and Ozymandias and his works returned to dust. It's a poem by Percy Shelley.
"I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said-“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
I'd forgotten that preceding line "and the heart that fed"
Is that a bit too obscure? The PCB being "the heart" of the device?
We have three of these for our three cats who can't be left alone without stealing food from one another. They have worked wonders. The ability to see how much a cat has eaten and when they eat also allows us to better monitor their eating habits.
Great job on the fix.
We have 3 cats but open feed,so there is food for them all the time,none of them are greedy buggers,so they eat when they are hungry and none of them are over weight,so no food anxiety from them either,even our vet says their weight is fine.
@@mikethedigitaldoctorjarvis same here. We have 2 ragdolls and they have a bowl each right next to eachother and just eat when they're hungery. Their weight is perfect according to the vet. Generally speaking cats don't tend to over eat and will only eat till they're satisfied.
"the cat doesn't determine when the food goes in it"
Clearly, you haven't met my cat.
/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\
The second I saw those vinyl gears I just knew it was going to be the whole process again and that it was finally time to look up how those motors are manufactured.
I found myself screaming at my TV - "It's the nylon gear!!" I love your videos! I guess the supplier didn't have any gearboxes to go with the doors?
Vince, I’ve had success repairing cogs in the past by putting a small metal band made out of a washer around the cog to hold it closed takes a bit of fiddling and some fine filing but it’s doable. The cog that has split only uses a small percentage of its length and the rest of it is unused
Vince - surefeed are always happy to send out free replacement parts 🙂
If they'd spent a few extra pence on end stop detectors they wouldn't need to put all that stress on the nylon gears!
They shouldn't be using nylon gears to begin with
@@abzhuofficial A lot of baked in planned obsolescence, if not the gears break the plastic will rot in 10 years and not recyclable. I know this is not really on topic but bordering it :)
@@kBitre Then they need to make the plastic durable
Hi Vince try using a wire wrap around the gear I have repaired several toys this way ,enjoyed the video 😀
So, basically they didn’t use a stepper motor, that always “knows” its position. They didn’t use an encoder, to measure the position of the lid. They didn’t use switches that would tell that the lid is on or off. Instead, they just turn the motor on for the approximate time of opening/closing and when it starts grinding, because the lid hit its limit, they would detect it and shut the motor off. So, on every opening and closing, motor is pushing those tiny stalled gears with full force. I wonder how much that contributed to the fault.
another important thing they missed is cat's don't like eating out of deep bowls that touch their whiskers whilst eating, it irritates them and stops them from eating, it's not true of all cats but is true of many
An encoded motor would make it a cat trap, not a feeder😅
Next time, consider flattening one side of the motor shaft and then securing the gear with epoxy.
Admire the persistence but for the price that main motor gear at least should be metal you would have thought, or the whole lid side should be better engineered. Probably more trouble than it's worth, but maybe if you grind off a little of part of the side of the shaft and make an channel in the inside of the gear where it's cracked you could use some sort of fast cure epoxy and clamp the gear in place while it goes off, maybe some UV cure resin stuff would be strong enough. Basically make it keyed like a pulley in something heavy duty, though I suppose you're never getting another crack at fixing something when you go past a certain point.
10:39 Ozymandias is a famous figure from ancient history, immortalized in literature by the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The name Ozymandias is a Greek rendition of the throne name of Pharaoh Ramesses II, one of Egypt's most powerful and celebrated rulers, who reigned during the 19th Dynasty (1279-1213 BCE).
Shelley's sonnet "Ozymandias," published in 1818, reflects on the inevitable decline of great leaders and empires, emphasizing the transient nature of human achievements. The poem describes a ruined statue in a desolate desert, with an inscription that reads:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
The poem then reveals that nothing else remains around the statue, highlighting the irony that the once-great king's legacy has crumbled into oblivion.
The historical Ramesses II is known for his extensive building projects, military campaigns, and the construction of monumental statues and temples. His reign is often regarded as the height of Egypt's power and glory.
Hi Vince, I thought here about an alternative way for the gear - how about a few layers of heat shrink sleeve? Friction for teeth. It might not last as long as the gears, but it would be also replaceable. BTW I would not touch that without gloves.
P.S.> If you have a watch maker in town, he could teach you how to make gears out of brass 😁
Mike could have given the machine a little clean before sending it over. Gross.
Great fix. Wonder how that gear cracked so soon. Manufacturers should use metal gears? Nylon gears seem a nightmare.
Over priced junk. There is no way that is going to last years. And my cats would wreck it in no time, they could tear off the lid with little trouble to get to the food...
It called Planned obsolescence nothing new about it all things will fail tomorrow if it was builded yesterday
A gear is characterised by form..spur..wheel etc
And by metric or imperial forms.
Being realistic this is nylon and not because it's nylon but because..20(21st) century
It's going to be metric.
Metric gears are made to module. ..mod 0 to mod n
From memory mod0 is biggest and mod get smaller..
Anyway in that gear box you have two module..big ones at final drive..
So anyway you can measure the module of gear and from thst tooth count..by using say a caliper. ( get one you will not regret it)..
Anyway to your problem..
The spur look 4-5 mm long ( along shaft)..and the wheel is about 1 mm. So you have 3 mm to play about .you could put a twist of wire ( 0.1wire copper )to act as tiny hose clamp. Used in area that wheel is on will do the trick
Brilliant!!! And nice fix Vince =D Very topical - we've been recently using clockwork food timers for our cats - to avoid them waking us at 7:00 lol
Cleaning starts finally at 17:17 😂
Excellent video Vince, who on earth would spend that kind of money to feed their cat!! 😻
Hahaha, crazy isn't it🤪 😂
@@Mymatevinceespecially when it has those CATastrophic nylon gears!
thinking about the casting process for the gears: why not trying a little bit of latex mold making + epoxic resin? might be worth a try and i'd love to see the results
Hacksaws aren't the only type of saws :)
In things like woodworking and metal working, we use saws that are even tinier than hacksaws, they are called 'Coping saws', and if you need something with a larger throat so that you have more room to move around, you'll want a 'Fret saw'.
Both of these saws are designed for things like woodwork, metalwork, jewellery, plastic work, etc...
The quote "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look upon my works, oh ye Mighty, and despair!"
Thank you, this is one was more entertaining the longer it went, item doesn't look intresting but you made a good video!
I can't believe this one he doesn't put gloves on for.
It's a pet feeder, not a pet porta-potty 😂 lol but, yeah, I suppose it is quite filthy
We have a couple of these (different manufacturer/model but basically the same - no scale on ours). I scanned all my pets RFID tags with a Flipper Zero and stored them on it so I can test and program these without having to shove a pet underneath it.
Good workaround. A thought for the future is to search for metal pinions (start with shaft dia). Also suitable for shrews (1:32). Made in Cambridge version £1,600.
If you rough up the gear shaft with a little sandpaper, it will help the gear to stick to it when you glue it on. Of course if you have to take it back off later, it will be tougher.
Perhaps one of those small gears sandwiched with a big gear might be correct dimension.
I had no idea a cat feeder like this existed. It looks like an invention to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
NorCal715 over in California fixes cracked gears like this by roughening up the metal shaft with a dremel grinder, so that the superglue will bite into the plastic gear and the shaft of the motor. Seems to work for him. Just another suggestion. Well done, but I'm surprised you didn't expect this when, right at the beginning, the motor made a running noise, but there was no action. I said to myself "Humph - cracked plastic gear again!" 🤣
Why the hell wouldn't the guy clean it before he gave it to you. I feel sorry for the cat if he's that much of a slob
Love the cat Vince - Great video - Thank you for your upload - puts a smile on us!
Can I send items to you that don't fixing - just cleaning?
Those vias at the edge of the board are called castillations. It's an unusual use of them, but I like it!
42:00 i'd be tempted to glue the gear shut with a clamp, file the motor shaft down as you did with the failed gear experiment, then glue and re-assemble.
Also, 3D printers generally can print at 0.1mm density/resolution so that would also be worth looking into!
Ahh yes a top of of the range cat feeder comes in the form of stainless steel shaped into a bowl
If you pick up a 3D printer, you may be able to design gears with specific specs and tolerances to what you're repairing. A gear such as that would need a really small extruder and tight tolerances, but it may be possible.
U should focus VINCE 😀when i saw u only had a different gear u should have looked if u had the other gears 2 and change the whole lot to fit the new gear
read up on metric gear "module" designations, try to find precut brass gear stock, and drill for shaft size.
The cost of such a ridiculous product the gearbox should be metal. Also try contacting the conpany for a replacement gearbox they probably deal with that issue a lot.
Those drill bits are HSS meaning high speed steel. They are designed for use with high speed power tools so I would expect them to be a bit hard to use manually like that and I would also expect there to be a lot of duplicate sizes, those tiny bit break very easily so you tend to get lots of spares of each size.
Always enjoy Vince repair vids, but this device is the epitome of a Rube Goldberg machine. It does neatly point out those who waste money on nonsense.
Clever bit of kit but very pricey, nice fix Vince well done mate 😊
I've had quite a bit of success making small gears in acrylic on a co2 laser. Put a flat on the shaft and cut a hole in the gear to suit. Must do a video on it next time i have to do it.
Not going to lie, the cat stole the show.
Vince, everyone who has ever tried to replace a gear has tried all the things you've tried. In the end, the only real way is to order .5 modulus gears with the correct number of teeth, and the right shaft size. Usually in a bag of 100. :) A LIFETIME supply. They just fit too tightly onto the shaft to use anything but an original nylon gear, and the ones that aren't nylon that are for model cars with set screws are prohibitively expensive.
Great vid as always. Looks like the Kapton tape is holding up, but maybe a little bit of epoxy on the TOP of the cracked gear that also covers the top of the spindle might add a little 'binding' between the spindle and the gear. Like a little epoxy hat.
Well.. if you have a pet you should take care of it and these things are pointing in the opposite direction and unvites to let your pets alone in my opinion. Not that it wouldn't be handy from time to time, but as a cat and dog owner I prefer to feed them myself to strengthen the bond and show them some love. Also, when we are going to holiday someone they know look after them so they don't feel alone. Also 160£ , or about 183 Swiss francs for me, is pretty expensive. Nontheless it's an interesting item and it was an interesting fix.
Only left your video for 5 mins... loved the Breaking Bad reference.
Where did you get those super narrow needle nose pliers from? Would love to order a pair.
A finely tuned fdm printer with a fine nozzle could and a resin printer definitely could make this gear vince. Look into resin printers they can't make things with great detail and very small things. I do warn you they are a bit of hassle because resin is dangerous to deal with. I fine myself just finding a way to do it on one of fdms instead of dealing with all that lol.
I presume the way they used in order to know when the motor reaches a stop position is by means of detecting the back emf pulses from the motor colector, the frequency of those pulses depend on angular speed of the motor multiplied by half the number of collector contacts, when that signal stops, it means the motor is no longer rotating, and the micro controller switches it off., it’s a fast and effective way (it’s how the old car window regulators implemented the anti-pinch system). You could also measure the current through it, but as it will vary depending of battery level and motor temperature, it may be trickier to implement. Nice video!
I saw a video awhile back where a family had like 3 cats but 2 of them never let the third cat eat (they scarfed down all food before he got a chance) they got one of these and the other cats figured it out, waited for the poor 3rd cat to open it then they would sneak in beside him and eat pushing him out of the way, they even tried modifying it by putting it inside a cardboard box with a hole in front just barely large enough for 1 cat but still had issues. I think they finally had to lock 3rd cat in a room by himself to feed him. Nice idea but does not really seem ready for the world just yet.
Cat bullying is crazy 😭
I tried fixing a fan and ended up blowing up the motor. It was from the 1960s. It was locked up, so I went to take it apart. Then suddenly it was unlocked so I tried to turn it on again. BANG! A huge spark then a smell of smoke. Yep, been there working at a second hand store. It was gone lol
Also, that’s why plastic gears suck. That’s why my other fan from the 50s works so many years later. It has metal gears. Plastic gears give out too quickly. You’re paying hundreds of dollars for things with plastic gears that break in no time thinking you’re getting a quality product because it’s expensive
I think the problem with the split gear is caused by the amount of friction on it all the time due to food, and cat hair build up, and while the clutch mechanism did it's job on stopping the tension, over many times of it happening then the gear just given up and split.
great video Vince, relly entertaining, is this a lasting fix, the answer would be questionable, but if there was a way to stop the build up of food, and cat hair then this product would probably have still been working now.
but I think seeing how clogged up it was, then maybe thinking about only using it with dry food and water might be the solution, but there again having a cat myself that only eats dried food, you still get lots of little bits of food on the ground, hense why I thought one of these would be a good idea, but never bought one.
Jeez you couldve actually licked the machine clean first before filming..!!
Got Vince on one eye, England on the other. I’m torn! 😂
Vince you have mentioned something about making a mold where you can make a new gear. I think this truly could be the thing to do reliable and even quickly for those broken gears.
Just some sticky tack, pressing it into it after you put a bit of mold release or oil on the gear. Then pull it out and use plastic weld, or heated up 3d print filament or something like this. Or even tiny bit of uv resin.
It should technically make you have a completely perfect gear in minutes perhaps!
Definitely think about it and try some stuff out vince! You and many others have problems with those gears and it would be so nice to have just a reliable functioning and easy way to make your own:D
When the nilon gear fail, how about rebuilding the gearbox in metal? Of course lots of work, and you need a lathe and a milling machine with tiny tools.
Ozymandias is a Shelley poem. Very well known. No idea why it would be on the board though, some designer's idea of a joke.
I have a few of the simpler version that I need to fix. Ive not noticed anything like that on them.
When you ordered the lid and bowls, did you check for a replacement gearbox? Good video, Vince?
Next week- Vince gets a cat. Don't miss it!
Seems daft to me that's it's an automatic feeder but needs to be manually loaded every use. Did I miss something maybe surely that can't be right.
It’s not really an automatic feeder. It is to make sure a specific cat gets the right food when you have multiple cats. The lid stays shut until the correct cat arrives and it also lets you know how much they ate if they leave it or eat it at different times of the day.
I have the SurePet cat flap but decided these didn’t give us anything useful. They also have a water dispenser that measures how much the cats have consumed, but our cats didn’t get on with that either.
Hi Vince. I know you think 3D printing is not worth your time but something like the Lite3DP Gen 2 might be useful for you. I have no affiliation with the that’s why I haven’t left a link but I would hope you would maybe look into resin 3D printing.
I know how you feel. I have hay fever, I'm allergic to pine pollen, and dust mites. I live with a clogged head.
Great fix as usual. Just one thing not related to the vid, I've just had to Re-subscribe. But i've never un-subcribed. Might be worth a comment in case it's happened to others.
hey l could 3d print another gear all l need is the size of the cog and then l can print a new one via my resin printer? if you want a resin printer l have one you can have
Awesome video!
I would check if they sell the complete motor and gearbox unit. You can buy them for microwave oven turntables.
3D printer - they can print down to that pitch without problems.
And as long as we are not talking about speed, it also not a question of price. I say it would work with a standard nozzle - if not, buy a 0.2mm nozzle für 2 pound.
Wow, check out that burnt part at 9:37.
About the plastic gears.
I have succes with filing the hole a little bit larger and just go crazy with the (in my case) gorilla glue.
I wonder if filing a flat on the side of the axle and making the hole a little bit irregular will give it a bit of bite and less likely to slip
As @StevieBGoode said a 3D printer could be a useful tool for your work box. Also do your video go a bit Shrouding's cat at one point 🤔. Love your videos, cheers bud 👍
The weight scale is some form of pressure sensor
Ozmandias is a poem by Shelley. I read it years ago, it's about Ramses (I forget which one) ancient king of Egypt.
Hi Vince, My LG G4 is being weird and if you could fix it, that would be great.
Those darn gears should be made out of metal. By now plastic gears breaking down should be well known weakness, but I guess these days bean counters have more power than engineers, unfortunately.
Just remembered that I once took apart electric toothbrush, which had the motor end gear made out of metal. Perhaps an idea for spare parts source to try at some point?
good fix, its a good idea but its only for 1 meal if a person was going out for the day and looks to be a pain to keep clean with so many nooks and crannies
I have a couple of these machines, without the scale. They are awful to clean. Whoever designed this has never had cats.
@@tonyweavers4292 maybe they have posh cats who use knives and paws lol
This product was only ever destined for landfill E-waste. It's atrocious that any products functionality is solely tied to a mobile app, it could be removed from the app store tomorrow if they wanted to.
Whilst I do agree, the product isn't useless without the app. It can be operated manually to register cats and then the only thing missing would be the scales and the app tracking of food eaten.
@@Wobling It's not just the App functionality gating, it's the build quality in general. It's a super clever device but it really needs some proper QA testing because those nylon gears are horrendous.
Possibly change more than one cog,maybe one would mesh with a different central one....
Good fix, but I think it would have been better using JB weld
This thumbnail cracks me up
Love your videos. For all the nylon gears could you order from PCB way. I am sure I or someone watching could figure out how to model In Fusion 360 and get you a file to send to them. Or maybe try a few different materials from PCB way.
a resin printer would with Siraya Tech Blu-Tough Resin
If You replace all the gears instead of one You might be able to get them to work or if You 3D printed all the gears they would be much stronger than nylon.
I can print very fine parts on a high end non hobby resin printer. I can print gears needed for stuff like this or tv cars. If you send me dimensions I can print and send you some with very high end resin that exceeds strength of nylon.
You have more patience than me! 🙂
Well done longer videos more adverts raking it in
Could you not use a resin 3d printer (SLA) with some abs-like or tpu-like resin to print such tiny gears? Those aren't that expensive ($150 gets you a small model) and they give you 50 micron cubed voxels, so I would expect that to be detailed enough for such a gear ...
Was worth watching to the end to see Mr V playing with his pu.... oh wait :P
if you ever get to that 3d printer you could just have printed out a new one, i think youd be suprised how fine they can be
Still touching the metal of the probes…
Its a sonnet/poem by Shelley
I'm advising you to buy a 3D printer, and then you can print yourself the plastic gears that you need every single time, i recommend using PLA and then you can also print in your home and not worry about the toxic gas
have you thought about printing your own PLA gears?
Ooh cat feeder video a nee one for you vince
Are the weight sensors to stop the cat from eating all of the food in one go ?
Result nice one mate!
yum yum yum (my new ring tone)
Hi use super glue and baking soda very strong as strong as the original