Hey that’s me! Mike Berry here. Someone gave me a tip about this forum and so I joined and…
I am [somewhat casually] selling the ThunderClap DOF contactors on eBay. Casual as in not too much promotion or marketing but I saw a need and am trying to fill it. It is a hobby, not my path to fame and wealth.
When I looked for DOF haptic solutions I came up empty. Everyone was searching eBay for used Siemens contactors. Since they aren’t very loud guys were using 2 of them to get what they wanted. This didn’t seem right. OEM manufacturers also can’t put in used parts.
Also some solutions weren’t safe. “Ford” 12V relays aren’t rated for continuous excitation and so can overheat. Something else was really needed.
Contactors aren’t naturally suited for the job VPin people are asking them to do. They are designed to bring a set of electrical contacts together. These contacts are on flexible copper and so the movement has a “soft landing”, not conducive to making noise. The movements are also inside an enclosure which mutes noise.
My design starts with a massive 24 VDC coil (7.2 oz copper) and adds a bottom “stator” 4.8 oz and a top “actuator” 3.4 oz. Lose the enclosure and you have a really loud clacker. Whole thing weighs in at about a pound. It takes special shipping considerations which I learned the hard way. Continuous operation is OK so no danger there.
I’ll add more information as time allows.
Mike
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