Rat Rig V-MOTION LITE User manual

V-MOTION LITE
USER GUIDE
© Rat Rig 2017. All rights reserved.

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PACKAGE CONTENTS
1 1x V-Motion Motor
2 1x Belt
3 1x 3mm Hex Key
4 1x AA Battery Pack (for 8x AA batteries)*
5 1x V-Motion Controller
6 2x Knob
7 2x T-Nut
The parts below are only required if you use the reversed assembly:
8 1x 2.5mm Hex Key
9 1x 1.5mm Hex Key
10 4x 25mm screws
11 4x Black Spacers
*Batteries not included.

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ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
The V-Motion Lite can be assembled on any V-Slider or V-Slider Mini. There are two
alternative ways of assembling:
- Standard assembly: motor shaft points down. You should use this assembly if the head
you’re mounting on your slider’s carriage has a diameter of less than 10 cm.
- Reversed assembly: motor shaft points up. You should use this assembly if the head
you are mounting on your slider’s carriage has a diameter of 10 cm or more, otherwise
you might not be able to mount the head in place as the motor will be in the way. This
assembly involves additional steps and is not compatible with the V-Slider Leg Kit(tripod
use only).

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STANDARD ASSEMBLY
1. Lock the carriage of your slider in place using the brake screw.
2. Use the 3mm Hex Key provided to remove your slider’s green endcaps on both sides.
3. Slide a T-Nut into the lateral slot on each end of the rail. The protruding side of each T-
Nut should be facing outwards.

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4. Reinstall the green endcaps on both sides using the 3mm Hex Key.
5. Remove your slider’s brake plate by unscrewing the 2 screws that hold it in place, using
the 3mm Hex Key.

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6. Mount the V-Motion Motor where the brake plate was, using the same screws. The
motor shaft should be facing downwards.
7. Slide one tip of the Belt behind one of the T-Nuts, making sure the T-Nut is close to the
end of the rail. The toothed side of the Belt should be facing inwards(touching the rail).

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8. Screw a Knob on the T-Nut until it locks the Belt in place. Excessive force is
unnecessary and may damage the belt.
9. Slide the opposite tip of the Belt through the gap between the rail and the wheel of your
slider’s carriage. Pick the tip on the opposite side and while holding the carriage in place,
pull it until the Belt is tense and neatly lodged inside the lateral slot.

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10. Carefully loop the Belt around the toothed pulley of the motor, keeping tension.
11. Slide the tip of the Belt through the gap between the rail and the opposite wheel of the
carriage.
12. Pick up the tip of the Belt on the opposite side and slide it behind the other T-Nut, which
should be placed near the end of the rail. Pull from the opposite side until the belt is
snug against the rail.
13. Screw the remaining Knob on the T-Nut. Right before it locks in place, the knob will start
biting the belt. When this happens, you can fine-tune the tension on the belt by moving
the T-Nut slightly to the left or right.
14. Finish screwing the Knob to lock the T-Nut in place.
15. Cut off the remaining length of the Belt. You’re done!

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REVERSED ASSEMBLY
For this assembly you will first need to disassemble your V-Motion Motor and reassemble it
with a different configuration:
1. Pick up your V-Motion Motor and use the 1.5mm Hex Key to loosen both set screws on
the Toothed Pulley. The set screws are inside the small holes between the teeth.
Remove the pulley from the motor’s shaft.
2. Use the 2.5mm Hex Key to remove the 4 screws on the Motor Plate.

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3. Remove the plate and replace the Toothed Pulley on the motor’s shaft. Don’t let it slide
all the way to the bottom of the shaft, leave a margin of around 2mm from the bottom.
Use the 1.5mm Hex Key to tighten both set screws inside the pulley, locking it in place.
Important: Make sure one of the set screws is aligned with the flat part of the motor
shaft.
4. Pass one 25mm Screw through one of the holes on the Motor Plate, then through a
black spacer and finally screw it into the motor. Repeat until you’ve used the four 25mm
Screws and respective Black Spacers. Make sure you use the same holes from which
you removed the original screws, on step 2.

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5. You’re done! You can now use the Standard Assembly instructions above, with just a
small change on step 6: the motor shaft should be facing upwards.

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MOTOR OPTIONS
Rat Rig offers 3 different motor options, each with its own range of speeds, so you can choose
the one best suited for each situation:
- Timelapse motor - motion is almost unnoticeable in real time
- Top speed: 1 meter in 18 minutes
- Lowest speed: 1 meter in 3 hours
- Standard motor - adequate for timelapses in its slowest setting, adequate for real time
action in its fastest
- Top speed: 1 meter in 38 seconds
- Lowest speed: 1 meter in 9 minutes
- Fast motor - Great range of speeds for real time action.
- Top speed: 1 meter in 3 minutes
- Lowest speed: 1 meter in 18 seconds
Swapping Motors
If you have already assembled your V-Motion Lite with one motor and want to swap it with
another one, you can do this pretty quickly following the instructions below:
1. Slightly loosen one of the Knobs holding the Belt, just enough so you can move the T-
Nut towards the center of the slider. This will decrease tension, allowing you to
disengage the belt from the Toothed Pulley on the motor’s shaft.
2. Use a 3mm Hex Key to remove the two screws connecting the carriage to the V-Motion
Motor plate.
3. Swap the motors and reverse the entire procedure: screw the new motor to the carriage,
engage the Belt on the Toothed Pulley, adjust tension by moving the T-Nut towards the
end of the rail, and screw the Knob until the T-Nut is locked in place. Do not exert
excessive force when screwing the knob, as it’s unnecessary and may damage your
belt.

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USING THE V-MOTION LITE
Now that you have assembled the mechanical parts of your kit, you just need to:
- Connect your motor’s cable to the V-Motion Lite Controller, using the socket on the top
right, labeled with a cog symbol.
- Connect your Battery Pack‘s cable to the V-Motion Lite Controller, using the socket
on the top left, labeled with a lightning symbol. You can also connect any third-party
power source, as long as it is rated at 12V DC and has a standard DC barrel jack. If you
use an AC adapter make sure it is rated at 2A or more.
And you’re ready to go. Controls on the V-Motion Lite Controller are pretty simple, there’s only
one knob:
- Central position: motor OFF
- Rotate clockwise to move the motor in one direction, counter-clockwise to move in the
opposite direction
- The further you turn the knob, the faster the carriage will move
CAUTION
Avoid letting your motor reach the end of the slider. If it
happens, turn the power off immediately or reverse the
direction. Running power through a stalled motor may
damage the electric components of your V-Motion Lite.

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Manually resetting your carriage’s position
If you’re using the Timelapse Motor, the top speed is still very slow. If you want to move your
carriage to a different position and can’t afford to wait for the motor to get there, follow the steps
below:
- Slightly loosen one of the Knobs holding the Belt, just enough so you can move the T-
Nut towards the center of the slider. This will decrease tension, allowing you to
disengage the belt from the Toothed Pulley on the motor’s shaft.
- Manually move the carriage to the desired position, re-engage the Belt on the Toothed
Pulley.
- Re-adjust tension by moving the T-Nut towards the end of the rail, and screw the Knob
until the T-Nut is locked in place. Do not exert excessive force when screwing the knob,
as it’s unnecessary and may damage your belt.