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Asked — Edited

Need Help Wiring Remote Control Lawn Mower

Hi all,

This is a great forum and I am glad I found it!
I am working on a 4wd remote control mower build. Here is what I have:
20 hp electric start briggs gas engine
DX5E controller
2 battle switches
sabertooth 2x60 motor controller
2 x wheel chair motors

This is the second remote mower project, the first one turned out great but it did not have electric start or electric deck adjustment. I need help figuring out how to wire the starter to start the gas engine via the remote. I also need help wiring an electric screw jack to be able to adjust the deck height up and down via the remote control. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.


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#27  
Simple $5.00 mosfet circuit or less is easy to make and easy handle 25 amps and no heatsink ,RELAYS not a great idea,cost is high plus you need a switching circuit
if using a 25 amp darlington switching circuit you will need a good size heat sink

IRFZ44 mosfet is so simple to use ,it hooks the same as switching darlington circuit and resistor value is same,and no heatsink is needed,plus no power is wasted
#28  
pittom
i see i am not the only one that doesnt use spell check and RICH has said to me a few times
#29  
lol especially when it is late
#30  
I don't want to drag this off topic, but since you brought it up. @robotmaker, it has been much easier to understand what you are saying in the past week or so since you have been checking your spelling and grammar. I had gotten to the point where I just skipped your posts because I never could figure out what you were trying to say, but you are much easier to read now, so thank you.

One extra hint that I have used to help people who sometimes have trouble communicating in writing.. Read your posts out loud before you hit send and make sure they sound right. It can help when you are typing so fast you get your words out of order. Just reading silently doesn't seem to do it, but reading out loud you actually hear yourself and can notice more. (I planned on telling you this privately when I asked you to email me a few weeks ago, but you wouldn't, so here it is...).

Thanks for your recent information on mosfets. It led me to look up some information and they seem to be very useful.

Alan
#31  
YES i know ,been awhile since i did any good writing and started to slowing comming back to me

This forum is first time i did any writing in over 20 years,never really had the need too.

I have a lot of work and dont really have the time to recheck my spelling or grammar and some is not needed ,like periods and capital letters

But my posts are getting better ,and most likely to make easy to understand them will do a few posts and not put many words in them.

Also of my words i use are very technical and most here dont know what it meens.
like RDS on mosfets not many knows what it meens .

MOST think i am wrong on the mosfets,yet i know more about them then most of the guys here .
#32  
We are almost complete with one hang up. I used a battle switch to operate the solenoid for the starter on the gas engine. The switch is rated at 10 amp on 24V and 5 am on 12V. It operates the solenoid correctly but once the solenoid is wired to the starter it fries the battle switch. I am sure it is pulling to many amps but I havent seen a battle switch rated for higher amps? Any ideas?
#33  
Hi "real57vettguy",
Sorry to hear that you fried the battle switch. Did you ever identify a solution? Please post! I'm trying to do something similar. Thanks
#34  
This thread is more than a year old, so chances are he has resolved his issue and moved on... I doubt he would be monitoring this thread anyway...
#35  
@realvetteguy - maybe you should post your electrical schematic, that way when you speak of things like battle switch, others can see, what it is, how you are using it and what it does. Then others can see what your doing and offer advice on how to modify what you have going. It is like a road map, you can probably get more advice on how to tweek your electrical system if people can see where your at and where you are trying to go. Rich and others have been talking about pcexpress and 123 schematic programs. And they are free. Btw, I like your project. My 2 cents. :)
#36  
:)Can you tell us where you obtained the tires and wheels? I have a steep slope and have not been able to come up with solution for grip. Thanks, bc:)
#37  
This is an old thread and sadly I haven't seen some of these people around for a while.

However servo City has a good selection of wheels and tires that may be what youe looking for:

Off Road Rubber Tires

wheels
USA
#38  
I to am building a remote controlled lawnmower like @realvetteguys. Like him I am a little stuck on the starter set up as well. I've seen the set up that he was talking about using the battle switches as well. There is no wire diagrams and very little explanation of how it is wired up though. I do know that the example that is shown is using a 12v relay, not a starter style relay that is normally open as a safety system in case it looses signal to the receiver. It is a strictly RC system. He is not using an EZB. This is also how I am starting mine. Eventually I want to convert it to be more autonomous, but right now I will be happy to just get it to work.
I have been playing around with the idea of another motor controller to operate the starter. I don't need the pwm though. A relay would probably be best, I know. Obviously, since the mower already has one, It's a matter of actuating it until the engine starts, then shutting it down. My system uses a 6v battery to start it. I can't tell you the amperage; haven't found any specs on it , and I haven't tested it yet. I am wondering if a LM298 motor controller could be used to actuate the relay? Especially since it is only 6v. Hearing he blew the battle switch, I'm afraid to try it on mine.
I haven't tried anything as of yet, due to lots of overtime at work and waiting for parts to arrive. But tomorrow I'm off and that is one of my top projects. I'm going to try the LM298 to see, unless someone has a better idea.
#39  
Hi @Rod
I am not sure how @real57vetteguy had his wiring hooked up but seems to me the Battle Switch should work fine to pull in the solenoid coil. The Battle Switch contacts are rated high enough to be used to activate the coil of the solenoid.


User-inserted image
USA
#40  
Thanks This is exactly what I was searching for. I'll let you know if it works as advertised.
#41  
Rod did this illustration work for your mower with the battle switch??
#42  
Question.... rgordon...that diagram was exactly what I needed as well... can u also give me diagrams for kill switch and electric clutch using battleswitch with 12v system
PRO
Synthiam
#43  
kwalker - what ezb controller are you using? Some of them can have a kill/safety switch for losing wifi or signal
#44  
I am new to this and really know nothing... the controller that seems to be most popular is the sabertooth 2X32 or 2X60.......or can I wire directly from the battery to the battleswitch...thanks for you patience.... not really versed in electronics....
PRO
Synthiam
#45  
That's a motor controller, not the microcontroller. You'll need a micro of some sort to receive the program and instructions from the software that makes the robot move. The most popular of the ezb's people use for this is the EZ-Robot EZ-B v4. But, if the robot has the computer mounted on it, then using an arduino is fine as an ezb. The best computer to mount on the robot with a camera is the latte panda (i prefer)
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