AC to DC converter

[87sheerips]

Whats up guys... well, im a little stuck right now. I am using an RC motor to power a lead screw in an extruder barrel that I fabricated. This is extruding sand, which will eventually form a shell mold to pour molten metal into (functional prototype) anyway, im sick of dealing with recharging the batteries to keep this motor running. We are using this motor b/c is it wireless, has variable speed control, and quite powerful.

 

We tried a regular radio shack AC/DC converter capable of 12v dc output.-- it did not work!

 

Considering RC motors are driven by a 7.2v battery, i am confused to why the DC converter did not work.

 

I thought maybe the converter wires were not large enough to carry the current, but im not positive.

 

If anyone can help me out here, i would greatly appreciate it. I just need to power this lil DC motor with some type of converter. Thanks fellas!!

[FireHead]

www.xantrex.com

 

They distribute their products through a dealer network, so you will have to figure who the closest distributor to you is from their website. You may actually want to send Xantrex a direct email as they tend to give you free stuff itf it's for an educational application. Good luck! :thumbsup:

[87sheerips]

www.xantrex.com

 

They distribute their products through a dealer network, so you will have to figure who the closest distributor to you is from their website. You may actually want to send Xantrex a direct email as they tend to give you free stuff itf it's for an educational application. Good luck! :thumbsup:

 

Thanks for the fast response!!! I dont think I will need that high quality of materials. I just need a simple AC /DC converter capable of a constant 7.2+ v output. Isnt there something simple that will allow me to convert to DC, and hard wire the motor to that DC output?? This seems so simple, but yet so hard to accomplish!!!!

Edited March 14, 2007 by 87sheerips

[FireHead]

Thanks for the fast response!!! I dont think I will need that high quality of materials. I just need a simple AC /DC converter capable of a constant 7.2+ v output. Isnt there something simple that will allow me to convert to DC, and hard wire the motor to that DC output?? This seems so simple, but yet so hard to accomplish!!!!

 

There probably is, I just don't know what to tell you off the top of my head. Radio Shack was my first idea and Xantrex was my second idea. My company conjurrs most of that sort of stuff or selves if we need it.

 

You may just need to go nuts on the internet and see what you can find.

 

Iam not sure if the following places even have what you are looking for but it's worth a shot.

 

www.omega.com

www.grainger.com

www.mcmastercarr.com

www.mscindustrialsupply.com

wwww.digikey.com

[blaster668]

I imagine your main problem is that the convertor you bought doe not supply enough current to run the motor. I imagine that motor would run on 12 volt dc without a problem, I'm not positive on that though so you may want to check into it a little more. Maybe try using a car battery if 12v will work, while using a multimeter to determine what current the motor is actually drawing. That will help you find a convertor that will meet your requirements.

[87sheerips]

I imagine your main problem is that the convertor you bought doe not supply enough current to run the motor. I imagine that motor would run on 12 volt dc without a problem, I'm not positive on that though so you may want to check into it a little more. Maybe try using a car battery if 12v will work, while using a multimeter to determine what current the motor is actually drawing. That will help you find a convertor that will meet your requirements.

 

 

Yea, i think the converter we are trying is supplying the voltage, but not the current needed. Id like to stay away from a car battery tho, this is supposed to be a small system. Ill play with the multimeter and see what this motor is actually pulling, current wise. Thanks!!

[87sheerips]

There probably is, I just don't know what to tell you off the top of my head. Radio Shack was my first idea and Xantrex was my second idea. My company conjurrs most of that sort of stuff or selves if we need it.

 

You may just need to go nuts on the internet and see what you can find.

 

Iam not sure if the following places even have what you are looking for but it's worth a shot.

 

www.omega.com

www.grainger.com

www.mcmastercarr.com

www.mscindustrialsupply.com

wwww.digikey.com

 

 

 

Thanks man, and im sure it will take some hunting to find what i need LOL!

[RNBRAD]

Yep, convertors don't have near the amp capability of those batteries on quick demand. I'm sure you could find one but it would be large and expensive. What I would do is look at some battery company's like Optima that make different voltage deep cycle batteries. Then you could recharge at the end of the day or every few days.

[blaster668]

I'm not sure, but you may be able to use a smaller car battery charger, the voltage would be even a little higher, but it should supply a lot higher amperage. I think the higher voltage will just spin a dc motor faster, if I remember correctly. One other thing to remember is that most of these radio shack type convertors do not supply a very clean dc power. I'm not sure if the battery charges do or not.

[RNBRAD]

I don't think a battery charger will discharge power if not hooked to a powered source like a battery.

[87sheerips]

I don't think a battery charger will discharge power if not hooked to a powered source like a battery.

 

 

Howbout this, I have a converter (quite large) that powers my battery charger. It converts 110 AC to roughly 12v DC output. If this powers the charger, maybe i could hardwire the motor to the DC output?

 

Thanks for all the input guys, this is quite confusing considering i want to keep the system pretty nice and clean, not having huge converters and batteries. I mean, its a small motor there has to be some way to power this thing simply.

 

ALso, my batteries are old as fuck, im sure if I buy some new RC batteries, I will get much longer run time. Im assuming a 20 minute run time will be sufficient.

 

Also, any other ideas for a variable speed motor? I guess i could tear up a cordless drill and try that? or maybe hardwire a cordless drill battery to the motor?

 

Im not exactly stuck on the RC motor, but its what I had laying around and it works well, plus i have extras if i burn one up. Any ideas appreciated!

[FireHead]

Howbout this, I have a converter (quite large) that powers my battery charger. It converts 110 AC to roughly 12v DC output. If this powers the charger, maybe i could hardwire the motor to the DC output?

 

Thanks for all the input guys, this is quite confusing considering i want to keep the system pretty nice and clean, not having huge converters and batteries. I mean, its a small motor there has to be some way to power this thing simply.

 

ALso, my batteries are old as fuck, im sure if I buy some new RC batteries, I will get much longer run time. Im assuming a 20 minute run time will be sufficient.

 

Also, any other ideas for a variable speed motor? I guess i could tear up a cordless drill and try that? or maybe hardwire a cordless drill battery to the motor?

 

Im not exactly stuck on the RC motor, but its what I had laying around and it works well, plus i have extras if i burn one up. Any ideas appreciated!

 

The problem with a car battery charger for your application may be two fold. First off, a car battery charger puts out about 14.1 volts, not 12. Secondly, a car battery charger will not respond very well to large, frequent, fluctuations in load like you may be presenting it with.

 

With regard to what to use for a motor, it really depends on what sort of fidelity you need to have for the control of the motor in addition to how variable you need the speed of the motor to be. If you need to accelerate and decelerate the motor to different speeds frequently, then a RC car motor and controller may be the most plausible solution. If you just need to start and stop the motor, operate at a constant speed, and do not need to control the accelleration or decelleration of the motor, then you may have many more options. :thumbsup:

[87sheerips]

The problem with a car battery charger for your application may be two fold. First off, a car battery charger puts out about 14.1 volts, not 12. Secondly, a car battery charger will not respond very well to large, frequent, fluctuations in load like you may be presenting it with.

 

With regard to what to use for a motor, it really depends on what sort of fidelity you need to have for the control of the motor in addition to how variable you need the speed of the motor to be. If you need to accelerate and decelerate the motor to different speeds frequently, then a RC car motor and controller may be the most plausible solution. If you just need to start and stop the motor, operate at a constant speed, and do not need to control the accelleration or decelleration of the motor, then you may have many more options. :thumbsup:

 

 

Well fellas, I think I came up with a solution. I fried a motor today hooking it up to my 30amp DC converter which was pretty cool to watch. But i think since my system is all put together, and I want to keep it wireless, im just guna fork up some change for nice, new RC batteries. Something that can undoubtedly give me constant current and voltage. Thanks for all the advice!!