Intelliframe to Revy hookup

[factoid]

I've got a Revy and an Intelliframe. It's a newer crappy revy c.a.t. though, so it doesn't have a board or eyes anything. All it has is an on/off switch. It's pretty crappy but it was only 13 bucks and I don't actually see anywhere you can buy a classic VL Revolution with eyes anymore.

This is what it looks like inside.




I was reading the AGD tech document on building an intelliframe -> revolution hookup and it's pretty simple, but obviously I can't follow those directions exactly.

In some ways this mod should actually be simpler though.

am I crazy or could I theoretically just bypass the toggle switch on the shell altogether and hook it up directly to the lever microswitch in the frame?

I'd cut the two red wires and splice them into the two wires connected to the switch, leaving the black wire directly connected between the motor and the 9volt.

I'm no kind of electronics expert, but that seems like it would work to me.

and if I'm right about that, I think I could leave the Revy's toggle switch connected and splice into those wires instead of bypassing them. That would mean I could flip the toggle switch and then it would run whenever I pulled the trigger, but if the toggle was off it wouldn't do anything.

Any of that sound right, or will this not work at all?

[Ando]

It'll work but the motor is only going to turn a hair when the switch is pressed and released. So if you ever come up to a jam in the hopper, you might have to hold the trigger down for a bit to unjam it or give it SBS (Shaken Baby Syndrome).

[flyingpootang]

Before the Intelli frame came out I did mine by running the red battery wire directly to the motor, drilled a hole/mounted a 1/8" female mono phono jack plug into the hopper body between the feed neck/motor, soldered the black wire to the base of the female mono jack plug, solder the tip connection back to the other side of the motor, mounted a 3 prong switch to the trigger frame, use a 1/8" male mono phono jack plug with one wire to the center of the micro switch, soldered the other side of the switch that activates when depressed to complete the circuit. When the micro switch is depressed the black wire signal is completed by the micro switch, which activates the hopper motor to turn. You can also wire another battery lead in series for faster turning of the motor and drill holes into the feed paddle for a weed wacker mod.... Pm me if you need me to mod your hopper for a modest fee

[factoid]

It'll work but the motor is only going to turn a hair when the switch is pressed and released. So if you ever come up to a jam in the hopper, you might have to hold the trigger down for a bit to unjam it or give it SBS (Shaken Baby Syndrome).

Yeah, I was thinking about that. I might just mess around with it to see how long it will really run on each trigger pull.

If it can go a quarter turn that's probably enough, but if it's just a miniscule movement it probably won't do anything.

Will holding the trigger down also hold that level switch down? I guess the pictures in the guide don't really show how the switch is activated. I assumed it was the underside of the sear hitting it, but perhaps it's actually the backward motion of the trigger arm. In that case I can see how holding it would keep it running.


I wonder if maybe adding a capacitor to the setup would keep it running longer. Pulling the trigger would energize the capacitor and then operate the motor. Then after releasing the trigger the capacitor would continue draining into the motor for a moment longer.

All in all I wish this were the old-style Revy with the eye in it. This one is loud and I hate keeping it running all the time, but it's a pain to flip that toggle switch on and off all the time. If this mod doesn't work I'm definitely replacing the on/off toggle with a momentary switch wired to the trigger frame so I can just hold the button down while I'm shooting and then let go.

[Ando]

I thought that was soemthing you came up with. I've never seen a revy with out guts.

They arn't hard to find. You can find them for under $25. Just have to hold out, one will come up.

[factoid]

I thought that was soemthing you came up with. I've never seen a revy with out guts.

They arn't hard to find. You can find them for under $25. Just have to hold out, one will come up.

Nope, it's a Revolution C.A.T. They're available new for about $25...I got mine on sale for $13.

It does a fine job of feeding balls as long as I leave it running, but it's noisy so I don't like to.

I was never actually planning on running the intellifeed -> revy mod, but the noise has convinced me I ought to. Not good for woodsball.

I'll post some pictures when I get done if I can make it work the way I want. I know I can make it so that a trigger pull starts the motor, but what I dont' know is whether that will actually activate it long enough to do anything to the balls in the hopper.

If it sucks I can always just reverse it and solder it back the way it used to be. I'll only be out about 4 bucks.

[factoid]

I stopped by radioshack on the way home and got the stuff I needed.

It works great. Took me all of about 15 minutes to do a quick mock-up. I just cut the red lead from the nine volt connector and spliced it into the headphone adapter. I used one I had laying around, which was a stereo adapter rather than mono, but you can just ignore the second wire, or cut it off completely as I did in mine.

Even a quick trigger pull is about enough to make the agitator do 3/4ths to a full revolution.

I left the toggle-switch in the loop so that I could shoot without activating it if I wanted to.

I need to do the detail work still and then I'll take some better pictures or maybe a quick video. I'm really torn about whether or not I want to cut a groove into my grips for the cord to exit.

[Ando]

There's no need to. It'll just bulk out a little on that side.

[factoid]

There's no need to. It'll just bulk out a little on that side.

yeah I have it sticking out and I think it's fine. It would look a little neater if I grooved it, but I don't want to wreck the resale value.

I'm just going to shorten up the cables to the right length, solder the ends and tape up the bare metal and call it a day.

I have an idea for a similar mod to wire up a momentary switch to my foregrip, putting the button on the macroline port and running the line out through the vertical ASA, but I'm not sure if the hole is big enough to thread wires through.

[factoid]

I finished up last night. Works great. I tried to get video, but it came out terrible. All I had for a camera was my macbook's webcam which stinks for trying to aim at a table.

Basically all I was able to follow almost all the AGD instructions exactly except for where it concerned the differences in electronics. So all I've done on mine is spliced the audio extension cord into the red lead from the battery pack. I soldered all the joints and splices for strength and coated them in electrical tape.

So now there are two switches in the circuit...the lever switch in the frame and the on/off toggle on the Revy shell. They both have to be on or the paddle will not activate. So I just flip the switch on the shell and leave it, and then as soon as I pull the trigger it activates.

I was worried I wouldn't get much motion from a light trigger pull, but it actually does about a 3/4 revolution unless you deliberately short-stroke it.


Conclusions: Way easy mod. Cost me about 7 dollars. You could do it for 4 if you already have a headphone extension (it doesn't have to be mono like the one in the parts list, you just ignore or cut off the extra wire). If you went to Lowes or Home Depot and bought yourself 2 miniature screws and nuts instead of Radio Shack's overkill bag of 40+ you could get it down to about $2.50.


For all I know I'm the only person who will ever do this mod, though. After all you can just go buy a Halo for about $50 bucks.

Eventually I'll get one of those, but I"ll leave the switch and wiring coiled up in the grips in case I need my revy as a backup sometime.


Edit: Took it to the field today and it worked great. I didn't outshoot my hopper all day and I was heavy on the trigger a few times. Anyone thinking you need to spend 50 bucks on a 12V Revy, consider the $13 C.A.T. and a few bucks from radioshack. Assuming you have an intelliframe that is. Anyone could do this mod, regardless of ability with electronics. Abilty to solder is a plus, but you could get by without. There are some good conductive adhesives out there that might do the trick.