Boat lift remote control

Has anyone ever installed a remote control for a boat lift? I ran across Gem remotes, a company that makes them. It can be set up to auto stop. They look pretty heavy duty. It sure would be nice to only hit one button once!

Em, If you are running the lift on 12 volts DC then this reciever and it's 1 channel transmitter will work. You will need a means of handling the high amp switching of the lift motor unless it has a inhibit function built in. I used this set up on a remote control ski jump sprinkling system I built for our ski club. Works great except for the kids dropping the remote in the lake!!

Linear remote

It was the only remote reciever that I could find that ran on 12 Volt. The other item I put in the control was a 12 volt DC speed control. It regulates the voltage (and the amount of water sprays) at a consistent level no matter what the level of the battery is at (down to 10 volt)

A 120 watt solar panel is next because none of the kids remember to charge the battery when it gets low!!

emccallum wrote: Wish I had the electrical knowledge needed to know if I could make it work! I have been searching the net. Thanks for the reply. e

What's the lift you are using? We can help.

Em, This may get complicated and someone with a electrical background would be nessasary. A garage door remote control would be the easy way to go if the HP of the Ace lift is low enough that the control could handle the amps. I recently purchased two garage door openers off ebay for a boat house door project so that route may be a option. I however what you to do some thinking if this project would be worth the effort. You already have a remote control switch for up and down. Do you have it mounted on the lift in a convenient spot when lifting and lowering your boat?

Couple options:
- EE option: I bet this can be done using a remote gate opener unit (~$30) and a selenoid/relay. It would be a a cool project to do. Sorry, I am an Electrical Engineer, aka GEEK!
- Cheap option: If the voltage thru the switch can be matched to a garage opener motor then is easier to pick up a used garage door opener from e-bay and remove the motor. Use the motor wires as your switch. Voltage specifications must be checked for compatability. Keep a manual overwrite or kill switch close to the dock, in case the system fail. A push kill switch would work really neat. Maybe you need two top and bottom. Connect those to the opener switch limits. The garage opener should have those magnet limitor for it to work.
- Expensive: Call a gate opener company and see if one of their system can be adapted.

These are my 2 cents,