philos65
Senior Member
I'm back working on my camper project and have four linear actuators I'm going to install to raise and lower the roof. I'll put them in the back two corners and up against the front wall in the corners. The actuators extend up to 30". I sewed the new sideliner of this old Keystone so the ceiling is 29.5" when fully extended - almost 80" of headroom. Here's the link to the actuators. I actually paid less than half on Ebay what Windynation asks for their actuators.
https://www.windynation.com/Linear-Actuators/Windy-Nation/Linear-Actuators-various-stroke-lengths/-/244?p=YzE9Mjg=
These things can be mounted in two different ways. The most common is with brackets at either end that attach to roof and floor or block raising the end from the floor. The actuator then is free to move a bit sideways or back/forth when raising and lowering the roof. I'm not sure this is a good thing as the shaft may bind. Worst case - the roof collapses while raising or lowering.
The other mounting method is to get brackets that anchor the shaft of the actuator to the wall. This insures that the roof goes straight up and down. The mounting brackets on the roof have enough play that a couple degrees off plumb shouldn't make a difference.
Each actuator will have its own momentary dpdt switch in a bank easily reached when you first open the door. Because I'll have two 40 lb., 245 watt solar panels on the roof, as well as two fantastic fans, the actuators are not likely to all go up and down at the same rate. Hence four switches. I can rewire if it turns out they all go up at the same rate.
MY QUESTION: Does anyone have experience installing and using these things? If so, what did you learn?
Thanks...
Jeff
https://www.windynation.com/Linear-Actuators/Windy-Nation/Linear-Actuators-various-stroke-lengths/-/244?p=YzE9Mjg=
These things can be mounted in two different ways. The most common is with brackets at either end that attach to roof and floor or block raising the end from the floor. The actuator then is free to move a bit sideways or back/forth when raising and lowering the roof. I'm not sure this is a good thing as the shaft may bind. Worst case - the roof collapses while raising or lowering.
The other mounting method is to get brackets that anchor the shaft of the actuator to the wall. This insures that the roof goes straight up and down. The mounting brackets on the roof have enough play that a couple degrees off plumb shouldn't make a difference.
Each actuator will have its own momentary dpdt switch in a bank easily reached when you first open the door. Because I'll have two 40 lb., 245 watt solar panels on the roof, as well as two fantastic fans, the actuators are not likely to all go up and down at the same rate. Hence four switches. I can rewire if it turns out they all go up at the same rate.
MY QUESTION: Does anyone have experience installing and using these things? If so, what did you learn?
Thanks...
Jeff