Is this possible?

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Haynie

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May 20, 2011
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My parents love the convenience of their small attic space in the garage. Unfortunately dad has had a stroke and 2 heart attacks and mom is getting up there in years. The last time I was there they decided to move some stuff to the attic and I was not impressed with how unsafe they were being. Mom sitting at the top of the ladder stairs and dad handing stuff to her. One of these days someone is going to get hurt and I nor my brothers live near them.

I have an auto winch in my inventory that no one is going to buy. I was thinking about making them a small hoist. The winch is rated at 5600 pounds so in that regard it is plenty strong. My question is wiring it up. It is a 12/24 volt winch and I want to connect it to their existing garage wiring which is, of course, 110. Can this even be done? Is it safe?
 
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Why not rent them a storage locker? I recently discovered with my parents just how quickly their health situations can change. You certainly don't want your mother falling off the ladder or your dad having a box accidently fall on him (both have happened to relatives of mine).

Tomas
 
You can convert 110vac to 12/14vcd. You need a power converter. Check with your local electric supplier and possibly your neaest harware store. You need to know what the maximum amps are of the winch. Be sure to explain to them what you are doing.
 
The amp draw on that winch is going to be pretty big for a power inverter. The inverter cost goes up dramatically with amperage.
If the price shock is too big, a lower cost option is hook it up to a car battery and hook the battery up to an automatic charger. The battery will handle the big amp draw of the winch and the charger will recharge the battery between uses. Pick up some used parts and this could be quite inexpensive.
 
Thought about the storage locker. Too far away (15 miles maybe). They won't use it. They will use the lift.

I had not thought about the car battery on a trickle charger. Definitely an option. I will look for the converter some time today. I got the idea from one of those dumb youtube advertisements that you are allowed to skip after 3 seconds.
 
I know you want to use what you have in hand but rather than getting inverters or batteries and chargers make life easier and buy a 110 volt winch. Harbor Freight has one with a 1500 pound capacity for about $150.00. It will always be ready when they are and there is no battery maintenance to be done.
 
Tough spot. I would be worried about unsafe rigging and loosing a load. Also this type of winch is not rated for overhead use. If someone were over there helping them and something went wrong the liability would be huge but the bigger issue would be rigging up whatever was being lifted.
 
Making the power supply, simple.

Step down transformer and a bridge rectifier. Depending on the amperage you need and your ability to shop surplus, maybe forty or less dollars. Main line input to the tranaformer, stepped down AC output to two terminals of the bridge rectifier, and DC output coming from the other two terminals. No need for more than this to power a simple DC motor and short intermittent use probably won't even need a heat sink on the rectifier (but it's still a good idea).

(and don't efen think about doing this if you are unfamiliar with using mains voltage and hooking it up safely)

Not so simple, making the lift apparatus itself so it has safeguards that make it safe to use without the potential of killing someone.

Considered a block and tackle or hand winch driven version of a dumbwaiter maybe? Easier to make it safe with hand power than motor power.
 
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