Keeping Hitachi Wand On for Long Periods

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HellsBells
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Keeping Hitachi Wand On for Long Periods

Post by HellsBells »

Hi wonderful people!

Question for you: in SB sessions I like to apply the hitachi wand -- but, the more securely it is attached (such as with chains, tape, etc.) the more likely it is to turn off on it's own in this odd way, it slows down and eventually stops, then won't turn back on for a while. It's almost like it's tired.

Any suggestions/ideas on a. why this might be happenings and b. ways of securing it effectively without it getting tired.

Thank you!
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kinbaku
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Re: Keeping Hitachi Wand On for Long Periods

Post by kinbaku »

I think the vibrator motor is getting too hot.

I have a European wand vibrator (about the same as the Hitachi wand vibrator) and it continues to work, but I have had other vibrators where the motor warmed up after 20 minutes and lost power. It only vibrated again when I tapped it. After a dozen long turns I couldn't even get the vibrator working again.
One solution, for example, is to work with a time clock that switches the vibrator on and off at set times so that it has time to cool down. But I don't think this is possible with the Hitachi without opening it: If it has no power, you have to turn it on again with the button. You can test this by unplugging and plugging it back in.

Another solution I've ever done is redirecting the buttons control to an Arduino which then provided a custom program (based on Tormentor).
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ruru67
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Re: Keeping Hitachi Wand On for Long Periods

Post by ruru67 »

It depends what kind of wand you have.

If it's a genuine, original Hitachi, or a genuine "Magic Wand Original", the thing doesn't have any significant electronics in it, just a DC motor connected to the mains power via a rectifier - in low power mode, the power is half-wave rectified, and in full power mode it's full-wave rectified. The construction is a little different between the original and the "Original", but the principle is the same. The motor is mounted in the body, connected by a flexible spring drive through the neck to the vibrating weight, mounted firmly between two ball bearings in the head. (see here)

That use of a mains voltage motor is why the Hitachi only came in a 110V version. There's the European Magic Wand Original, which has a full electronic power supply / controller stuffed into the body of the thing, but still retains the same basic mechanical configuration. I'm not sure what voltage the motor operates at. (see here)

Most knock-off "hitachi" vibes are completely different. They have a much smaller low-voltage DC motor, mounted inside the head along with the vibrating weight. The power goes first to a very basic power supply module to get low voltage DC suitable for the motor and controller, and then to a controller/switch assembly (with a small microcontroller for the models with buttons rather than a rocker switch). Wires from the controller pass through the neck to the motor. (see here)

For knock-offs, what usually dies is the electronics, typically the power supply module which tends to be under a bit of stress and made from cheap parts. either that or joints between the motor and the wires from the controller fatigue from the vibration and break, since they move around a bit from passing through the flexible neck - that doesn't happen on the real Hitachi because all the electric parts are rigidly mounted together in the wand body.

Genuine Hitachi wands were only rated for half an hour or so of constant use, I understand mainly because of the risk of the motor overheating. Apparently that was enough of a problem to include a fan attached to the driveshaft - some overheating problems may have been related to poor airflow ... perhaps due to how the wand is positioned. (The air flow comes in at the base of the neck, so, e.g, lying on the thing could prevent adequate cooling - although from the teardown pics, it's not entirely clear to me where the air is supposed to go after being paddled around by the fan.)
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