Can crusher

Thread Starter

bkhood1991

Joined Feb 9, 2016
29
There is a link to the can crusher I want to build . Need to know what size motor and push rod to use and the size of the wheel . Want it to be a smaller motor than that . Not a real fast one maybe a can every 3 or 4 seconds. Thanks
 

tracecom

Joined Apr 16, 2010
3,944
The motor is going through a gear head to reduce the speed and increase the torque, so you need a motor and a gear head. Maybe someone here will actually recognize and ID it for you.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
That appears to be a standard induction motor, probabaly 4-pole, around 1-2hp, and a reduction gear box of <60rpm.
That motor may be oversized for the reduction involved.
Max.
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
I'm not sure how much the environment is benefiting from the recycled aluminum after each can is crushed with a 1HP motor at 30 cans per minute.
- and the owner bag of 500 crushed cans drives 10 miles to the recycling center and back home.
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
At 30 RPM even a 1/4 HP (~ 200 watt) motor would be more than sufficient and would give you on the high side of 150 pounds of crushing force with a 6 inch stroke.

Add in that most motors can easily handle short duration overloads for a second or two and it's likely that you could push a 1/4 HP sized unit to 300+ pounds (That makes a pretty flat can!) without stalling it out or doing any damage to the motor.
 
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MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
What motor could I use though to make this a smaller scale project . Motor? Size of wheel and rod ?
You would need to test the force of crushing the can and work backwards, this would give you the torque required based on different arm/wheel lengths and G.B. ratio's.
Max.
 

GetDeviceInfo

Joined Jun 7, 2009
2,192
the diameter of the wheel, or more specifically the diameter of the rod attachment to the wheel sets the stroke. The stroke is generally the height of the can prior to crushing, less the crushed height, plus something for ease of use. The rod length is irrelevant, choosen for ease of access. Build your crusher less motor, and apply a torque wrench to the wheel axle to determine the torque required to crush subject cans. Once you've found the torque, you can calc your speed and hp, then add some factor (x 2?). Now you can scrounge around for a motor gearbox. Or you can just wing it and throw something together.
 

Glenn Holland

Joined Dec 26, 2014
703
I'm not sure how much the environment is benefiting from the recycled aluminum after each can is crushed with a 1HP motor at 30 cans per minute.
- and the owner bag of 500 crushed cans drives 10 miles to the recycling center and back home.
Making aluminum from scratch consumes a huge amount of energy.

If he's near a small town or city, there are scrap dealers that buy them. Here in S.F. Calif., there's a scrap dealer about 5 blocks from my former job site.

However, just make sure your fingers don't get caught in that contraption!!!
 
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GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
Making aluminum from scratch consumes a huge amount of energy.
Ok, now we are getting somewhere. We now have half of the mass-energy balance. Now we need to know how much energy it takes to drive a 3500 pound car full of crushed aluminum cans to the scrap yard. Will it be a big amount (worth the effort), a huge amount (zero gain effort) or a gigantic amount (not worth the effort)?
 

Glenn Holland

Joined Dec 26, 2014
703
The efficiency of scrap metal recycling depends on "economy of scale".

However, most scrap is produced in cities and accordingly, scrap dealers have set up business on the outskirt of urban areas just waiting to get a load of it.

It's like sharks lurking around a crowded beach.
 

Glenn Holland

Joined Dec 26, 2014
703
On the subject of recycling, I've changed my avatar which is dedicated Scott Alton Newell who invented the car shredder.

It literally grinds up junk cars and the steel is magnetically removed from the debris much like iron ore is separated from rock. There are also magnetic separators for aluminum and copper.
 

GetDeviceInfo

Joined Jun 7, 2009
2,192
Drop them off while you drive by on your way somewhere else, and don't forget to collect the rest of the neighbourhoods scrap. Free ride, good deed done.

I installed one of the first auto shredders in western Canada for the old Stelco, which ran three electric arc furnaces, reducing 100% scrap into rolled structural steel. Someone forgot to consider gas tanks until a fireball engulfed the mill, operations tower, and blew out all the explosion vents on the extractors. That installation had magnetic head rolls in a sweep conveyor, where the steel would fall downward into railcars while the non ferrous would travel farther into 'scrap' cars, sold to another business.
 
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tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
Ok, now we are getting somewhere. We now have half of the mass-energy balance. Now we need to know how much energy it takes to drive a 3500 pound car full of crushed aluminum cans to the scrap yard. Will it be a big amount (worth the effort), a huge amount (zero gain effort) or a gigantic amount (not worth the effort)?

Actually the quantity of energy required by the vehicle is not what sets the level of profitability or lack thereof. It's the market value and quantity of the product to be sold that makes this work or not.

I make a fair amount of easy spending money doing the scrap metal collecting and processing thing in my spare time. The working concept is to not try and process everything when the prices are up but to continually process everything as you get it so that when the prices are up it's all ready to go. That's what make' the trip worth the effort. ;)
 

Bernard

Joined Aug 7, 2008
5,784
The Surplus Center, www.surpluscenter.com, has good selection of AC & DC motors, plain & gear reduced.
I would aim for at least 600 in.-lb. torque on final output shaft. Motor at about 1/3 hp.
What power do you have, 120 V AC ?
 
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