Automatic Litterbox Central

MY CAT GENIE PROJECT
My husband just shakes his head…but after looking after three traditional litter boxes while some friends were on vacation he now UNDERSTANDS.

This is my finished project:

How it all began:
Years ago, a friend of mine purchased the Litterfree product. Not a good experiment. It was returned. The main complaint was that it did not dry the pellets. However the solution dispenser was great.
I told my husband when we meet…I have a cat, there will always be a cat. I will never be without a cat. End of story. I so married the right man. We now have three cats, and one claims him as his. (He never thought he would belong to a cat.)
I have been cleaning litter boxes for as long as I can remember. Our two oldest cats, otherwise known as the EEs, are extremely large frame cats. They also could clear the house after using the litterbox. Trying not to wretch when scooping became a daily occurrence. Thus began my search for a litterbox appliance. Every product that had a rake failed. One of my boys likes to build a pile of litter like and ant hill and scoop out a hole on the top. All the safety functions built into the rake litterboxes thought this ant hill was a cat and would stop. The best product and we used it for a couple of years, until the release of the Cat Genie, was the Litter Robot. It still had smell issues.
We were blessed with the opportunity to build our dream custom home. I designed a litterbox room off the laundry area. This 4’x5’ room has a solar tube light and bathroom ventilation fan built into the wall above the litter box. Trying to save costs in construction I added the water source and drain after the fact. I tapped into the water supply and drain of the guest bath on the other side of this room.
 
Adding the water and drain:


So this was what it looked like before the hacking began.
I had my malfunctions…resulting in cartridges that were dead but half full of solution. I went back to searching the internet for a solution to the excess solution. To all of you who post regularly, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you.
I purchased a reset device from http://www.smartcartridgereset.com. This product worked great but was not happy with pulling out and refilling cartridges. Inspired by a post from someone who had a set up with a Rubbermaid bowl and small tubing I set out to fine tune my Cat Genie.
Many thanks for the patience of my local Home Depot associates and the guys at the local Radio Shack as I made many trips to try and create this masterpiece. I so did dread the question what are you trying to build?
Here was the post that inspired my quest.
catgenie/topic2537-150.html#p15233
I have a disclaimer before I continue. I have access to many tools of my father’s, toys I will call them and I got to play with quite a few for this project.
 
First hurdle, as I did not want to learn how to build my own reset device, I needed to hack CatMan’s device to connect it to a cartridge without pulling it out. I taught myself how to solder. I soldered four wires to the locations pictured in Panhandledan’s post and compared this to the connection points of CatMan’s device. I then took the reset device apart and wrapped the wires around the corresponding “prongs” and voila it could read the cartridge. However, when the cartridge was inserted into the Cat Genie, I got a cartridge error. Too much bulk. Remember the eye rolling from my husband? Sitting at dinner with my contraption on the table trying to fix this hurdle in between bites; I decided to drill holes in the cartridge shell and run the wires on the inside.

Cartridge back into the Cat Genie. The Cat Genie would cycle, but the reset device did not work. I noticed in Panhandledan’s post that he mentioned the reset device would be powered by the Cat Genie itself so I removed the battery from the reset device. It worked! So I thought. It seemed the reset device was constantly working. So if it was in the read mode that was where it stayed. To change over to the reset mode you had to disconnect power, move the switch to reset and power up again. Not the dream set up I was trying to achieve. I needed a plug type connection.
Trip to Radio Shack and I had a make it yourself cable connector. More soldering and some epoxy glue and my cartridge had a plug.

In these pictures the battery is in the reset device. I kept testing to make sure my connections were still working and needed the battery power to do so. I now had a fully function “shell” to put into the Cat Genie.

Next challenge, what to put the solution in and how to supply it to the Cat Genie. Home Depot here I come. The part I dread, wandering through the aisles trying to find something that will make what isn’t sold as a part itself. Also, the subsequent question, what are you trying to make. Husband eye-rolling, you should see Home Depot associate raised eyebrow. But, try they would. Living in Arizona helped. The associate that found me lost had created a bucket for an evaporative cooler display that was exactly what I was trying to make. I was trying to use ¼” tubing as that was what fit into the “nipple” from the solution bag. (Photo credit for the nipple goes to Panhandledan.)

Parts list for the Home Depot creation is:
1 Quick connect male adapter(plumbing)

1 package conduit locknut(electrical)

2 reducing washers(electrical)

2 O-rings(plumbing)

The finished item looked like this

Now for the container to hold the solution. I roamed the aisles of Target for quite some time. I wanted something I could mount to the wall. I was creating an something like an IV drip line and I wanted it off the floor. My result was an eleven cup Snapware container and a suction shower basket.

I cut some of the wires from the bottom middle connection for the hose to fit through easily. Using a small hole saw I cut out an opening for the Quick connect male adapter to fit through.

I assembled the connector to the bottom of the Snapeware container.

I mounted the basket to the wall above the Cat Genie so that I could determine the amount of ¼” tubing that would be necessary. Using the plastic disk from the bottom of a sani solution bag I made the nipple from Panhandledan’s post. I am using his picture as I neglected to take one at this stage.
(Photo credit: Panhandledan)
I cut out a larger opening so this nipple could slide through the plastic casing of the cartridge. I wanted to be able the manually push the nipple onto the needle in the unit to make sure it wasn’t leaking.
Here are some close ups of the cartridge with tubing in place and the solution container mounted on the wall.

When finishing this area I installed cabinetry over the wall where the “laundry” hook up is located. I cut a round hole in the side to allow the water line and the drain hose to access this hook up.

Now, when I need to reset or read the cartridge, I just plug the cable in and it does it thing. To reset I just unplug, move the switch to reset and re-plug in. Instantly the green light comes on and it is reset.

Now here is where I am still studying the forums. What solution to use. I have been using straight Petzyme with 2 Tablespoons dish soap. Results okay. Smell every once in a while. Litter not sticky and there is a tremendous reduction in tracking. I use the plastic grids for florescent light fixtures to try and keep the litter in one place. Today I just ordered the Triple Two product from Health Technology’s website. http://www.htproducts.net/viewproduct.php?product=6
Again I want to thank all that take the time to post and to help with answers and inspiration. I hope you enjoyed my tinkering and find it entertaining if not useful. (I also want to give extra thanks to the people who post pictures. Very time consuming, but very helpful.)

Wow, I am VERY impressesd! Nice work!!

Very nice... You gonna make anymore fer some of us?

All you have to do now is have CatMan update yer resetter so it can reset to 240 cycles instead of 60 cycles... Maybe he will even put in a numeric display instead of the flashing LEDs.

You could leave the plug in the cartridge and put in a 4 pole switch instead. Mount the resetter up near yer solution.

How much solution do you put in yer container at a time? Do you have markings fer the amount?

An LED counter would be nice...something even the newest Genie is rumored to be lacking even though it was on all our wish lists.

The container is an 11 cup container, I didn't mark it. I use the basket as my marker when to fill it up. I mix up the 14oz of Petzyme and 2 Tablespoons of dishsoap.

I thought of the switch and mounting the resetter on the wall below the solution, however whenever I have to do a major clean the more I can take off and out of the way the better. I forgot to mention I put a quick connect valve in the line so I could turn off the flow of solution and take the line apart. My cats are large...I end up doing a major clean about every three months.

As far as making more...CatMan doesn't charge enough to pay for the time it took him to create his device. Sorry I don't have it in me.

That setup is so beautiful, it almost makes me want to cry. And I'm a middle aged, hairy guy who drives a sports car. We are not supposed to get emotional about cat toilets.

Nice job.

That is a work of art!

Dawn

WOW That is incredible! Great job! You are now the Grand PooBah of the Cat Genie Hackers! Congratulations!

This is truly amazing! I can only hope that someday I will have a setup like this!!!

Wow! this is some impressive DIY! Very nice!

I have this crazy idea...

Reuse an IV system fer the bulk solution dispenser.
The bag is clear so you can see the solution level and is similar to the internal bag system of the cartridge. The bag is an enclosed system so yer solution won't evaporate out over time. Not exactly sure how to refill it since I don't have one handy to play with. How well it would hold up to the solution...I dunno.

You could even probably use one of those solar shower bags instead if you really need the capacity. It's got a refill port and tubing attached already to it...although you can't see through it. Might be a good bulk dispenser fer cat shelters. Just make sure you have a cutoff valve when you open it up to refill though...

I was just thinking again (this is becoming a habit)...why not reuse yer typical 64 oz (half gallon) juice bottle or even a 2-liter soda bottle? It's all clear (once you remove that label) and you could easily see the solution level and you could easily refill it through the wide mouth opening. It's an enclosed system and yer solution would funnel to the bottom when you have it inverted. I'd have to put a small hole as a vacuum relief on the bottom which would become the top when inverted to keep a vacuum from building up and prevent the solution from evaporating. Most people already have one of these containers in their house and wouldn't need to buy another container. Now I just have to find a holster to hang it on the wall or off my shelf unit. It would have to be slotted so you could lift and remove the bottle, plug the vent (tape), turn it over, remove cap, refill, replace cap, invert, remove tape, and place back into the holster. What do you think so far?

I'm leaning towards making my cable more modular...using a standard 4 wire phone line and RJ-11 connectors since I have these handy already. You could git them from the dollar store, too.

I'm thinking of using some netting or some wire frame to hold up the bottle to the shelf. I mean...it doesn't ever have to come off of the bottle, right?

With the tank inverted did you have a problem with the solution seeping out through the pump into the unit? It seems like the weight of the fluid might push it through the pump. I have my container slightly elevated abouve the unit right side up and the pump pulls the solution out of the container just fine with no seepage into the bowl past the pump. I was having that problem when my container was too high above the cat genie is the reason I ask.

I tested the tank with the tubing before fitting the tubing on the needle in the processor first. With the tank in its holder and the tubing just ending in a bowl to see if it leaked. Since attaching the tubing to the Genie, I have had no sudden drainages of the solution, and there are no signs of excess solution in the cartridge area. I have only seen fluid movement when the Genie is running.

Ok, wow. But why? Is all of this somehow cheaper or easier than just buying the refil carts and dropping them in? Or is this about not being forced to submit to a corporate entity and be forced to buy only their products.

Funny, all of you line up to buy the $300.00 litter box then run the other way when it comes time to buy the accessories. I wonder how long they will be in business without the extra sales of their cartridges and solution?

I guess it's the same prinicple as bagless vacuum cleaners. No hassle about wanting to use the product but be out of the part needed to make it work. Other than that, I just don't understand.