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The limits of common wiper motors


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Posted

Hi,

 

I just thought about my ballmill plans and did a little brainstorming...

 

What are the limits of typical front wiper motors, how much weight do they turn reliable without getting to hot?

I plan to take the power of the worm drive, I hope it's fast enough.

 

I read some storys about quickly fried ones, thats why I'm asking. On the other hand, when driving through adverse weather they may run for hours without overheatring - should not be a problem - up to what load?

Posted
My instinctive feeling is that they are too weak except for building pretty small ballmills.
Posted

Thats my feeling to, but i'd like to know to what size approximately can expect them to work.

 

If I can mill 200-400g of composition at once I'd be very happy.

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Posted

What are the limits?

 

1) DC wiper motors can have an advantage of running remotely (no AC power). After that there is no advantage. Batteries are expensive to have and maintain especially for long durations of run time.

2) If it is a worm drive it is less efficient than a bevel gear drive.

3) The output rpm is too slow for required speeds.

4) They are meant to move light loads such as the wiper arms and snow. Heavier loads and longer durations are well past the design of the motor and will end their life much faster than a typical AC motor configuration.

5)If you were to consider the weight of a couple of handfuls of lead for small batches, you are already over the limits of a wiper motor and you still have to have power in the design to turn the shafts or rolling friction.

6) A small 1/4hp AC motor will last much longer and you won't have to revisit the design as fast as you would if you did use a wiper motor.

7) If you are planning on plugging in a 50 amp battery charger, an AC motor will be much more efficient again.

8) I have not looked at this type of project but I would venture to say that trying to attach a sheave or something to the wiper motor would be many times much more harder than trying to put a sheave on an AC motor.

 

I hope this helps to answer your question

 

Mark

Posted
A source of better motors is the electric wheelchair market, also some motors from golf buggies can suit. They are better suited to heavy loads for long times.
Posted

Hi,

 

I have built a ball mill powered by a wiper motor and it works very good.

I mill only small 100 grams batches of composition with a 3,5" jar and 2,5 Kg of lead media, but it works perfectly with a heavier load (200-500 grams of composition).

Its true that it runs a little slower than the recommended speeds, altough i think it makes the needed work.

To run it, i use a 12V computer power supply, and i can run it continuously for about 2 hours without heating problems.

 

I hope it helps you!

Posted

@Pirotecnia: Thank you, 200g at once will suffice for me.

I'll give it a try.

 

Unfortunately tools and machines are much more expensive here in europe than in the US. The cheapest commercial ball mill I found usable for our needs was about 200€.

Posted
Wiper motors are good for small sized star rollers, I'd say maximum 1kg load and depending of the construction and drum size/weight.
Posted

On the other hand, when driving through adverse weather they may run for hours without overheatring - should not be a problem - up to what load?

 

It probably depends on the car a bit, but in the honda (I think) that I got my star roller motor from, the wiper motor sits inside the firewall under the ventilation grill. It just so happens that in situations where the wiper motor is likely to be running for hours on end, there will be water pouring through the grill and cooling the motor. It got fairly warm once it was installed in the roller so I rigged up a hose dripping water over it while it ran.

Posted

@Pirotecnia: Thank you, 200g at once will suffice for me.

I'll give it a try.

 

Unfortunately tools and machines are much more expensive here in europe than in the US. The cheapest commercial ball mill I found usable for our needs was about 200€.

 

Hi,

 

Im also from Europe, and here, i also think that some things are really more dificult to find than in USA.

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