Question on Motor Amperage
- Thread starter Cue Crazy
- Start date
yeah that's the ticket.My question is: why do you need variable speed for this application? Seems like a fairly expensive and time consuming option. I just mounted a 110V. continuous duty gear reduction motor I had purchased at Surplus Supply for 20 or 25.00 10 or 12 years ago, mounted a pulley to give the final speed I wanted and then made small, pressed on pulleys out of polypropylene and ran sweeper belts between all of them. You couldn't stop the motor with a pipe wrench and I've forgotten about it and it's run for 2 days without getting warm. A gear reduction motor runs at it's recommended speed where as a variable speed loses torque as the voltage drops. This is a crude set-up but it has worked for about 12 years turning 5 cues with no problems.
Dick
Dick
rhncue said:My question is: why do you need variable speed for this application? Seems like a fairly expensive and time consuming option. I just mounted a 110V. continuous duty gear reduction motor I had purchased at Surplus Supply for 20 or 25.00 10 or 12 years ago, mounted a pulley to give the final speed I wanted and then made small, pressed on pulleys out of polypropylene and ran sweeper belts between all of them. You couldn't stop the motor with a pipe wrench and I've forgotten about it and it's run for 2 days without getting warm. A gear reduction motor runs at it's recommended speed where as a variable speed loses torque as the voltage drops. This is a crude set-up but it has worked for about 12 years turning 5 cues with no problems.
Dick
Is that motor explosion proof?
BarenbruggeCues said:
No, it's not but then again, neither is my exhaust fan. It moves so much air (1700 cubic feet a minute) that the concentrations are so low I never worry about it although I maybe should. Never the less, probably a 1000 cues have been sprayed with this set up. I've never claimed to be the safest creature on this earth. Just an absolute tight-ass do-it-yourselfer.
Dick
rhncue said:
LOL, Yeah My wallet doesn't open so easily either, and I like to do what I can Myself too, so don't get Me wrong, It may be alittle overboard, But I only paid 20 for the motor, which can be had for 16 at another place. It is a gear motor, and as far as I can tell, It doesn't vent through the casing. As far as torque, I hooked It up to a 12v supply to test It, and I couldn't easily stop It by hand without loosing skin from the feel of the torque It had. I can do the reduction in the pulley like you say or simply vary the voltage input If I wanted, but I just wanted to try and hook a control up. I found one for around 25 bucks that uses Pulse Width Modulation, and can handle plenty more amps then what My motor should draw. It's suppose to help hold torque at low rpm's, but I'll see If that rings true or not. The motor only weighs about 1-1/2 pounds and is fairly compact looking. Oh It's also reversable. As with anything It may or may not fail Me, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I will still atleast need to make a pulley for the motor shaft, because It's a slightly larger diameter then the spindles, and I'll probably still play around with the ratio there. Thank You for sharing the pictures Dick. I have often wondered what Your setup looked like. I've heard You describe It before, but that's the first time I've seen It I think.
There are several ways I could go, and certainly I may be over engineering alittle I guess, but maybe not quite as much as it seems. This one is just the direction I ended up heading in, so I'm gonna try and follow through. If It works out, considering the torque It seems to have, then I may have other uses for the same motor and control setup.
Greg
Hooking the motor up in the middle is probably a great idea if using the stretch belts. I tried using four spindles once with stretch belts and the belts really slipped. But it could handle having a two hooked up, but not four without slipping.dchristal said:
I wanted to thank everyone for the help again, and to let you guys know I solved the problem with the belts. I found a long 3/16 wide flat cog belt that I had stored away. At first I wasn't sure how I was gonna make It run all the spindles. I didn't like the over and under Idea, because of the reverse rotation It would cause on some of the spindles, but obviously If you just run the belt over all the pullies, then the outer 2 are the only ones that won't slip, so I had to do something. The belt was long enough to run 4 spindles If I took up the slack in the motor bracket, so what I did was put a tension pulley between the #2 and #3 spindles, that way the backside of the belt was pushed down, applying more friction on the middle pullies. It worked like a charm, all 4 spindles work very well, and with little to no drag like the rubber belts caused, and they all spin in the same direction. If the belt was a hair longer I could run all 5 spindles with no problem, by simply adding another tension pulley between #4 and #5 spindles. In fact I ran a small bet from #4 to #5 and they all spin fine. There's even such minimal drag, that I could probably run more spindles then 5 if I wanted, but I think I'm gonna stick with 4. That should leave Me enough 5/16 rod to make up the tailside of the spinner.
I also got My PSU rigged with a toggle switch and indicator light, and the motor runs great off of It. The PSU stays cool, so I guess the fan is doing It's job, but the motor does get alittle warm If I run It for a long time. It's Not too bad though, and doesn't seem to be a concern yet. I bought a DPDT throw switch to reverse polarity, and 12v indicator light. Still waiting on the speed control. Going on 2 weeks since I ordered It and haven't received It yet.
To sum things up, It's still in progress in My spare time, but looks Like I'm over the hurdles, and from here out should just be finishing the controls up, machining some small parts, and assembly.
I really apprietiate everyone's thoughts and ideas, It was a big help. I'll post some picture of the completed unit in the future when I'm actually able to spray cues with It, after I get It all put together, and up and running.
Greg
I also got My PSU rigged with a toggle switch and indicator light, and the motor runs great off of It. The PSU stays cool, so I guess the fan is doing It's job, but the motor does get alittle warm If I run It for a long time. It's Not too bad though, and doesn't seem to be a concern yet. I bought a DPDT throw switch to reverse polarity, and 12v indicator light. Still waiting on the speed control. Going on 2 weeks since I ordered It and haven't received It yet.
To sum things up, It's still in progress in My spare time, but looks Like I'm over the hurdles, and from here out should just be finishing the controls up, machining some small parts, and assembly.
I really apprietiate everyone's thoughts and ideas, It was a big help. I'll post some picture of the completed unit in the future when I'm actually able to spray cues with It, after I get It all put together, and up and running.
Greg
BTW, I was looking to buy some of these before I found out that I already had one. I thought they would be easy to locate, but In researching, I was having a heck of a time finding these belts in the size I wanted. I ran accross This site, and they seem to have a large selection of different materials, widths, lenths, and # of teeth. The prices don't seem to unreasonable either. I have never dealt with them, so It's at your own risk, but thought I would share, since everyone on here is so good about sharing. I know they have many uses besides what I needed them for, and there's not always something handy around to scrap them from like I did, so It could be a valuable source to have. Just figured I'd share in case It is of use.
http://www.sdp-si.com/eStore/CoverPg/Belts.htm
http://www.sdp-si.com/eStore/CoverPg/Belts.htm
Cue Crazy said:
If you are interested in drive products, Stock Drive has some great reference material on the site. Note that one of the coolest CNC outfits, Techno-Isel is a subsidiary of Stock Drive ... they are a very reputable suppliers from what I've heard.
Dave
DaveK said:
Thanks Dave, I'll check them out, I have some future projects in mind, and that stuff will probably come in handy for them.
I hooked My switch up today, and got the forward and reverse working.
BTW, wonder if You or anyone else can help Me with a question about belt sizes-
When They give the lenth of a belt, Is that the total lenth, as If you cut the belt and measured from end to end, or would that be the width accross a circle like PVC pipe is measured? Usually anytime I've matched a belt for other things, I've bought them locally, and either the part # was matched up for a replacement, or I brought the old belt to match the lenth, so I'm not sure how they are measured when ordering one.
Thanks, Greg
Cue Crazy said:
The folks at Stock Drive have a very good set of design guides, including a 95 pager on belts. This page gives the listing :
http://www.sdp-si.com/web/html/757cat.htm
Download all of these guides, they come in handy for solving machine design problems.
Dave