New member with an idea

[Rooffanman]

I did some research into blowing the needles off my roof with a drone.
That idea was struck down because I am in a no fly zone as per the FAA.
Prior to the drone idea, I pondered using a 1/12 tank with a 12 volt turbo fan mounted onto the turret.
I am presently well on my way to putting this idea into action.
I will surely put this fabrication into completion this fall as a winter time project.
I need to increase operating time with longer life batteries.
I appreciate any ideas you experienced guys can offer.
Where to get parts, etc.

[RichJohnson]

You have trees tall enough to drop needles in your roof but cannot fly a small drone?

[Evan D]

Crazy but that’s how the FAA wrote the rules.

[Rooffanman]

The trees are my neighbors.
80 feet tall.
The wind blows the needles onto my roof.
The foothills of NC have strong winds.
As to the FAA rules, I am 1/2 mile inside the limit and within a mile of two hospitals that have helicopters.
The yard man charges me $60 per blow.
My age prevents me from blowing the needles myself.
I may or may not get the tank to work, but I am going to give it a try.
I just do not know how the tanks work and where to get parts as I bought an off brand.

[Evan D]

Where are you located?

[Rooffanman]

Winston Salem, NC 27104
I am fortunate to have access to a full machine shop.
Lathes, mills, brakes, sheers, and other needed machines.
I also have past experience as machinist, and extensive electrical electronics during my work time.
Long ago though.

[RichJohnson]

You will need a heavy tank, an all metal one with good adhesion. Likely a Tiagen tank. Or an all metal with rubber tracks.
im sure you can build it but it’s going to cost you several hundred dollars for the tank to get started.
look at eBay for used tanks.

what metal tank do you all think would have a chassi that would work best for this kind of project?

[Rooffanman]

@ Rich:
I am totally in the dark so without any direction I decided to try a 1/12 model shown on Ebay.
I was thinking, buy two at the low price and see what works. They are on the way.
After all I am a beginner with 1/12 models and lack RC experience.
Even if the chassis is too light, I would have the electronics and innards.
I have concerns about speed and traction on a 5/12 pitch roof.
Speed needs to be slow, very slow.
Anyway, here I am in the dark, but I am going to give it a try.
The 4" turbo fan is shown on Amazon at three pounds and 3 amps. Then add to that a small 12-volt battery.
That brings the weight up. On the other hand, I could use a small leaf blower.
I will remove the turret and install a fabricated aluminum plate then use the plastic rotating section to turn the fan.
The fan only needs to move a few degrees, maybe 60.
I plan to mount the fan on the rotating turret and put the battery in the base.
I will remove all of the unnecessary gadgets and hopefully I can use one trigger to turn the fan on thru a relay.
I do not have the Ebay tank in my possession, and I am anxious to see what I bought.
It appears to be the right size, but your weight and metal frame has me wondering.
I could always trash the plastic and fabricate the base out of metal.
At least I have a device to copy.
It is listed as 1/12 45 mm tank. The web connection was too long to post.
On another note, I am going to butcher the tank to achieve the roof blower.
I really enjoyed the sticky posted at the Tank section. Great!

[oldwolf]

What is the slope of the roof? And what material is it made of?

[Rooffanman]

5" per 12"s New typical shingle roof.
Slightly under 45 degrees.
6/12 would be 45 degrees.
Even at this angle, I am too old (82) to get around on it.
The landscaper tends to burn me when he blows it.

[sclui56]

Following this with interest, recently repurposed one of the tanks for crawl space survey, could get to most of the area except where sewer and inlet pipes sort of line up, maybe I can fly a toothpick quad in between once I figured out light source.

[SoCalBobS]

At $60/service, how many would be needed to make two tanks, electronics, additional batteries, charger and blower a better value?

[Rooffanman]

@SoCalBobs: I prefer to keep my property on order.
Then again, I like to be inventive.
I have little time left and I love mechanical devices.
It is a challenge to make this work.
Just a note:
I meet once a week with a group of shooters.
We meet at one guy's place.
The building is 30' X 150' and full of just about anything an old mechanic would love to have.
It brings the mechanic out in me on every visit.
I love to just look and remember.
Now to your post: 26 tanks and not done yet!
@SCUL56: Now that is doing what you do best! Great!
What size tank?
Just getting where your body cannot go.
I was under a house once and the light cord came unplugged.
I can tell you after twisting and turning to get into the space when that light went out, I panicked.
Luckily, I had a helper that reconnected the light cord.
I still remember the feeling.

[Rooffanman]

After thinking about how I will reconfigure the top of the tank here is my thinking.
Open to help:
I will disconnect all of the nonessential gadgets,
Take the top off of the tank and build a platform that will allow rotation of the fan and allow for access to the batteries while keeping it low.
I am still looking for a speed reduction module.
I found a 12 vdc to 7.2 vdc module for 8$ on Amazon.
That solves the power transformation to one 12 vdc battery.

[SoCalBobS]

Wow.

[tank_me]

The tank doesn't have to be that slow. You could just bump it forward, let it blow out the area, bump it forward, blow...repeat. Problem with blowers is that when the are directed down, the don't blow in just one direction. You will get blow back if you just point it down. I'm with Bob on this one. I just don't see it being cost effective, but it's your money. You will also have to get this tank up there and take it down when you are done. An almost 45 degree angle roof will be a real challenge for the vehicle to drive in a straight line especially because you will be controlling it from the ground looking up at it from an angle. At that angle, too much weight will cause it to slide sideways down the roof. Too light and you might not get enough traction. The blower might even move the tank itself.

The better solution in my mind is creating a Shepard's hook looking blower end connected to an air compressor that you blow out the from the ground. That is if the house is a single story.

[Rooffanman]

I have fabricated a dual downward blower attachment for the leaf blower.
Once it is on a 20-25 foot tube it is very difficult to handle, and it is a two-person event.
Floppy too.
Believe you me I have run out of options.

[cravo]

I have fabricated a dual downward blower attachment for the leaf blower.
Once it is on a 20-25 foot tube it is very difficult to handle, and it is a two-person event.
Floppy too.
Believe you me I have run out of options.

I think the idea should pass by a track connected to both ends of the roof and with an attachment perpendicular and with q coupling to both sides of the roof to boost the air.
something like the woman's who put the clothes to dry on apartment balcony and them pull the wire that brings the clothes back to then.
Another idea would be to put sprinklers pointed to the lower places of the roof and then turn on the water that with the pressure would clean most of the debris you would like and for that situation you could set up some filters and re-use the water several times with an auxiliary Pump to remove the water from the place you keep it just for this effect after it's filtered and cleared from tu4 debris.
In my opinion it would be a better idea.
Of course there are also costs, but in my opinion the tank to hold needs to be heavy and does not slide or slip with that 45 angle Wich o think it's very hard since it's not w flat surface and the debris and dirt can cause it to slip.

[Rooffanman]

I tried to use a pressure washer on a long telescoping pole to chase the needles downward.
I put dual tips with rollers on the blower end to direct the pressure downward,
It was working, but then the expansion joints every 9' on the pole was roughing the tabs on the roof as the pole slid upward and downward.
There was no way to prevent the pole from damaging the tabs.
II just spent $13,000.00 on that roof and I was not going to damage the new roofing.
This modified tank idea has to work for me.
I am thinking that using the tank at an angle and not a direct climb will solve my movement problem.
I am out of options.

[sclui56]

Rooffanman your're right about "body cannot go", I only go there if I absolutely have to and the improvised solution worked, I was going to fit a styrene top deck to cover things up, but it's dry and fairly clear underneath, I just ran it that way. I did attach a tow "rope" at the back in case of de-tracking and/or running out of juice but so far it survived 3 trips. BTW, it is the lower of a HL 1:16 KV-2. The FPV cam runs off the same battery pack and the receiver/monitor/DVR worked, not the greatest in resolution, but did what I needed. Never thought of FPV off the tank until I have the need.

Too bad you couldn't fly the drone up, except I can't imagine how the blower would interfere with the flight.