Rollertrol motor for rollup shades

Posted on
Sun Aug 23, 2015 4:38 pm
Dewster35 offline
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Joined: Jul 06, 2010
Location: Petoskey, MI

Rollertrol motor for rollup shades

Anyone willing to part with a rollertrol radio controlled shade? Just looking for the lowest poundage. Doesn't matter if it is wired or battery powered, looking at building my own blinds and hoping to know what all would be involved. I would even entertain the idea of just renting one to get a working prototype. I just want to make sure I am able to do this before spending a bunch of money for a new one.

Posted on
Sun Aug 23, 2015 5:34 pm
toille27 offline
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Joined: Jul 18, 2011
Location: Doylestown PA

Re: Rollertrol motor for rollup shades

Not sure what concerns you might have but I've been using two DC powered ones for a little over two years now. I use them to black out my daughters bedroom French door lites. They work great and the built in limit switches let you adjust to a 1/16 of an inch.

I bought a black out shade, cut it down to size and mounted it on 1.5 inch roll ease tubing http://www.jvcwindowfashions.com/roller ... -and-parts . I inserted a heavy piece of steel in the hem tab to weigh it down and the shade edges ride in 1/4 inch aluminum U channel so they are true black out. DC power into the door via mortised RCI brass ball contacts. It was a job but they look real classy.

If you have any other questions I might be able to answer. Let me know.

Posted on
Tue Aug 25, 2015 6:46 pm
Dewster35 offline
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Joined: Jul 06, 2010
Location: Petoskey, MI

Re: Rollertrol motor for rollup shades

Thanks for the link! Do you have pictures of your setup and exact part numbers that you purchased?

I was originally thinking about making my own, buying the fabric and fabricating the roller. I have access to a machine shop and very good costs on raw materials such as aluminum pipe, sheet metal lasered and bent parts etc.... but simply buying one of these shades and popping a motor in sure does sound like a lot less hassle.

My concerns were that I just wasn't sure what kind of weights I would be dealing with, how difficult the low voltage wiring would be or if battery operated would be a better way to go.

Posted on
Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:00 pm
toille27 offline
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Joined: Jul 18, 2011
Location: Doylestown PA

Re: Rollertrol motor for rollup shades

I can dig up all the information for you. I just checked and my installation is 38 months old, my daughter was only 1 year old at the time. Time flies when your home automation system just works. Give me a few days and BTW this was one of the home automation projects that got me bonus points with the wife.

Posted on
Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:32 pm
Dewster35 offline
Posts: 1030
Joined: Jul 06, 2010
Location: Petoskey, MI

Re: Rollertrol motor for rollup shades

I really appreciate anything you can send my way! And yes, time really does fly. I have a boy who will be turning one this week and a daughter who will turn three in October. The days are long but the years are short...

Posted on
Wed Aug 26, 2015 4:27 pm
toille27 offline
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Joined: Jul 18, 2011
Location: Doylestown PA

Re: Rollertrol motor for rollup shades

Ok, so here was my material list for French doors:

-12 VDC Power supply
-(2) RollerTrol Non-radio Tubular Motors (6 lb lift)
-12 VDC Reversible Controller
-Just Blinds.com Express Room Darkening Roller Shades (Ordered correct size to cut in half to make two)
-RollEase 1.5" tubing (144") cut down for shipping
-(2) Insteon I/O Linc (one for Up and one for Down)
-(2) RCI 9503 Ball Contacts (to get DC power from Door Header into Doors)
-1/8" X 1" steel for hem tab (Lowes)
-1/4" Aluminum U Channel Doubled side taped to door (Lowes)

I also recall I removed the shade from the JustBlinds roller and double sided taped it to the RollEase and then cut it down to size with my aluminum chop saw.

The hardest part of the job was routering in place the mortise for the ball contacts into the head of the door frame. I took the doors off to do the tops of them.

Pics:
Blinds Open/Closed

Open.jpg
Open.jpg (395.3 KiB) Viewed 3234 times


Closed.jpg
Closed.jpg (443.67 KiB) Viewed 3234 times


Door/Door Header

Door Head.jpg
Door Head.jpg (349.37 KiB) Viewed 3234 times


Door Contacts.jpg
Door Contacts.jpg (424.44 KiB) Viewed 3234 times


Controls

Controls.jpg
Controls.jpg (422.83 KiB) Viewed 3234 times


My controls were from three years ago so now that whole box gets replaced with these items:

viewtopic.php?f=58&t=14482

Posted on
Sat Aug 29, 2015 4:43 am
Dewster35 offline
Posts: 1030
Joined: Jul 06, 2010
Location: Petoskey, MI

Re: Rollertrol motor for rollup shades

Thank you so much for posting all of this! I think it really does look like a professionally done job and the channels on the sides of the shade are a fantastic idea for blackout areas. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

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